Fredrik and Crew on Maiken

Coming to the end of this blog

2006-10-10T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sorry it took so long time to publish the last photos. I have spent the last few days just winding down. This has been a great trip for me, and I couldn't have made it without my fellow crewmembers, and since I only had two, you all know who they are. Thanks Håkan and Jenny! Maiken proved to be a great boat, and I hope to take good care of her in the future. Thanks for reading this blog and follow our way across the Pacific, and if you need to contact me you can always reach me on my email; fredrikfransson@yahoo.com

Take care,

Fredrik

The last set of pictures

2006-10-10T02:51:00.000-07:00

Checking out of Fiji in Lautoka

Jenny speeding toward the Malolola pass before the sun set

Leaving the mainland of Fiji behind us

It was rock and roll during our first couple of days aboard

Sunsets means a lot when you are doing a passage

Fresh fish makes good sashimi

Whales! - it is almost impossible to get good photos of them

Flying the Q flag together with the Australian (and the mainsail still looks good)

The last bottle of champagne to celebrate the birth of Dorian and Sally's daughter

It was a windy morning when we made landfall

Staying at the quarantine dock in Manly to clear into the country

Our friend Simon came with bubbly and seafood to welcome us to Scarborough

Well, Jenny's friends brought up the "a tomato for dinner" incident, so I had to make her a proper meal for her last night

Getting situated in Brisbane

2006-10-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

The coffee is brewing and a new day is slowly beginning in Brisbane. It feels a bit strange not have to look ahead anymore, this is where I will stay for a while. The trip over from Fiji was a mixed bag filled with sailing conditions from every part of the spectrum. After a hard night with no sleep we navigated the entrance to Moreton Bay in heavy headwinds with some big waves. The conditions changed to the better when we got close to Manly where we checked in. I really liked the Manly area, so maybe I will keep my boat there in the future. The marinas here are very nice and they make it easy to be liveaboard. Scarborough Marina, where Maiken is situated right now is also very nice, so I will be here at least until I know more about my future here. They have great shellfish here and the shrimp trawlers are coming back into the docks close to Maiken every morning with the good stuff. I had to learn to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road yesterday, with Jenny looking a bit tense at times. I will write some more soon when I have sorted out an address and phone number for me, so you will have a chance to get in contact with me in the future. I have got a lot of positive feedback from having this blog, so I am considering starting another one about my new life here in Australia. If you have been a regular reader on this blog please let me know if you are interested in the new blog, write to yacht-maiken@hotmail.com or fredrikfransson@yahoo.com. I will post pictures later today or tomorrow, so please check back.

Take care,

Fredrik

We've made it!

2006-10-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

It is eerily quiet, it is strangely still. Maiken is moored at a marina in Brisbane. The last few days have been quite a study in contrasts. Saturday was the day of the whales. Humpback whales everywhere (well we saw 5 of them in a very short space of time). Freddie jumped up the ratlines with his camera and started pointing where we should go (the winds were non existent so we were motoring). It was the opposite of normal cruising - where you only very occasionally swap direction - I was "doing doughnuts" round whales - cool. After the 4th sighting when I saw another Freddie didn't even bother to come on deck he just told me not to hit it. So whales had become just one more hard thing to avoid.

That afternoon we drank the bottle of champagne we'd been saving for the birth of our friends baby. We've since found out that little Maya was born around this time - congratulations Sally and D - she's gorgeous.

So the idea was that we'd just slowly head towards the Brisbane channel - arrive there at dawn and then spend the day motoring up. Great plan but it didn't account for the early arrival of a quite UNNECESSARY "weather event", with lightning, howling winds, choppy seas and fishing trawlers. Freddie said it's the first time he's had all sails down and we were still making 5 knots. So after 9 days of beautiful weather it was a little reminder about how lucky we'd been. It took us from 8am to 4pm to reach the Manly marina. 4pm on a lovely Sunday afternoon - everybody in Brisbane who owned a boat was out and heading home to Manly marina. There were kids in little dinghys, motorboats, a zillion yachts. Go away silly people, we're sleep deprived gnarly sea dogs and we don't want to bother with the likes of you. Happily we made it without hitting any of them. Another boat had just cleared in (customs and quarantine) so we didn't have to wait for the officials to arrive. We could have waited half a day and checked in without paying a fee (because we arrived on a Sunday) but the lure of a cold beer and steak was too strong. We were still operating on Maiken time though - and were asleep by about 8pm.

Yesterday we moved up to Scarborough marina and caught up with our good friend Simon. Freddie was a little taken aback when Simon's wife Jane called to say that there was a snake in their caravan and she didn't want to go to sleep there. Welcome to Australia Freddie - now the real adventures start!

Jen

The Monster from the Deep

2006-09-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

26deg21.178S 155deg30.471E

One day we're going to arrive in Brisbane, a few days ago we thought it would be Saturday, yesterday with the light (non existent) winds we realised it would probably be Sunday. Who knows it may take us another 3 weeks.

Light winds, hardly any swell, beautiful sunshine - now this is what I call a passage. People at work you'll see me sometime.

Vegetarians - don't read on.

It's been a day of wildlife, we've seen dolphins and a dolphin/whale creature with quite a square head. I know Janet B will know what it is. Then at sunset we caught a fish. A MONSTER FROM THE DEEP. I've never seen such a huge beast. It was freakin enormous. I swore quite extensively (which is what salty sea dogs do). Captain Freddie started bellowing orders - get me deadly knives, get me deadly hook. It's a fish he knows as a MahiMahi, it is sometimes called a dolphin fish or dorado, personally I think MONSTER FROM THE DEEP says it all. "We" got it up on board, and I tell you what I had my work cut out I had to avoid getting my dress splattered with blood, as well as keep the buckets of water coming. Blood everywhere. Off went its head and it was still the width of the cockpit. MONSTER FROM THE DEEP, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP. Sorry I'm hysterical.

Anyway Freddie cut off two enormous fillets and then we fed the rest to our resident brown birds. Tonight for dinner instead of having cabbage and onion, we started off with sashimi (yes there is wasabi on board), followed by chunk-of-monster lightly fried. The rest of the monster is in the fridge (yes we're allowed to turn the fridge on which means there is now champagne chilling). Tomorrow is declared national day of monster eating. Rock on!

***
For the kids
This story is for my young friends who like a story. Especially if it is a true story and ESPECIALLY if it is a true story written by red light (which it is). And the reason for the red light - at night when you're sailing you switch the lights to the special red setting and it means that it won't spoil your night vision.

Anyway last night when I was on watch, I was doing my usual check to make sure there were no boats about. There weren't. The moon had just set and that meant that the phosphorescence started. I don't really know what phosphorescence is - the best way to explain it is that when there are no other lights around (stars are ok) suddenly anywhere where there is movement in the water gets beautiful sparkling lights. Some places are sparklier than others and some nights are sparklier than others. This was a very sparkly night.

Later that evening I went to the toilet (on a boat it is called a head). There isn't a button to flush the toilet, you use a handle to pump sea water through. Anyway as I was pumping, I pumped a sparkly light down the head. It was most unnerving. Kids I think I flushed Tinkerbell down the toilet. I'm not sure whether she lived or not, but it makes me think we should rename the story Peter Bedpan. Then I started wondering about who the Lost Boys were and then I realised I was getting very rude and should stop.

xxx Jen

PS Maybe she's now Tinkersmell.

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Day 9

2006-09-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

25deg.57.321S 157deg.13.097E

How can you celebrate a birthday on day 9 of a passage? Day 9 where the only fresh food consists of cabbage, onion and a yellow cucumber.

First off get the cruise director to order up calm seas and friendly breezes (tick).

Then relax the stringent - no running refrigeration just for drinks rule.

Then have a cake baked.

Then be allowed a freshwater shower (SHEER MADNESS)

And THEN have chilled champagne served on the forward deck in an icebucket filled with cool seawater.

What a lovely birthday. And guess what the cabbage and onion mixed with tinned cornbeef and packet mash potatoes was fantastic too.

We know we're getting closer to Australia because Maiken is now shadowed by about 10 brown birds (sorry Mum I have no idea what they are).

The wind has died today (day 10) and we are motoring (and hand steering)and hoping that we'll be able to make it to Brisbane by Saturday (it is touch and go). If we don't make it to the waypoint in time then we'll have to do the boating equivalent of a holding pattern for 20 hours.

Jenny

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Sunning on the foredeck

2006-09-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of light winds and gorgeous weather. Me and Jenny spent most of the day outside soaking up the sun. We spent yesterday, being Sunday in the church of the Reverend Johnny Cash and ended with an emotional (both crying, we had to take a break outside watching the sunset for a while in the middle) showcase of the movie Flight 93. Back to the sunning, Jenny just showed me her bright red nose as the result of a day in the sun. Well, the sun is setting and we have dinner plans, so this will be a short one.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Surfs up

2006-09-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

23deg29.936S 166deg10.113E

Yesterday the sun came out, the deck dried up and we were able to sit outside. The swell is now going with us which in one way is good (not getting waves breaking over the boat) but the roll isn't consistent, so your brains can roll out of either ear - then you have to spend half an hour running round trying to scoop them up and put them back in again. All very messy.

In the afternoon the swell got up. We've been sailing over a trench that is 5000m deep but during the afternoon we moved into 500m depth, because of New Caledonia and its barrier reefs. The swell became what I call MONSTERS FROM THE DEEP. Once I was convinced that we weren't going to DIE, it was fun. Maiken even surfed a couple for 20 metres or so. I also had a go at a bit of hand steering round this time (one of the lines on the magic wind steering gadget had chafed through so I steered while Freddie fixed). It took a little bit of getting used to but you had to really move the wheel to the right every time a wave came through and then ease right back after that (because then we'd jibe).

So it was a big day for us - we managed to cook a proper meal (roast chicken in the pressure cooker), we had a glass of wine at sunset ON DECK, and we passed New Caledonia (they didn't send a care package out with baguettes and foie gras so we're a bit miffed).

It's now Sunday morning - we've reached the halfway point to Brisbane. The sun has come up, my brains have just rolled out for the 3rd time this morning so I'm off to scoop them up again, Captain Freddie is sleeping in the forward cabin. We're cruising.

xxx
Jenny

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What a swell party this is

2006-09-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

22deg.43.439S 168deg.18.275E

Well not quite a party but definitely a swell.

We're operating in our very own time zone. Yesterday we watched a breakfast movie and had chicken and mashed potato out of a packet (it tasted soooo good) and split a beer - and all by 9am. Happily I can tell you that we've cleaned up our act since the last post, the wind dropped away a bit, the sun came out and so it was time for a saltwater shower (dangle a canvas bucket overboard, wait for the swell to push you over that bit further and then bring heavy bucket back on board - oh and make sure you have a hold of something while you're doing this or else you'll fall overboard and be LOST). I think that I have potential to improve my style but I got there in the end. And that was the last of the good times - the wind got up again, big crunchy swell that keeps breaking over us. It's like being in a car wash and on some sort of amusement park ride at the same time. Anyway Maiken just keeps bobbing along. We had a tomato for dinner (we're almost out of tomatoes so it might be raw cabbage tonight).

