Day 9: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
This evening's sunset was partially blocked by thick grey clouds, but it might be the last one of this passage. We have about 100 miles to go, so we should make landfall… (read more)…
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Day 8: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
The sea state got pretty intense last night. When lying down inside, I could feel the vibration as the waves pummeled the boat, punching up against the… (read more)…
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Day 7: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
There’s a running joke amongst sailors that to be a liveaboard, you must be a nurse, chef, engineer, carpenter, maid, marine biologist, electrician, mechanic, meteorologist, doomsday prepper, seamstress, etc. I am constantly learning… (read more)…
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Day 6: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
Squalls rolled through every half hour last night, bringing 30kn of wind and waves on the beam, robbing us of sleep…(read more)…
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Day 5: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
The sun finally began to creep up over the horizon around 7:30AM, illuminating two large storm clouds: one behind us and one right in front of us. We already had the mainsail prematurely at its second reef, so… (read more)…
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Day 4: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
A loud creak developed in our starboard head. Our biggest complaint about this boat is how the furniture is put together. As the boat flexes, the interior… (read more)…
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Day 3: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
We fired up the generator around 2pm. Despite having relatively clear skies, our solar panels are shaded by the sails most of the day, so we’ve struggled to get charged. Before crossing the Pacific… (read more)…
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Day 2: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
Ray woke me just before midnight to help him reef the main as the wind and waves began to pick up. I strapped myself into my PFD, grabbed a headlamp, and met him at the helm. We don’t always wake each other to reef, but when the sea state is rough… (read more)…
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Day 1: Sailing from French Polynesia to Tonga
We were cutting it close—checking out of the country the day our visas expired. I thought the three weeks I had scheduled between our insurance’s cyclone season restriction end date and our visa expiration would be plenty; who would’ve thought it would take 25 days for a weather window to come along…
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