Despite the crappy conditions we're going along ok - reading lots, watching movies, occasionally we even talk (mostly about what food we'll eat when we get to Brissy).

hooplah

Jenny

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Life on the Ocean

2006-09-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

20deg.47.823S 171deg.19.193E

Well it doesn't take long for the thin veneer of civilization to be stripped away. No lying in the hammock sipping sunset drinks anymore. Freddie's getting quite a beard and is wearing a blueberry stained singlet. I'm sporting some spectacular bruises and have been in the same clothes for 3 days. I'm now pretty much over the seasickness of the first night (if you are going to throw up - throw up at night on a yacht, there is a quite spectacular phosphorescence display).

We were trying to work out how many days we had been at sea and the only way we could do it was by working out what we'd eaten - Monday - macaroni cheese out of a packet (here you go fishies), Tuesday lamb and salad (much calmer seas), Wednesday a tomato. Wednesday was quite a weird day which started off with no wind, so we motored and then moved into 20 knot winds with gusts up to 30. Before it got dark we took down all the fore sails and put a 3rd reef in the main. We don't have to steer - there is a piece of magic installed which does all that for us. We still have to check every half hour to make sure that there are no boats (since the first night we haven't seen any).

Mostly I've been sleeping and reading, although it feels like I'm on some sort of rollercoaster ride when I'm up in the forward cabin and if you do something stupid like sitting up in bed, the bookshelves are likely to break your fall as you hurtle portside. Bumped my head. The boat is handling the swell really well, we've got the sails set so she doesn't go too fast and we're pretty comfortable (although I'd love to be able to order in some Thai food).

Looking forward to some 15 knot winds and a shower on deck. Until then I'll remain the filthy sea dog that I am.

Jenny

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First day on passage

2006-09-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

18deg.52.104S 175deg.14.711E
Well, if we keep this speed, we'll be in Australia in 10 days. Maiken is sailing along in over 6 knots, in fairly small sea. We do bounce around a bit, and as usual it takes a few day to get used to the motion. On this course, we will pass the southern tip of New Caledonia very close, and there is a small chance that we will stop there. Jenny is sleeping and I am reading, so it's a pretty normal day at sea. Fiji was one of the highlights on the trip, and it is easy to see why so many yachties come back year after year. We left Fiji through the Malolo pass right when the sun went down, and with a spectacular sunset our ocean passage began.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Fiji off the port bow

2006-09-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

17deg.55.294S 177deg.03.567E

Captain Freddie is too busy stuffing his face with banana (and steering) to write but in between mouthfulls he says that he hoped you enjoyed the pictures.

The hanging baskets are full of fruit and vegetables, the fridge has been turned on (meat beer chocolate) and the dinghy has been stowed below (with the hammock).

We left Lautoka this afternoon when the dinghy finally ran out of fuel (it needed to be empty because it will be in storage for a while). This took a while - over three hours but it has ended up ok because we now have the tide working with us and we are romping our way southwest.

The stay in Lautoka was better than expected - we anchored across the bay near a very low key resort. The swimming was good, so were the deck chairs by the pool with a cold beer. There won't be much of that in the next couple of weeks so we made the most of it.

Jenny

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New Pictures

2006-09-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sunset at Navandra Island

Perfect little island

Jenny underway

The hike to the top of the mountain on Waya

Inspecting the caves where the islanders hide when there is a hurricane

Basket making with Simi

Entering Yalobi Bay

Saweni Bay

Underway to the Yasawas

Jenny's first day

Some old pictures from Suva

2006-09-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sally Blue - the small boat with the three young swedes from the far north

Pictures from the great market in Suva

Regatta party

2006-09-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night it was the big final party of the Regatta, and me and Jenny sneaked in and had free drinks, good company, and good entertainment. There was this kid from Samoa that juggled fire like it was confetti, it was just one complete fireball. Today a lot of boats moved on, leaving for Vanuatu or trips around the island chain. Me and Jenny just hung out finishing small projects, enjoying life, and swimming of course.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Things I've learned -

1. The boat Clark Gable has been named that after Gone With the Wind. Why didn't I figure that out!
2. That there is an engine living under the big step in the galley and the big step in the galley all pulls apart to reveal it. Like magic. Get that dirty engine out of my kitchen. There was an oil dipstick and I checked the oil and Freddie started to explain how until I gave him a quelling look. Occasionally the crew has to assert them self.
3. Before going on a long passage it is essential to calorie load, so we're doing a buffet a day and approaching them as a marathon.

xxx
Jenny

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Back to Musket Cove

2006-09-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

OK if you're in choppy sea - don't watch DVD's indoors - it is the equivalent of reading in the back seat of the car on a windy road. As Freddie was handing me the sea sickness patch to put behind my ear, he told me that it was skin coloured. Comfort indeed to know that it wasn't clashing with my oh so coordinated wardrobe.

It was a rolling night, the patch worked and it rained. We left early this morning and are now back in Musket Cove for a couple of days before doing the final stock up for the passage to Australia. We came in in a squall this morning but managed to moor despite the elements.

Freddie's kicking back watching Seinfeld, all is quiet and we'll be heading ashore shortly for dinner.

xxx
Jenny

----------------

Talk about careful planning, we left the day before the beginning of the Regatta, and we come back on the day of the finale. Tonight is the party, and of course me and Jenny will be there even though we didn't do the Regatta. It feels good with a warm shower and a cold beer after a week of being depraved of them.

Take care,

Fredrik

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We have moved on

2006-09-13T01:25:00.000-07:00

Well in a fit of madness we've finally moved from Yalobi bay. We were in a rut. The only question each morning was whether we'd have a coffee before or after the first swim of the day.

We've motored 10 miles south to Navadra Island (caught a fish along the way which has been turned into a red curry). It is uninhabited, has rich coral and is filled with mango and coconut trees. We snorkeled ashore and the lee side of the island was just stunning - the picture postcard version of Fiji.

The anchorage is getting a lot of swell. I even gave up the hammock because it was trying to hurl me into the sea. My prediction - not much sleep tonight.

Jenny

-------------------

We are rolling in a very beautiful spot. This bay is open to the North and the swell keeps creeping around the sides to make this a bit uncomfortable anchorage, but we have no wind so we are safe. We met another yachtie that told us about this place and its great snorkeling spot, and I must agree that the coral garden is good. Yalobi bay was great and we spent part of the day yesterday hanging out at the school watching the kids play. We will leave tomorrow to go to either Lautoka or Musket Cove to get water and fuel, and start getting us ready for the passage.

Take care,

Fredrik

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We conqured the mountain today

2006-09-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

What a start of the day, a climb up to one of the peaks around the bay that we are anchored in. Fairly easy, as it has a face consisting of volcanic rock and low brush. The view was spectacular, and the swim after even more so. We have gained quite the reputation of spending most of our time in the water, we do at least five good long swims a day. Often we have to circumnavigate something, most of the time an anchored boat. It is hard to understand why most people on the other yachts don't do the same, as the water is lovely and the air hot. The people in the village seem to have a nice compromise between work and just enjoying the moment with their family, you often see parents just relaxing playing with their kids in the middle of the day. This village was one of the few that were spared from the measles epidemic that swept the Fijian islands about a hundred years ago, they are to this day very proud of that. Well, the last rays of the sun is disappearing behind the hills, and it is time to have some kind of drink before it is time for dinner.

Take care,

Fredrik

NOTE FROM JENNY -
I'm just going to take issue with the words "fairly easy" for that mountain climb with no track. It was unrelenting. Straight up - with the loss of about 1 litre of sweat for every 100 metres climbed and we were almost thwarted at the end with a SPIDER INFESTED JUNGLE. Once I had forged a way through, Freddie took the lead up a cliff that was not possible for me to follow up (he is freakishly tall) and I had to find an alternate route. Anyway I say enough about measles epidemics in the village 100 years ago. I almost died TODAY and it was only swims 3 & 4 that saved me.

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Sunday, day of peace?

2006-09-10T00:55:00.000-07:00

If you write the blog, you get the hammock. Hammocks and boats are the perfect combination - guaranteed rocking at all times. Computers on hammocks on boats somehow seems a bit decadent. If work would just send me a laptop I'd be prepared to do all the web reporting from on deck. I'd just be away an extra month.

It was church in the village this morning. Beautiful singing. Naturally we couldn't understand any of the ceremony, but gifted linguist that I am, I figured out that ameni translates to amen. I can also count to 5, so I'm really moving along. I spent most the time watching the kids. You know what - 9 year old elder sisters RULE. I can imagine some 9 year old friends of mine having an excellent time here. Every 9 year old girl seems to be in charge of an 18 month - 2 year old. They carry them, take them outside if they're being too restless and generally keep things on track.

We saw our young friend Pauline. She's about 3 and is the daughter of Tomasini (he performed the kava ceremony we went to a couple of nights ago). When Pauline walked in to the kava ceremony she was made to go round and say bula and shake hands with all the guests. As a 3 year old she was a little shy but looking at all the other kids in the village, that wears off pretty quickly. They are all so friendly and we have loads of helpers with getting our dinghy launched each time we come home from shore.

Freddie was very worried after the last blog, that his family would think that I was doing all the cooking while he lay around. I'll just set the record straight. Last night was the first time I cooked in the week I've been on the boat.

Sundays are not the days of rest they used to be - after an afternoon nap the cruise director insisted we take a dinghy trip to go snorkelling, then it was back for banana chocolate cake, then it was waving at all the new yacht arrivals (the rule is that Freddie spends his time keeping an eye on the horizon for any new boats but he doesn't wave - that's my job). In a moment now it is going to be sunset drinks, then dinner, then deciding what DVD to watch. When will I get time to relax?

xxx
Jenny

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Another great day in Yalobi Bay

2006-09-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

Today was almost an hectic day. After a very calm night and a beautiful morning with a swim around the neighborhood, it was time for a walk to the top of the island with the couple from the Canadian boat next to us. Simi lead the way up from the village, as he was going to pick up some cassava from his plantation anyway. Halfway up the hill, he cut away a palm tree branch that he carried along until he found a shaded spot under a mango tree where he easily whipped it into a basket for his cassava roots. Halfway up the mountain, he left us to ourself and it didn't take long until we were lost and had to give up the hope of reaching the summit. It was all good, eating our lunch under a mango tree overlooking the bay and reefs before beginning the trek down. When we entered the village, a women with her young sons invited us to put out our thirst with a green coconut from her garden, life is good. The afternoon was filled with swims and snorkeling around the reefs. Tomorrow is Sunday, and of course both me and Jenny will attend church in our Sunday best. Right now I am laying in the hammock while Jenny is cooking dinner, chicken, string beans, and cassava. The sun has gone down and on the beach you can hear the kids playing, and once in awhile you will hear the fish jumping around the boat. I would be very happy living this life for awhile.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Kava session on island Waya

2006-09-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Well, life is sweet. Laying in my hammock on the foredeck under a full moon. Me and Jenny have just come back from having spent the evening in the local village drinking kava and weaving mats with a group of very friendly Fijians. This village is the biggest on Waya Island and maybe the biggest in the Yasawas chain of islands, but there are only 300 people. We had to perform the sevusevu with the village chief when we arrived, giving him some really good roots of kava that I purchased while in Suva awhile back. It is so easy to like the Fijians, friendly, "back to nature" in a good way, and they really try to speak English. The village is also home to an boarding school for kids 6 to 14 from other islands nearby that lives at the school from Monday to Friday, and since today being Friday we witnessed the kids being pick up in small boats from other islands. It must be wild for such a small kids to be away from their parents for the whole week, on the other hand these kids have around a hundred other kids to play with every evening. We just motored here today from Saweni Bay on a flat calm ocean, filled with coral patches and small islands. We will probably stay here for a few days, since there are good hiking trails and good people. They grow a lot of fruits and vegetables here, so tomorrow we will follow our new friends to their gardens. Oh, I forgot to say that there are only three boats here, so we feel a bit special. We had a short but sweet trip to Suva to pick up my passport, but it feels really good to be anchored outside a small village. Walking through the village waiting for the full moon to come creeping over the steep hills around the village was really cool, the light of the sky with its stars balancing on the mountain ridges mixed together with the kerosene lamps in the village houses. Drinking kava is so much more a ritual then a way to get intoxicated, the effect is much like taking an aspirin. The only difference is that your mouth and lips gets numb. I do prefer a glass of wine any day to kava, but it would be nice if we somehow could work out a way to incorporate all the clapping of hands and sitting in a circle into our wine drinking.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Lautoka & Suva

2006-09-07T01:35:00.000-07:00

The game show hostess - one of the toughest gigs going. Every Monday without fail, they are asked what they did on the weekend. It is in their contract that they must have done at least three perky, upbeat activities - rollerblading, art openings are on the agenda. One day one will say that they had PMS and stayed in bed with a hot water bottle. I will salute them. So when I say that we haven't been up to much I think I need to learn the game show hostesses art of spin...

There has been the unusual - being delayed from reaching the bar because we had to get rid of the fish that had jumped into the dinghy.

There has been movement - we motored from Musket Cove to Saweni Bay near Lautoka. Didn't sink. I held the helm for the first time in 8 years and didn't hit anything.

Freddie has also managed to get a 2 year visa to Australia. We're back from a 2 day trip to Suva to pick up the visa - it's a looooooong way. 4 hours on a bus each way. There were movies though and they made it seem like 5 hours. If ever you get the chance to see a Billy Zane movie with Robert Downey Junior in it - run like the wind.

Fiji is a little wacky - there is a certain element of Britishness - lots of pictures of the Queen and Phil the Greek in their 50's in all the official buildings. Lots of Indian restaurants with names like The Jolly Good Cafe. It's a bit boy scout. Lovely people, with charm though - everyone wants to know where we are from and to shake our hand.

We're all stocked up and about to head North to the Yasawa islands. We have an aim to avoid coral atolls. Don't tell Grandma. As she has pointed out already about this trip. I DON'T LIKE IT - IT'S NOT SAFE. I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU GO ON BOATS.

Must go - the Swedish Chef has just asked me how I like my steak.

xxx

Jenny

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Enter stage left

2006-09-04T02:45:00.000-07:00

Having been reading this blog for 5 months, it is strange to suddenly be in it. Hakan will probably be having the same feelings about reading it. So Yacht Maiken now has an Australian aboard. For a while there I wasn't sure if I would make it. The flight over was uneventful. The transfer out to the island also went smoothly - in a plane so tiny it felt like being in a car with altitude. Freddie wasn't there to meet me though and that was because they'd brought me to the wrong island. By the time I made it back to the airstrip from the resort, the plane had returned to Nadi to get my luggage. Me, my luggage and Freddie, all on different islands. What I'm most amazed about is that we all managed to meet in the end. While I waited for the plane to return, I was taken on a tour round Mana Island. Then it was another flight to Malololai - my bag was in the back of the plane and Freddie was there waiting (he was told there was a delay with the plane).

I haven't sailed for 8 years and when I did it was on a 70 foot boat. I was wondering how I'd go in a smaller boat. It's all about ratios in the end. The Tree of Life was 70 foot with 7 people - that's 10 feet each. Maiken is 36 feet with two people. 18 feet each - luxury (but without the ice maker Kelly - so not true luxury).

Three reasons why I know I'm not in Melbourne any more:
1. You get wet going to the bar
2. We decide on the day of the week. Last night we decided that we probably really needed a second Sunday, so today was Sunday all day. Tomorrow is going to be Wednesday. I don't know what Wednesday will mean but it probably won't mean a 9am meeting in the cafe with the ecommerce team.
3. When you go to the head your feet don't touch the ground and you have to brace yourself on the opposite wall.

On a final note - to my mother's sewing circle, luckily ladies, despite your surmising, so far it looks like Freddie isn't inclined to keep me in a locked cupboard. Happy quilting.

Jenny

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Life Aquatic

2006-09-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

Today is just a perfect day, the wind died down during the night and it doesn't get much better weather then this. There is an amazing amount of fish here; today I had an octopus swimming up to the boat (it totally changed color when I poked it), in the harbor where you park your dinghy there are just thick clouds of small fish that do their circle swimming deal. We are taking of thousands of fish that makes the otherwise turquoise water dark grey. It is easy to see why a lot of boats ending up spending weeks here, you have everything you need plus the socializing scene of other yachties. In a way it is much like English Harbor in Antigua, but not as many yachts and no charter boats. Well, Jenny Blake is flying in tomorrow morning, so now my lonely days are coming to an end.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Musket Cove news

2006-08-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, I figured out how to get everybody to email me, just mention that you feel a bit lonely and people begin to write. It's great, love to read those emails. Well, here everybody is getting ready for the Regatta that starts end of next week, they have been asking me to stay and participate. I would be the only Swedish boat, but there is a whole other island group waiting, so I will slip my mooring lines the day before the start of the regatta. I started the day with making a bet with myself that I could dive from deck and swim under the keel in one go. I made it on the first try, but I got a green head and hands from the bottom paint. It was worth it I guess. It has been a bit windy yesterday and today, and that just makes me appreciate my windgenerator so much. Maiken has more energy in her batteries now then we had when we arrived a week ago, and that is while still using everything aboard daily. Need to go, dinner for one waiting (yes, still a bit lonely, so keep those emails coming).

Take care,

Fredrik

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Life at Musket Cove

2006-08-30T00:55:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the island bar, and since I don't have anybody else onboard to talk to right now, I guess I will have to include all of you with my thoughts. This is kind of a weird place, at the bar this evening at sunset you had the local yachties (mostly Australians) many with their kids (Australians like big families, many have three kids (much like the family that I grew up in)), the BBQ were going and the Fiji Bitters were ordered in plenty. At the same bar on this little sandy spot you had the Chemical Brothers ( a Big musical group, even though I am not a fan I know it is a Big group, yes that is with a big "B". Julia Roberts is spending her time at the island next to us, so is Kelly Slater (Big time surfer) (No, I don't think they are together, and I don't want to start any rumors)). Today I had a good working day on the boat, a salty environment causes of course a bit of work to make things look like they where painted yesterday, but I had a good day, so now Maiken looks sparkling (at least in a few spot, I will get to the other spots tomorrow). If my dear uncle H�kan ever starts a blog (which I think he should) about his daily life and thoughts, he should know that he will have at least one regular reader. This morning I only had to make one pot of coffee, which meant that there was only one person onboard. Ok, there is definitely good parts of having the whole boat to myself again. Yesterday night I watched the Godfather (cheap illegal copies from Suva), and I just had to make a plate of pasta after the wedding scene, that stuff is easier when you are just one (although I think H�kan would have loved the pasta with garlic, pesto, and some Thai green curry). Now I just have to send this, because as you know there is three parts to the Godfather.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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I am all alone....

2006-08-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday H�kan left to go back to family, job, and responsibilities. It's after all those things that make up life, you can't just roll on the waves forever. I will also be back on land soon, but first I hope to continue the saga that H�kan and me started. I felt a bit melancholy, sitting alone last night looking at the stars slowly sipping a Fiji Bitter. You get so used to have another person close at all times on the boat. Well, I got a long list of boat stuff that I would like to have completed before Jenny Blake comes, and there is after all a bar on a sandy island just a couple of minutes away, filled with fellow yachties that are starting to remember my face. I must add that although me and H�kan had a few moments when we didn't get along, it pretty amazing how easy it was to share a such a small surface that Maiken provides.

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Musket Cove, Fiji

2006-08-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Musket Cove yesterday after an uneventful sail from Suva. This place is very popular with yachties and in two weeks it is the yearly Regatta, which is one of the big events among yachties in South Pacific each year. I will be here for two weeks while H�kan is leaving and Jenny Blake comes. The yacht club here has good facilities and it would probably be easy to spend a month here just relaxing, diving, and BBQ and beer in the evening. The weather is a lot dryer than in Suva, which feels good since we had our fair share of rain while we were there. Today it is beautiful weather and with cool evenings, swinging on a mooring, life doesn't get much better. While in Suva, we had one crazy night in a sauna tent on the front lawn of Royal Suva Yacht club, we all tried to be hide our naked bodies as much as we could, but it is hard to take a sauna fully dressed which is was what the club would have preferred. We also had the experience of taking part in the judging of the beauty pageant "Hibiscus Queen". We just wanted to take a peek on the nice looking ladies, but ended up sitting on the front table. With the contestants looking at us (the only Caucasians there) like we were part of the show, representing some kind of modeling agency. We even got lunch and beer after. The market in Suva is great, great variety of fruit and vegetables to cheap prices. On the second floor you have the "grog" stores, which sells kava in all forms. I had to buy some good packages (the bigger and longer the root the better), since it is still custom to present Yaqona (Kava) to the chief in the village of the islands that you visiting. Well it is time to go, we are scheduled to go diving this afternoon.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Time for Sauna...

2006-08-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Suva August 21 2006

When we woke up yesterday morning a small yacht flying the Swedish flag were anchoring next to us, the yacht Sally blue. As we suspected it was the three youngsters from my county V�sterbotten in Sweden, that had arrived to Suva. On their 27 foot Vega they sailed from Ume� September last year. Their plan is to circumnavigate and if everything goes well they'll be home in Sweden next summer. We had a really nice evening together yesterday. Today we've been shopping handicraft. Fredrik is obsessed with walking sticks, he bought four more today. The Finnish yacht Linda have also arrived here and they're setting up a Sauna tent here on the shore so I will have my first sauna in five months. I really look forward to that. One must admit that the Finnish stick to their traditions.
The passage from Tonga to Fiji was my last, I'm leaving Fredrik and Maiken next week. We have done nearly 8000 nautical miles together, equivalent to 17000 kilometers or almost half way around the Earth. I must say that I do long for my children but otherwise I think I could continue for another 8000 miles. There is a lot to see and experience, and voyaging by yacht is a fine way to discover this great planet that is our home.
Tomorrow we will sail to Mamanuca islands just east of Viti Levu and hopefully do some good diving.

Take care out there

H�kan

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Bula!

2006-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

Somewhere on Tellus, but far from home.

So, here we are in Suva, the capital of Fiji. We have left Polynesia and entered Melanesia. The passage from Tonga was quite eventful with volcano eruptions, stony seas and whales but the sailing itself was rather uneventful. We've been lucky to chose the right time for the passages. The cold fronts with strong winds have been coming once a week here, and as soon as we anchored here in Suva the front came over us with strong winds and rain. Here in Suva there are some 170 000 inhabitants so it seems a big city to us coming from Alofi and Neiafu. And it feels good to be in a city again. It's very friendly people here, "bula" (hello) and smiles everywhere. However, Fiji was formerly known for it's cannibalism and among others the Swedish adventurer Charles Savage (is that a Swedish name?) was on the menu here in the nineteenths century.
Captain Bligh was more lucky. During the mutiny on Bounty in Tahiti, he and some of his men, was put in a 7 m rowing boat. Arriving in Fiji the cannibals attacked them in their canoes. But they managed escape and now the sea between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu is named Bligh Water. I guess the Fijian's was a little bit impressed by his escape. Eventually Bligh and his men arrived in Timor having made one of the most spectacular open boat journeys of all time.
Fiji has 850 000 inhabitants with indigenous Fijians making up half of the population and Fijian Indians the other half. Formerly a British colony Fiji gained independence 1987. But they still drive on the left side and serve bacon, baked beans, eggs and toast for breakfast. Suva seams to be growing, on the expense of surrounding island, and here you find old tradition mixed with modern technique and western style.
The annual Hibiscus festival started today, a festival quite similar to the Heiva in French Polynesia. Beauty contest, dancing, singing and exhibitions. We have had good timing when it comes to festivals.
Sitting here on the boat I'm surrounded by old cargo and fishing ships in the harbor. Some derelict vessels but some used as homes I guess. Right in front of me now is Massachusetts, an old rusty freighter, with washed clothes on a line to dry and a man having his dinner on stern deck. Not many sailing vessels here though. Fredrik and I have sailed pretty fast, leaving many of the boats we met behind.
Soon we'll take a taxi into town and join the celebrating people. Taxi is really cheap here. Ten Swedish kronor (a little more than a dollar) for two kilometers into town.

Hellre lyss till den sträng som brast
än att aldrig spänna sin båge.

Sorry "engalanders", this is written in the beautiful Swedish language.

H�kan

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Stone sea and volcano

2006-08-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Maiken cruising through a sea of stones

This volcanic island rose from the sea in front of us.

An amazing last few days - weird but amazing

2006-08-12T23:05:00.000-07:00

19deg.18.315S 176deg.24.359W 15:10L
Early afternoon, somewhere east of the Lau Group in Fiji. We are sailing south of the island group to avoid having to pass through it during night. Yesterday we saw the birth of an island, most likely we were the first humans to see the new creation. We have some pictures, but they will have to wait until we have a chance to upload them. So you might have heard about the sailor superstition that you should "never leave on a Friday". Well, we did and the sea turned to stone, it is hard to get a stronger sign than that. It sounds like a bad joke, but just wait until you see the pictures. Floating stones none the less. When you pick them up, it is easy to see that they are really just volcanic ash that compressed into pumice stone. This experience mixed with a close encounter of three whales makes you understand that the ocean is full of surprises. We had a great time in Neiafu and Tonga, and this might be the place where I come back and leave the boat one day. There is a lot of great entrepreneurial young people around trying to make a go at this place. Good bars like Mermaid and Tonga Bob's, and fine restaurants like the Dancing Rooster. This together with an amazing area, the Vava'u group of islands, makes this an easy place to enjoy. Like all the other islands it is the small things that makes it so human; like when you wake up at 0530 on a Friday morning to the song from the village church or the young children in school reciting something loudly in a very simple schoolhouse.
So, we are on the way again. This time toward Fiji, where we hope to do some good diving before H�kan leaves and Jenny Blake comes to join Maiken for the last passage to Australia. We plan to entry the country in Suva, and then make our way down to Kandavu before heading to the western side of Fiji.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Whales and volcanoes.

2006-08-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

Lat 19 deg 00' Long 174 deg 48' Saturday Aug 12 17.45 local time

We left Neiafu and Vava'u yesterday after some tedious checking out procedures and set sail for Fiji, passing the north side of Late island as first way point. After five miles we noticed brown, somewhat grainy streaks in the water. First we thought that it might be an old oil dumping. Some ship cleaning its tanks. But the streak became larger and more frequent after a while, and there were rocklike brownish things the size of a fist floating in the sea. And the water were strangely green and "lagoon like" too. Eventually it became more and more clear to us that it had to be pumice from a volcanic eruption. And then we sailed into a vast, many miles wide, belt of densely packed pumice. We were going by motor due to lack of wind and within seconds Maiken slowed down from seven to one knot. We were so fascinated and busy taking pictures that we plowed a couple of hundred meter into this surreal floating stone field before we realized that we had to turn back. Just as we came out of the stone field and entered reasonably normal water we noticed that there came no cooling water from the engine. Not surprising, really. After cleaning the water filter the Yanmar diesel started again. Thank God! Without wind we would have been stuck in a sea of stone if the motor had failed. Next thing to check was the other water inlets. Some minor pumice particles but nothing serious. But the bottom paint were scrubbed away at places along the waterline, Maiken has an ablative paint so it was just doing what is supposed to do. Like we'd sailed through sandpaper. So, we headed back east to get away from the stony sea. There are two active volcanoes south of Late island, adjacent to Metis shoal and Home reef. Since we didn't know which one had erupted, the extent of the eruption and it was getting dark the we decided to anchor in Vaiutukakau bay outside Vava'u for the night. The sky darkened fast from rain clouds over Vava'u and we sailed leaving the stone sea onto darkness towards a perfect rainbow ahead, like a big welcoming arcade. It was completely dark when we anchored close to land at 25 meters depth. In the morning we woke to birds song. Lot of birds nesting on the steep hillside next to us. After checking the motor and boat we set out again. We decided to go south of Metis reef to go clear of the stony debris.
Just after leaving Vaiutukakau bay we encountered three whales, probably two males and a female, playing in front of us. They circled around the boat only meters away for a while, seemingly interested of Maiken, before swimming away.
A couple of hours ago we identified the active volcano as the one close to Home reef, and we are on our way there now to take a closer look.
We are two miles from it and we can see the volcano clearly. One mile in diameter and with four peaks and a central crater smoking with steam and once in a while an outburst high in the sky with lava and ashes.
I think were the first ones out here so perhaps we could claim the island and name them(?)

Well folks, it's getting hot.
Have to quit!

H�kan

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Whale swimming pictures

2006-08-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Whales are beautiful

2006-08-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

Neiafu 19.42 local time August 7 2006

A small glass of dark rum in my hand, sitting on deck, feeling content. The sea is completely calm, the moon is full and from the Mermaid over the water I hear "Go, go Johnny go". And we went. Been out all day looking for whales. Six of us on the boat except the guide and the helmsman. Only four allowed in the water at a time swimming with the Humpback whales. Although we've seen a lot of whales around earlier it wasn't all that easy to spot them today. There are about 700 Humpback whales here but the waters are vast! After an hour and an half we spotted a couple of whales. The boat took us some twenty meters from the whales and we went into the water and swam towards those mighty animals. The first times I caught only a glimpse. We left the first whales to them self after an hour, took lunch and did some good snorkeling in a cave. In the afternoon I came so close to the whales that I almost could have touched them. An impressing and humbling experience. But it's hard to say whether the whales mind. Today there were two boats out whale swimming. We took it really slow and careful and as long as this whale swimming is kept on a reasonable level I guess it's alright. The Humpbacks come here to mate and to give birth. They do not feed in these waters and spent five months without food from and to Antarctica. The mother is pregnant for 12 months and the whales live in average 40 to 45 years. According to our guide their song differs year from year. And the song depends on where they are going, Nuie or Tonga?
There's a lot going on out there in the oceans.

Salve!

H�kan

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Lazy sunday..

2006-08-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

Neiafi August 6 2006

We're still in Neiafu relaxing. Today the churches are crowded. We saw people standing outside by the door and windows. Beautiful singing inside.
Almost everything is closed down, even the ATM machine is unavailable today. Luckily the Yacht club's restaurant is open so here we sit enjoying our breakfast, reading and writing. Yesterday we had breakfast at the Aquarium where they also have internet access at a reasonable price. The Aquarium was started by Ben and Lisa a couple of years ago. The moved from San Francisco and live here on their boat. You can buy land and start your own business without a local partner here now. At the shore there is a large new construction site and estate prices have gone way up the past few years. Neiafu is a great place to have your yacht stationed, the bay is almost completely landlocked and from here you can easily reach large parts of the south pacific.
Yesterday a Humback whale was swimming here in the bay among the yachts, and tomorrow we are scheduled to swim with the Humpback whales. I hope Fredrik has recovered from his hip ailment by then. Well that's all for now folks!

Ciao.

H�kan

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Feast..

2006-08-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Neiafu August 4 2006

Yesterday evening we went to the feast in Hinakauea bay. A beautiful spot with a little village, children playing on the beach, and yachts in the bay. There where a little market with local handicraft of good quality. In all, we where some twenty person at the feast. Before eating the children in the village, all dressed up, danced traditional Tongan dances, which lack hip movements and instead concentrate on rather slow gracious arm and hand movements. They also showed sitting dances and the boy's danced some warrior dances. To accompany two gentlemen played guitar and banjo. The food was a variety of fish, meat and vegetables cooked in the umu (earth oven) and a small pig that they had grilled whole. At the end, for those interested, there was kava tasting. I took just a little sip from the coconut shell used as a cup. It didn't taste anything special, but it had a transient anesthetic effect on the lips and tongue. The locals seamed to enjoy it though. Later in the evening, back in Neiafu, guided by the music we slipped in to Tonga Bob's Cantina where they had a Drag show. We left rather early but the music continued to play, ready audible at our yacht, till two a clock in the morning. This morning we had the third visit at our yacht from a local guy who wanted to sell handicraft. They go round to every yacht in the bay. This is, I think, the downside to tourism. Still it's less so here compared to Bali and Thailand.

Take care

H�kan

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Neiafu

2006-08-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Tonga islands are flat and low as is Niue. But Tonga is an archipelago consisting of many islands. This is the lee side where the whales prefer to be.

This is Lofi, a local monger of handicraft and the first person we meet in Neiafu.

Neiafu is a small city with some 6000 inhabitants and rather much tourism, both backpackers and yachties.

Is Fredrik considering a night at Puataukanave International Hotel? First class one should think.

Damn! Where did we leave the boat?

Puh! Found it at last.

People in the Kingdom of Tonga are very religious. Mormons have a stronghold here.
A mixture of worship and commerce.

This rainbow so close that you could almost touch it.

Tongan village feast.

2006-08-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Market at Hinakauea bay with baskets made of Pandanus, carvings made from cow and whale bones among other things.

One of the many little pigs who run around freely. This one has stopped running.

Children playing at the beach in Hinakauea bay.

One of the showgirls.

The band is gathered and it’s time to take it away! The chief choreographer is sitting a little to the middle.

Tongan sitting dance. Perhaps a good choice later in the evening getting tipsy and tired.

Tonga

2006-08-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

Neiafu Vava'u August 3 2006.

We arrived at Vava'u yesterday morning after two days of pretty rough sailing. Arriving here from the east we crossed the international date line, so we just "lost" one day. According to a local slogan this is where time begins. When checking in here the local authorities comes to the boat, as opposed to French Polynesia and Niue where you go to them. Immigration, customs and quarantine officers boarded Maiken one after the other. Doing their, tiresome I guess, paperwork they shortly asked - Do you have any soft drinks?. No, unfortunately not, all consumed already. But we do have Steinlager beer! Luckily, beer seamed to work as well. The immigration officer had some doubt about my passport, - you look much younger than you do in your passport, he said. Handing him a large bowl of peanuts I assured him that photographs taken near the polar circle, where I live, can be gravely distorted due to cold and lack of daylight in the winter. This explanation seamed to satisfy him,(or was it the peanuts?), and I had my passport stamped. When done with check in, there was this Swedish women waiting for us on the quay. It was not the local consular welcoming committee, but a women in her thirties who had lived here in Neiafu the last year and who felt happy to see a Swedish boat. We agreed to meet at six a clock at the Mermaid for drinks and some chitchat. We then took a mooring outside the local yacht club. When setting the anchor alarm I saw that the GPS plotter indicated that we actually were anchored some 100 meters up on land! Our GPS position being right without question, the plotters chart had to be mistaking. And it's not the first time that we've been sailing on land since we entered the South Pacific according to the plotter. Just goes to say that you should not trust your map completely. Reality is more reliable! The afternoon was spent exploring the town of Neiafu, the second largest and perhaps the most touristy place in Tonga. One can easily see why the Vava'u group is so popular and one of the Pacific's sailing charter havens. The coastal waters are deep and easily navigated in this archipelago with it's many islands, and the main island has a lot of fjords that gives good protection in rough weather. This is where the whales leaving Antarctica during winter comes to play and to give birth. When entering yesterday we saw a couple of humpback whales, an endangered species due to unsustainable whaling. This is also a hideout for backpacker, although not endangered, a rather scarce breed. After some drinks at the Mermaid, Fredrik and I went to the Dancing Rooster for a splendid BBQ buffet. This morning we have cleaned up the boat and dried all wet gear from the past sailing. Around the boat there is hundreds of jelly fish pumping their way through in the water making swimming less palatable, but a "sun shower" in left over drinking water did the trick quite as well. Just about ready to go now to town for lunch and some errands. Tonight we're going to Hinakauea bay to enjoy a traditional feast with local foods baked in an Umu (earth oven), dancing performance and kava ceremony.

'alu hangatonu fakamolemole.
(go straight, please)

H�kan

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Bye to Niue..

2006-07-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

We left Niue on Sunday morning heading for Vavau in the northern part of the Kingdom of Tonga. And the weather continues to be a little rough. There's currently a high being squeezed between two low pressure systems creating strong winds from the southwest in this area. This combined with heavy swells and numerous squalls have provided the excitement necessary to keep Fredrik and I on our toes. Sternila, a fifty foot schooner, that left Niue little behind us have been sailing close to us all night. First getting a head of us, then reefing and slowing down right in front of us. Luckily we were awake and alert and could pass Sternila only quarter of a mile apart. Today the wind have veered to the east gradually making our ride more comfortable as the waves turn to come from the east. We have 75 miles to go and all is well onboard.

Take care

H�kan

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Pictures from Niue and some from the past

2006-07-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

Village show day in Alofi

Dinner with new friends

The sky in Niue

Niue's coastline is very different from French Polynesia

Håkan on a bike ride, which ended with his pedal falling off.

A hurricane with over 300 km winds destroyed 80% of the islands buildings 2 years ago.

Not a very popular airline

Our mooring spot in Niue

Moments at sea

Using our spinnaker pole to pole out the Genoa

Sunset in Bora Bora

Maiken in a big following sea

Fruit carrying competion in Bora Bora

Oskar at the Beachcomber Hotel

2006-07-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

Nuie July 27, 2006

I’m sitting on deck listening to Dave Matthews and letting the afternoon sun caress me.
Maiken are tied to a mooring bouy outside Alofi on Niue, and Fredrik s laying on foredeck listening to “Sommar” on Swedish radio via free wireless internet. This remote little island, best known for it’s inexpensive internet addresses, is fairy large and completely flat, quite unlike the mountainous islands and atolls in French Polynesia. The name Niue means “look, there’s a coconut” in Niuean. It’s a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. Besides the local lingo everyone speaks English here. With a population of about 1800 it’s one of the smallest countries in the world, population getting smaller every year. People leave this tropical paradise for New Zealand. In January 2004 a tropical cyclone with winds up to 300 km per hour struck the island demolishing 80 percent of the buildings. Luckily the cyclone struck at daytime and there were only one casualty. In the following months 300 inhabitants, mostly elderly, left the island. It would seem to be good opportunity to buy oneself a tropical estate at a reasonable price. There are some problems though. The locals bury there relatives on their own piece of land, so one or two tomb stones on the lawn is not unusual.
When we were sailing towards Alofi yesterday a motorboat with a couple of smiling pretty girls came up too us. “Är dere svensker?” - Are you Swedes? A very nice welcome! But a rhetorical question I should think since we flew our very BIG Swedish flag. As the patriots we are. Or could it be the sight of two salty, athletic sailors that caught their attention!? Anyway, the pretty Norwegian girls were going whale watching. And we had to guide Maiken to port. Today we hired bicycles and went passed the local golf course, nine short holes. Tempting though. Only 15 dollars green fee. And clubs can be arranged through Nuie rentals, only there was nobody there. Lunch hour?
Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow? Speeding our way on two wheels we ended up on THE hotel on Nuie; Matavai. Very scenic location! Big waves breaking at the shore, thirty meters below the hotel. Whilst checking out their lunch menu, we encountered a couple of familiar whale watchers in the restaurant. Having spent lunch with them I now realize that we never got properly introduced. But one of them is a dentist and the other teaches yoga and gives massage. Both lives in Oslo, and they’ll probably show at the “Wash away bar” one of these nights. It’s a long way though, eight kilometers, and there’s no lights on our rental bikes. But as they say; when the cause is right, there’s no limit to the effort you will go through!

Be sure to wear a helmet whenever on two wheels!

Håkan

Still at sea

2006-07-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, this trip is really becoming longer than we first thought, light or no wind the last two days has made a mark. We have motored a few hours in the morning yesterday and today, just to feel that we are actually going somewhere and to charge batteries. This ocean without any wind is like a ever changing landscape of ridges and valleys, the mighty Pacific swell just comes rolling by and since it is so long and gentle you only notice it if you look towards the horizon. This is also an area with a lot of humpback whales that comes up to the Tonga region to have their calves, H�kan saw one this morning. Right now the wind is back, and we are sailing along in over 6 knots and we have less then 200 nm to Niue.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Light winds makes lazy days at sea

2006-07-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well, according to everyone else on the radio net there isn't supposed to be any wind around, but Maiken is still gliding along making 4 knots. The secret I think is really just that we either go wing in wing with the mainsail or just the big genoa with the spinnaker pole holding it out, it doesn't need much wind to push us along. Me and H�kan is getting really good at handling the fairly long pole around, while setting everything up. Other than that, it has been really lazy days on the boat, reading books (right now, we both read the same book unfortunetely "Atlas shrugged" by Ayn Rand, so we have to steal it from each other), and eating good. The last two days we have had swedish pancakes with cloudberry preserve (hjortronsylt) for breakfast. So, not much going on, just life at sea.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Another great day out in the big blue

2006-07-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

I had a great time this morning reading all the emails from friends and acquaintances that responded after having read the article in my local hometown newspaper. Please, keep them coming, my sister is doing a great job checking my emails and blog comments and getting them to me via my sailmail email. I promise I will try to respond to each and everyone of them. The wind has been steady from the South for the last 12 hours now, so Maiken is happily sailing along westward. We are currently sailing right past two of the Cook Island, we have no really desire to stop since we have heard from other cruisers that the local conditions make a stop very hard, both the pass to the lagoon, and not much room to anchor. We might try to stop at Bevridge Reef, which is an atoll with no real land over water, just a ring of coral. The boat that is anchored there now, had only great things to say about it, this is where listening to the radio net in the morning is a great asset. The sea has calmed down amazingly quickly from scary high waves to just a nice long swell, this is the result that the wind shifted 90 degrees, which flattened the existing waves down.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Waiting for the front...

2006-07-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

Lat 17 deg 21' S Long 156 deg 13' W 13.15 local time July 17 2006

Keep on rocking in the free world! And Neil Young isn't the only one rocking. Neptune has been rocking, and rolling, for the last couple of days. This morning a clear sky and the sun is soothing even if we're inside, hatches closed. Hearing other yachts on the same route reporting on the radio in the morning also feels good. We are not the only ones having a less than pleasant voyage. Fredrik and I have agreed on a strategy for the next 48 hours meeting the front. The wind will spin 360 degrees counterclockwise and then gradually decrease in strength. Hopefully we won't have the wind on the nose for long. Beating with this heavy sea won't be pleasant.

19.00 local time
The wind has increased steadily over the last hours. So we decided to take in the third reef, and we make six to seven knots with the mainsail only. Seas building during the afternoon and evening to small mountains. Beautiful but a little scary even if we were prepared. Right after sunset when it looked pretty steady and the wind had showed some tendency to go below 30 knots there came a rainstorm with winds up to 40 knots. Luckily it lasted only for half an hour. So here we are in the night checking the radar now and then for squalls waiting for the front to pass.

Alea jacta est.
H�kan

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On the move again

2006-07-16T21:51:00.001-07:00

Lat 17 deg 14' Long 154 deg 45' 17.00 local time July 16 2006

We are on the move again, and it feels good. After three days on Bora Bora we set sail for Niue some 1000 nautical miles away. My son Oskar left us after fourteen days and continued his journey around the globe. Next stop Tokyo. Thanks for all the new music and books Oskar, and good luck on your journey! The sea has been "lumpy and bumpy", as they say on the Coconut net, due to changing wind direction and rather strong wind the last days.
The radio controller for the radio net said this morning that he worked on getting the water out of the boat due to breaking seas, all this while managing the net. So I hope for the sea to calm a little bit right now. Until then we'll just keep on rolling.

Take care
H�kan

So here we are again, things slamming around in the lockers on the boat, the odd wave crashes on the side of the boat sending some books flying. There are times you just don't really appreciate sailing. It is a bit of a shock to go from a calm turquoise lagoon to a steel blue ocean with foam streaming down in the waves. The good thing is that Maiken is performing great, good speed with only the Main with 2nd reef in. We are leaving behind French Polynesia, which has served us well and we are looking forward to new islands and friends. For now it is just to hold on and spend the days reading, listening to some good music, and looking forward to the next meal.

I hope all is great with all my friends and family,

Take care,

Fredrik,

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K ärlekens ö ...

2006-07-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

En liten notering från Tahiti den 10/7 2006.

Vi ligger på svaj 400 meter från land och Marina Taina, en knapp mil sydväst om Papeete. Västerom oss i riktning mot Moorea dundrar bränningarna mot barriär-revet. Vi har varit en vecka på Tahiti , "the island of love".
Att Tahiti skulle vara kärlekens ö märker vi inte mycket av även om människorna här liksom på övriga öar vi besökt är vänliga och tillmötesgående. Den omskrivna bekymmerslösa attityden fanns nog både på Marqueses och Tuamotus, men knappast här pä Tahiti med sin stadsmentalitet. Kapten Cook med flera sjöfarare som kom till Polynesien på slutet av 1700 talet hade inga svårigheter att byta varor och tjänster med lokalbefolkningen. Spik var eftertraktat hos lokalbefolkningen som gjorde om spikarna till fiskekrokar. Bland annat byttes spik mot erotik av kärlekstörstande besättningsmän. Det sägs att mängden spikar som drogs ut ur skrovet på fartyget utgjorde ett direkt hot mot sjödugligheten hos fartygen.
Tahiti har knappt 200 000 innevånare, de flesta boende i och runt Papeete. Här och var ses byggnadskranar, cementblandare och högar av armeringsjärn och allt tyder på att Papeete tillväxer. Unga människor flyttar in från öarna omkring. Urbanisering tycks vara en universiell trend. Från båten ser vi grönklädda branta berg vars toppar når ovan molnen. Närmast stranden; hotell, marinor och en del egna hem, ofta skjulartade. Nära stranden går också vägen, närmast Papeete tvåfilig, som går runt ön. Sluttningarna närmast vattnet och några hundra meter upp är tätt bebyggda med som det verkar moderna egnahem och även en del hyreshus. Några hundra meter från marinan ligger Mammons lokala högborg, Carrefour, dit vi vallfärdar nästan dagligen. Priserna där ligger fortfarande betydligt hägre än hemma men lägre än de lokala magasinen på öarna. Vi bunkrar för närmsta månaden åtminstone. Stadslivet i Papeete har lockat till ett antal besök. Enklast och billigast tar man sig dit med Le Truck, gamla lastbilar med flaken överbyggda och försedda med träbänkar. Enkel resa kostar 130 CPF vilket motsvarar cirka 10 kronor. Vi har gjort ett antal resor till Papeete, njutit en kall öl och tittat på folklivet, shoppat lite och ätit gott. Middag på kajen på en av många s.k. Roulottos är ett prisvärt och välsmakande alternativ. Vi har sett parader, dans och musik på den s.k. Heivan, en årlig fest med inslag av traditionell dans, musik och kamp. Bland annat tävlan i fruktbärning, spjutkastning och rodd. För att få lite kontrast till båtlivet gick vi en kväller till det lokala lyxhotellet Beachcomber för drinkar, middag och underhållning.
Men efter några dagar med fast mark under fötterna börjar tankarna på att kasta loss igen och hissa segel.

Sjön suger.
Håkan

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Easy life in Tahiti

2006-07-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

We are still in Tahiti, but we are getting ourselves ready to head out tomorrow for Huahine. We have stocked up on groceries and drinks, and filled our watertanks, the only thing left is to buy tax-free diesel just before we leave. The last few days has been very relaxing and we have contributed a lot to the French Polynesian economy, mostly on cold Hinanos and baguette sandwiches.

We went to the fancy hotel Tahiti Beachcomber Inter-Continental yesterday to see the Grand Ballet de Tahiti, it is free if you have a drink in the very nice bar. I don't know if the blurriness of the pictures are because of the fast moving dancers or the drinking requirement in the bar for the photographer.

We have had tropical rain showers at times during the last few days, it can be a pain, but it makes for a lovely sky

Pictures from Fakarava

2006-07-04T00:26:00.000-07:00

Closing in on Tahiti at sunrise.

A beautiful Mahi Mahi we caught.

Sailing wing in wing to Tahiti.

Some dancing in a backyard.

A bikeride with Håkan and Martina around the atoll.

Sunset and sunrise on Fakarava.

A few scenes from the village.

There is lots of fish everywhere in the lagoon.

A couple of pictures of the local school.

The village of Rotoava on Fakarava

A small wahoo that we caught on the way over from Marquesas

Maiken is eager to get to her first atoll.

Barbaque in Paradise

2006-07-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks in the states I thought the heat in Tahiti wouldn't be a problem. New York was comfortably hot for walking around Manhattan. California grilled my body to rare-medium. But here in Tahiti even with cool breezes now and then I'm well done. Still I'm perfectly satisfied sitting on top of Maiken, sipping some rum and watching the waves crash into the barrier reef. The trip so far has been flawless with the exception of the flight from Los Angeles to Tahiti. Air New Zealand wouldn't let me board the plane unless I could give them proof from Fredrik that I would sail out with them from Tahiti. I was given the option of buying a return ticket or not going at all. All this just four hours before the plane was leaving. Total panic! After two hours of running around the airport they let me board though. H�kan had a slight problem with something he ate and has been sleeping for most of the day. Everything else here is fine and dandy. The scenery is beautiful here in the pacific and the local girls aren't that bad either. Hopefully we'll get to see some more of the Heiva tomorrow Monday. Oskar over and out.

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Heiva in Tahiti

2006-07-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

We are currently at anchor near Maeva Beach, a few miles from Papeete. Papeete has changed a lot since I was here the last time. I had warned H�kan about all the boat packed in like sardines along the quay in Papeete, but when we arrived there was only a handful boat tied up along the Boulevard. Since they built the new marina Taina near the airport, most boats prefer to anchor outside or use their docks. I guess it is a lot safer and it only takes a short bus trip with Le Truck to get into Papeete. My cousin Oskar has arrived and is currently in the process of getting a tan and getting used to the boat. I feels really strange to walk into the giant grocery store Carrefour, which is within walking distance from us. Civilisation comes almost as a shock, and I don't really know if I like it. We are stocking up on food, water, and fuel while we are here, and I also bought a used 4 HP outboard this morning from an American boat. Now when it is three of us, it takes a lot of power on our electric trolling engine to move us around. The yearly Heiva festival started yesterday with a parade through Papeete, and during the next couple of weeks there will be a lot of traditional Polynesian dance acts and traditional sporting event taking place. We are planning to stay for a week or so around Tahiti and Moorea then move on to Huahine. We ate at the "roulettes" the other day, which are small caravans and trucks that comes and set up small outdoor eating places all around, but especially down at the waterfront in Papeete. It is a very cool concept and the food is actually really good. Today it is really hot, and just sitting writing this, creates big pearls of sweat on my back. The good thing is that as soon as I have closed down the computer, I can jump down into the clear lagoon water surrounding Maiken.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Diving in Fakarava, Te Ava Nui

2006-06-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

So, we left the Fakarava behind us, and are currently on the way to Tahiti. We should be arriving some time tomorrow afternoon if the wind stays steady. Oskar's flight comes in early the next day, so we do have a deadline to meet. We had a great time in Fakarava, and I could easily have stayed another week. We were anchored right outside the dive shop, so we tied the dinghy up there. I dove three times with the two very friendly French guys that runs the place, and the last dive was probably the best I ever done. We dove in the big pass, right when the current was about to switch from going into the lagoon to going out, so the current wasn't too strong. It is one thing to be weightless, which by itself is great when you dive, but if you add a 2 knot current and canyons, you really feel like you are flying. At a few spots you position yourself close too the coral to avoid the current and just observe the large amount of sharks and ocean fish that are just circling the area. The sharks come right up to you and there is so many of them, but somehow you feel totally safe. The last dive it was just Mark and me and the two instructors, one was taking photos for a French magazine, since the conditions were so good. If there are some divers reading this, I can just say that you have to go there, after diving in a lot of places in the South Pacific, this is definitely one of the best. The Italian lady Martina stayed with us for the reminder of our stay there, and we had some great times at sunset on the boat. The sunset in a lagoon is just spectacular, and if you mix it with good friends and some cold Hinano or good wine, well, you have a winner.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Fakarava

2006-06-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Maiken is swaying on anchor inside the lagoon of Fakarava, and me and H�kan spent yesterday snorkeling and appreciating the beauty of the atoll. Later on today we are scheduled to go diving on the reef outside the pass, and hopefully do a drift dive in the pass tomorrow. There is only a handful other boats here a three of them is Norwegians. Everybody have telling us about their fantastic diving experiences, so we are really looking forward to this afternoon. The drift dive is a fairly technical dive, and since neither H�kan or myself have been diving that much the last few years, we thought it would be better to start of with a easier dive. We have kind of teamed up with a young Swiss guy by the name of Mark, who is sailing on a British boat. Nice guy, and it is always more fun to have more people along when snorkeling or diving. By chance we also ran into a young Italian lady by the name of Martina, who is staying for a week on the atoll. She swims out to our boat and hangs out or go snorkeling with us, a fun loving woman who spent last night on Maiken, and swam back ashore in the morning. Most boats in the anchorage is monitoring the weather closely, as everyone wants to time their next passage when there is wind but without too much ocean swells. The French radio warned about dangerous swells today in the southern Tuamotus, and the wind is supposed to die out in the next few days, so you really have to find a window when the compromise between swell and wind is okey. Fakarava is very laid back and the people very friendly and there seems to be a lot of kids around. The women are more beautiful here than in the Marquesas, and people cycle everywhere. We will probably be here until Sunday or Monday, when we sail on to Tahiti.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Don't you fish in that blue lagoon.....

2006-06-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Lat; 15 deg 35' S Long; 145 deg 12' W 14.05 local time June 20 2006

We are now in the Tuamotu's archipelago. A dangerous place, many atolls have wrecks on their coral reefs. Despite modern navigational aids like the GPS, it's still considered hazardous to navigate here. The atolls are very low, the palm trees being the only thing visible at a distance. And since most of the atoll's circumference lack palm trees to mark its boundaries you can imagine that it's easy to get too close, and even bump into a coral head. And that's not good for you or your boat. If you manage to avoid the coral reefs you still have the challenge of getting safe through the passes into the lagoon. Tides create strong currents with breakers and the narrow passes are lined with razor sharp coral heads so you better pick the right time for passage. We are sailing really slow to get to Fakarava in the morning when the tide is right.
This vast area encompassing roughly half the size of western Europe consist of two parallel chains of atolls running from northwest to southeast. With it's 76 atolls, of which 41 are inhabited, it's the largest group of atolls in the world. Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the world is here. As is Raroia, the atoll that Thor Heyerdahl and his raft Kon Tiki landed on 1947 after crossing the Pacific from South America. The Tuamotu's is also home of the Mururoa atoll, known for numerous French nuclear tests. The few people living here traditionally made a living from selling copra and fishing. Today pearl farming is the main industry. Although there's a lot of fish in the lagoon many of them can't be used for food because of Ciguatera, a nerve disease caused by a toxin produced by Gambierdiscus toxicus, a one-celled dino-flagellate algae, that small fish feed on. Reversal of hot and cold sensation are one of the symptoms. Fancy that! Just think what those toxins can do. Numbness and tingling around the mouth and extremities are also common. In my practice back in Ume� that symptom is almost always due to hyper-ventilation. But here you have to think of intoxication. So Fredrik and I will stick to fish from the open ocean. Yesterday we caught a Wahoo again. And now Fredrik is making brownies. Yummy!!

Take care out there.
Remember that old Eskimo saying; Nanook! - Don't you go were the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow!
In the local pacific variant it will be; Tetohu! - Put away that toxic fish, the lagoon's catch is not a proper dish!

H�kan

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Lovely sailing

2006-06-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

12deg52.983S 143deg16.903W 19:15L

We are currently on the way to the atoll of Fakarava. The sailing has been lovely so far and we are making really good speed. The wind and sea is dropping for every hour that passes, but we still have enough for Maiken to glide ahead in 5 to 6 knots. It has been really hot the last few days, and pearls of sweat runs down your back as soon as you try to do some chores inside. We have begun to listen to the cruiser net on the SSB radio in the morning, it is a bit more interesting now that you know some of the people that are reporting in. We have caught 3 small tunas the last two days, and that is after just having the line in the water for a few minutes, it is almost absurd. H�kan has been making sashimi and tuna curry, it has been nice that the fish has been of a smaller size, so that there isn't so much waste.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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We are sailing again

2006-06-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today we left the Marquesas Islands behind us and set sail for the Tuamotus. We had sailed from Daniel's Bay yesterday, to provision and upload some pictures in the main village. Most of the boats in Daniel's Bay had decided on leaving at sunrise today, after been waiting for the strong winds and swell to settle down, but still have good wind all the way to the atolls. This was the first time H�kan and me really participated in the cruising community with all the talk on the VHF and SSB, although we didn't do much talking, just learning from the more experienced sailors. It was a rush to head out from Daniel's Bay and encounter fairly large swell right on the nose as they came funneled down into larger bay that feeds into Daniel's Bay. We had a great evening onboard the Norwegian boat Uterus the other night singing to Henrietta's guitar and putting the rest of the anchorage at a standstill, we were that good. We will most likely sail to Fakarava, the second largest atoll, which is supposed to have some amazing snorkeling. It felt really good to be sailing again, and Maiken is making good speed in the 15 to 20 knot wind. Right now the only thing missing is a fish on the line.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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2006-06-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is Daniels place and the two pickup trucks used on the beach. Another rather typical Marquesian home. Every little village has it’s own telephone booth .It’s warm like in… but the NoNo’s makes you keep some clothes on. Still happy though. Every little village seems to have a chapel as well. This is the waterfall from some distance, best viewed that way. This is some of the boats in Daniels bay, at the back to the left there’s Uterus from Bergen. Very nice people Benjamin and Henrietta.

Chilli for water.

2006-06-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

On Monday we hiked to the local waterfall through the jungle on a muddy, slippery, rocky little path that crossed the stream several times. After a while the crossings became a welcome opportunity to cool off. It took two and an half hours to walk to the bottom of the water fall. Very nice cliffs there hiding most of the water fall. It was more like hearing it and feeling the cold drizzling air. From distance along the path there was a good view of the fall though. Beautiful, very high, but not so big. Our water bottle was almost empty due to an unfortunate leak so we felt rather lightheaded from dehydration when we got back after five hours. Later in the afternoon we visited Daniel, who lives with his wife in the bay, to get water. Daniel is well known among Pacific sailors for his hospitality and good water. We gave Daniel a couple of packages of Staggs chilli in return for the water .He showed me a guest book filled with hundreds of names of visiting sailors . I have a total of seven guest books he told me. I asked about the two relatively new pickup trucks on the beach, and if there was a road leading from his bay. Oh no, he said, there is no road connection to the rest of the island. They use the cars to drive along the 500 m of grass road that goes along the stream. The cars came by ship. Daniel and his wife are the only permanent residents here but sometimes as much as ten people stay here. We saw a few of them, moving their lawns and chopping threes. Among the few houses there was a telephone boot and a little chapel with a statue of Maria Magdalena.
In Daniels bay there are 17 yachts, all the same the last three days. I guess we're all waiting for the swells too vane.
Right now Fredrik's baking a cake! It's H�kan today, my names day, something that usually goes by unnoticed. But today it seems like a good reason to make a cake.

May the sun shine on you.
And let there be shaded places for you to hide from it.

H�kan

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Just another day...

2006-06-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

God day to U all!

This morning it felt like we've seen enough of Taiohae bay for a while so we set sail for Hakatea bay 5 nm to the west. This short voyage will be remembered for the enormous swells from southeast we encountered. A humble guess is 14 feet high swells, they sure made life interesting for a while. We didn't check the weather for just such a short distance. Not that it had mattered. Hakatea bay is crowded with boats most of them we recognize from Hiva Oa and Taiohae bay. The Norwegian boat Uterus and Interlude III from Australia to mention a couple. The bay is surrounded by steep cliffs, the nearest being some 570 m if my trigonometry and Sextant reading can be trusted. In the morning we will walk up to the local waterfall two km away, The Akuii with 350 m fall height. Today I've started on the rope ladder that we need to get up in the rig to get a good view when sailing the Tuamotos with it's reefs and narrow passages. I must say I long for the clear water and snorkeling that awaits us in Rangiroa. And it's time to do some serious fishing. The last two days we've eaten deep frozen meat filet's imported from Uruguay. I hope You liked the pictures we posted. It will probably be at least another two weeks to the next posting with pictures.

Take care

H�kan

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Ice cold Hinano and slow internet connection

2006-06-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we were finally successful in uploading some pictures to the blog. The internet cafe here is very primitive, and the connection gets really slow at times. We plan to sail to the Anaho Bay on the other side of the island tomorrow morning, and stay there for a few days. A few people have asked what the best way to contact us is, and as long as you keep it to small emails, you can use wdc8342@sailmail.com. We got really lucky to be here in Nuku Hiva while the small county fair was going on, it has been really nice to see the locals come out and enjoy themselves. We were joined by another Swedish boat here in the harbor yesterday, a nice couple from Gothenburg, we had drinks with them tonight and they definitely had a story to tell. They sailed in from Vancouver yesterday after been cruising the coast of Alaska for a summer.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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Nuku Hiva

2006-06-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from Nuku Hiva. First a landfall picture and a picture showing the weather, it rained a lot the first two days. The old quay was crowded with dinghies so you had to climb over other dinghies to get ashore. The kids in Nuku Hiva sure know how to amuse themselves, by surfing the local waves in the bay and by jumping from the bridge into the water. Football seems to be big too.
One of the first things we do getting ashore is a trip to the local magasin. Here’s Magasin Larson. Pain riche and cold beer and deep frozen meat from Uruguay were the choice today. Some pictures from a local market by the shore. They sell everything from bananas to expensive cars like new Defenders. A band played and there was some food stands. Nice. Fredrik bought a nice handy crafted walking stick. Good to have when he gets older I guess.

Hiva Oa

2006-06-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

First picture shows Hiva Oa from 10 nautical miles away, the first sight of land in a month! As you can se I’m pretty excited. You can really appreciate that it’s a volcanic island seeing these high cloud embedded mountains. Atuona to the left and the airport to the right, there are daily flights between the islands. A lot of rain but this day clear skies and a beautiful view of the local bay and mountain. A picture of Maiken in the more secluded Hana Menu bay and the only real house left in Hana Menu bay. Deserted as far as we can tell. It rained a lot and after a couple of hours you can se the sediment rich water coming into the bay from the local hillside river.

Passage- the sea and the sky

2006-06-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Sailing makes you spend a lot of time watching the sky and the sea, both for the beauty of it but also to learn about the coming weather. It’s fascinating how different the sea can look under various conditions. On a sunny day you can really understand why it’s called “blue water sailing”. The sea can be almost ridiculously blue or as in one these pictures it can look like melted lead or clay. The sky pictures speak for them self.

Passage- some underway pictures

2006-06-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

For the sake of good luck, Maiken and the Pacific Ocean had a toast of this fine Champagne as we left the Californian coast. The second picture shows the GPS plotter with our position marked as a round ring. You can see us getting close to the equator and the white “terra incognita” behind. Here I try to establish our local noon, and the suns declination using the Sextant. And this made it possible for us to find out what we already knew by means of the GPS. But still, interesting! As you can see it wasn’t all hard work making the passage. Here’s Fredrik in the Hammock on foredeck reading a book. And we always kept clean and tidy; you never know when there would be company. Not that we’ve seen any mermaids yet, but still.

Passage- some fishing pictures

2006-06-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

In Sweden we have a saying that a fisherman always exaggerates when describing his catch. These pictures show only a fraction of the fish we caught, but perhaps some the most beautiful specimen and only the fish Fredrik reeled in. I haven’t taught him to use the camera yet. First there is a fine Tuna, a Mai Mai and then a Sailfish. Beautiful fish!
Last a picture of some of the fly fish that landed on the boat during the night.
The fresh fish meant a lot to us after the first couple of weeks when the supplies of fresh food diminished rapidly. Here you can se Fredrik enjoying the Sashimi and Nigri sushi I made for him. On the last picture we have filet of Wahoo and scalloped potatoes. Yummy!!

The passage - boat pictures

2006-06-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the boat. First an interior view, showing some facilities at our hands. Small but cozy! Then the large external freshwater tank that ruptured. But we could rescue most of the water for showers. A picture of the plate holding the wind vane turning blocks after two emergency repairs underway. This one was reinforced twice, with wire and epoxy. You can have a lot of fun with epoxy! The wind vane did a great job though. Here you see it in action. Steering is fun, but only for a limited time. On the following pictures Fredrik is delivering a bolt inside the boom, mending the Genoa and preparing the fly the Swedish flag at our arrival at Hiva Oa.

Nuku Hiva here we come...

2006-06-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

Lat; 8 deg 59' Long; 140 deg 02' 09.30 local time June 6 2006

I'm listening to radio Meitai (101,3 MHz). Really nice modern Polynesian music. We are five nm from Taiohae bay Nuku Hiva. The observant reader may raise an eyebrow and think - wasn't it Ua Pou?? And yes, it was until we passed Ua pou in the middle of the night. Strong winds again, and reducing sail didn't help much. Maiken can only be slowed down so much! So we take Ua Pou on the way to Rangiroa in a week or so. The schedule isn't that tight. It was quite rolly last night due to huge swells. And we had a free passenger with us. When Fredrik were going to sleep he discovered a 10 cm long centipede on the bed. Company we most likely attracted during our "jungle expedition". I guess it hitchhiked in my backpack. Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesian islands and Taiohae is the main village with approximately 1700 inhabitants making the largest village in The Marqueses so it makes sense to pay a visit. Taiohae bay, guarded by two sentinel rocks, is a large volcanic crater that opens to the south. Mt Tekao 1224 meters is surrounded by clouds today. Nuku Hiva also have a spectacular waterfall, the Akuii with it's 350 m fall height. Definitely a possible goal for a hike. Hopefully we'll find reasonably fast internet in Taiohae so we can upload some pictures.

Take care out there!

H�kan

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It's all in eyes of the beholder...

2006-06-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hanamenu bay May 5 2006 16.00 local time

Yesterday the other yachts left early in the morning so we were alone in the bay. Looking out over the bay I saw what looked like a fin cruising slowly back and forth near the boat. Then sudden movement and splashing. Must have been a shark having breakfast. We had to postpone repair of the wind vane due to heavy rain all day. At one a clock the water in the bay were invaded of a rapid moving front of brown, sediment rich, flood water from the local little river draining the hillsides. Late in the afternoon we made a trip to the abandoned beach. Besides the ready visible small huts on the beach there is a quite large house a couple of hundred meters from the beach. And a lot of stone remnants from ruined buildings. A narrow road lined with lava stones lead to a beautiful little freshwater pond surrounded with lime trees. Obviously there's been a village here earlier. But now it all seems deserted. By hearsay an old Frenchmen lives here but I doubt that. We've seen a speedboat with a couple of men coming to collect copra but otherwise it is deserted. On our way back to Maiken it had already turned dark and we had a great time trying to force the waves breaking the shore with our little dinghy armed only with it's tiny little oars. And a fish found it's way into the dinghy as well. We where all wet getting back to Maiken. Fredrik immediately threw himself over the coconuts with savage raw power and a butcher knife. Did a great work though. Opened two coconuts in less than five minutes. Didn't particularly like the coconut water, but the meat was alright. Freshly pressed lime with salt and Tequila is more my style. Today it's only intermittent rain so the repair is underway. And in an hour or so we'll set sail again. I look forward to that. A sailor only air is that filling his sails. I can't get no rest anchored. Have to have the wind and waves, the voyage being the goal itself. We're heading for Ua Pou, 60 nm northwest. Searching for beautiful local wooden handicraft and a breathtaking view. Ua Pou is thought to be one of the most extraordinary island with it's wild rugged alpine skyline.

Hope You have some beautiful thing to rest your eyes on to out there. You
should have! It's all in the eyes of the beholder, at least so they say.

H�kan

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First day in paradise

2006-06-03T23:10:00.001-07:00

Today was a good day, both for Maiken and the crew. We stayed anchored in Hanamenu Bay, and after a night with some rain showers, the air became very pleasant. I took my mattress out on deck and slept like a kid, until the first sprinkles came. Today, we made the transition from voyage mode to "tropical island exploring" mode, out with the dive gear, sun awnings, and insect screens. Back into storage went the foul weather gear, and blankets. I really needed this day, just kicking back with a big breakfast, lunch and a leisure dinner, enjoying the company of H�kan, the nice weather, and beautiful scenery. Tomorrow, we will do a few repair and cleaning duties, and maybe go swimming in the clear freshwater pond that is located ashore. The Polynesian family that spent the night here gave us recognition for flying the French Polynesia flag over the French flag, something that most people don't do, but I think it is important to recognize not only the colonial power but also the native population. Cooking dinner tonight, some great wahoo fillets and scalloped potatoes. We will post pictures as soon as we can, most likely in Nuku Hiva, which is the next island after Hiva Oa. The "town" in Nuku Hiva is the biggest in the Marquesas and we have been told that internet is available. We have not seen any other Swedish boat so far, but we did see a Norwegian and a Danish boat. Mostly it has been Australian and British boat so far.

Take care,

Fredrik

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We are sailing to Philadelphia...

2006-06-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

Lat; 9 deg 45' Long; 139 deg 8' 20.11 local time June 3 AD 2006

No, just kidding. It's just Mark Knopfler and James Taylor inspiring. We are still in Hanamenu bay at Hiva Oa. Heavy rain last night, water in the bay all brown due to sediment from the Grand Canyon look alike cliffs surrounding us. The local with his beautiful wife and family left today. But two yacht joined us in the bay and one them offered us Wahoo filet's so dinners is all set. Not much happening here today, except for the horses running along the beach. Horses belonging to the old Frenchman living here solo in the bay. There's a little coconut plantage here as well. We have not left the yacht at all today. All fixing and mending. Adjusting to the warm friendly surroundings. Stuffed away are the foul weather gear and warm clothes. Out in the open svimwear and diving equipment.
Preparing for Oskars arrival. Trying to keep the No No's (small, almost invisible mosquitos) out. Not that they seem to be a big problem. But mosquitos are vectors for such evils as Dengue fever and Filariasis, so it feels better to be safe. 2001 there was a Dengue fever epidemic in French Polynesia but they seem to have it under control now. Right now Fredrik's preparing dinner while I'm writing this message to You, sitting outside in the dark with a small light over the laptop. The "off land" breeze is cool and there's soft music from the loudspeakers. Rum punch in my glass so I can't complain. Now (one hour later) we've had dinner, grilled Wahoo and scalloped potatoes. One of the best meals I ever had. I feel completely satisfied. Hope You do to. I love You all out there!! May the sun shine on You and may Your dreams come true!!!

H�kan

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We have arrived in French Polynesia

2006-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

09deg.45.946S 139deg08.399W 19:45L
Maiken is anchored in Hanamenu Bay in Hiva Oa. We arrived in Hiva Oa, after having slowed the boat down for an early morning arrival. The bay next to Atuona, where you are supposed to check in was crowded with boats flying their yellow Q flag, waiting to check in. There wasn't that big number of boat, maybe 10, but it is a small bay and everybody has to anchor with bow and stern anchors, which makes it crowded. We spent a leisure afternoon in Atuona, which is a one road village with roasters and dogs outnumbering the people tenfolds. We sampled the excellent Tahitian beer Hinano, enjoyed some fresh bread, and had some good conversations with some locals. Later that evening, we were forced to put out a new stern anchor, since somehow we lost a pin in a shackle or likewise, probably from the fact that another boat leaving brought up our stern anchor with their bow anchor when they were leaving earlier in the day. It made it an uneasy night for us, and when I woke up I just wanted to check us in and move over to a more secluded place. Well, the gendarmerie couldn't be more pleasant, and we cleared into the country easy. Some other boats had a more difficult time checking in, but since we both have Swedish passports and the boat is under Swedish flag, we got away easy. We left shortly thereafter, and after a beautiful sail, came to rest in Hanemenu Bay. We are the only boat here, except for a Polynesian family on a small fishing boat. This is what I like, a beautiful backdrop and uncrowded. The radio is not working as good now when we are anchored around the Marquesas, since the islands are very tall and the reception sometimes can be tricky. So, our updates might miss a few days, but we will try send as often as we can. Tonight we just relaxed, ate beautiful baguette sandwiches with grilled fresh wahoo (a great fish given to us by another cruiser that just sailed in from the Galapagos Island, 17 days - that's fast), some bruschetta, eggs, and some spice mayo. Life does have its perfect moments, and a cold Hinano can make that moment even better.

Take care,

Fredrik

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Too close...

2006-05-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Lat: 9 deg 15' Long: 138 deg 23' 17.30 local time May 31 2006

At this moment we are only 60 nm from Hiva Oa and Tahuku bay. Local time (UTC -9h30m) is half past five pm and we have had some fantastic sailing today. So we are ahead of schedule and trying to slow down. We don't want to arrive in the middle of the night. The Genoa is down and two reefs in the mainsail and we still do some five knots. I guess we will have to heave to for 5-6 hours later this evening. The night before, when the wind increased, the hull mounting for the wind vane was torn off on the starboard side. I must say that the servo pendulum produces a lot of power. There's no way we could fix this while sailing in the middle of the night, so back to steering by hand. It was a clear night so the twinkling stars made navigation easy. Rather exiting to steer when it's all dark except for the sky. You don't see the waves, you just feel them through the boat and hear them, and sometimes get wet through the spray.
Today the old electric Auto helm was taken back in service again. It had to be repaired, but now it seems to work fine, a nice piece of equipment.
We saw the first yacht today. On the VHF we learned that it was the Horizontal with crew, from down under, coming from Galapagos and heading for Nuku Hiva. It felt good to meet another yacht. They are going pretty much the same way we are so maybe we'll meet them again.
The watches were turned to local standard time today. The sun went down 17.22!!

H�kan

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Almost caught the BIG FISH...

2006-05-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lat: 7 deg 6' S Long: 136 deg 50' W 18.46 local time May 30 2006

This morning the wind almost died and then changed to north. So we had to gybe for the first time in many days. We've been doing only three to four knots today, but we still hope to arrive Thursday morning. The forecast indicates normal easterly trade winds tomorrow. The only excitement today was the Big Fish. It almost took all line before I could begin to reel it in slow by slow. The reel brake set to near maximum it still began to take line time after time! Fredrik wanted part of the action and after twenty minutes I let him take over for a while. Unfortunately the big one got away. It got off the hook. Perhaps best that way because we can eat only so much and its a waste having to throw so much of it away. It was an exciting fight though. Right now I'm reading Bengt Danielssons book "The happy island" about Raroia, a little island in the Tuamotu archipelago. He went there for the first time as part of the Kon Tiki expedition 1947 and later returned to this remote unexploited island to learn more about it's happy friendly inhabitants. "Aita peapea" is their motto, meaning such is life, don't worry. A good motto I think.
This is the first day I have felt a little bored. I long for a walk, news, a cold beer, the green lush of the tropics, internet, a green salad, meat ... Now it's time to gybe again and to make some dinner before sunset.
We are thankful for all your emails and look forward to everyone of them, so lets get creative out there, and write!

H�kan

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Getting close to the islands

2006-05-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

05deg.55.132S 135deg.45.869W 18:55L
Another lazy day in the reality of the never ending sea, wind, swells, and sun. Sometimes it is hard to know if you really make any progress or not, you see the numbers change on the GPS, and you can feel the surging forward motion of Maiken, but the horizon and the immediate surrounding is the same. Some days you feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, same day over and over again, but it is a good day so why complain. I understood from the comments that a few is following our progress on maps and Google Earth, so I will explain a bit where most boats that visit the Marquesas are coming from. When I sailed through the Pacific Ocean on the schooner Tree of Life ten years ago, we came through the Panama Canal, visited Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Pitcairn, Gambier Islands, and then up to the Marquesas. Most boats that come through the canal don't do that whole trip, but instead only visit Galapagos on their way to Marquesas. That trip is even longer then the sail that H�kan and I are taking, and it is also more prone to bad winds, since it is mostly around the equator. A lot of the boats from the West Coast of US and Canada, sail down to Mexico, and central America before doing the Pacific "Puddle Jump" over to French Polynesia. I decided early on that if I was to sail to French Polynesia I would do it straight from California, it is by far the best sailing angle and distance. If you look on a map over the West coast of US, Mexico, and central America, it is easy to see what I mean, for every mile you sail south along the coast you loose quarter of a mile to the east, since the coastline veers of to the east. Almost all the boats that visit the South Pacific are sailing west through the islands, this obviously because of the trade winds being SE (or even E, like we had so far). We will be in the last fleet of boats visiting, since we set out later then the boats that come from the Panama Canal. How many boats that visit the Marquesas annually, I don't really know, but 10 years ago, you kind of know most of the boats traveling west at different anchorage, since you are traveling at about the same pace. Part of the magic about cruising is really the friendships that you create along the way, in a way we are all in this endeavor together. Many of the people that I meet 10 years ago, are still popping up in articles in sailing magazines sailing around the world continuing their adventures, what a life! Today we did have a few signs that we are not the only ones out here, two Japanese long liners fishing for tuna passed us during the afternoon, it is strange to hear people talking on the VHF radio, in Japanese no less. We still see a movie every night and yesterday it was "Life as a house" with Kevin Kline, H�kan got really into the idea of building a house, so who know what might happen in the future. It is really surreal to sit inside an naturally air conditioned "theater" and then step outside into the cockpit in the pitch black and notice that you are sailing along in the middle of the ocean.

Take care,

Fredrik,

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All night long...

2006-05-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Lat: 4 deg 11' S Long: 134 deg 18' W 01:19 UTC May 29 2006

Good day to U all! Thanks for all nice comments on the blog. Thanks Lars-Arne, (friend and colleague from Umeå) for sharing the latest on water height in Ratan outside Umeå. Yes, low water can be a pain when setting the boat afloat. Hope the latest reading +/- zero centimeter make ends meet. Keep a steady grip on the oars! We're a little bit tired today. Maiken was rolling away all night. Heel to heel, side to side, all downwind. Should have had the hammock mounted! The morning started up with a short squall and then sun, sun and more sun. After some vanilla flavored espresso coffee and Bruce Hornsby I started to feel awake around eight a clock. Up with the Genoa again, and steady we go. Baked bread for lunch. Did nicely with the Västerbotten cheese that we brought (local prestigious cheese from my county, world famous in Sweden) . Power nap in the afternoon. Woke by Fredrik yelling - FISH!! Beautiful tuna that made Fredrik sweat even more before he could reel it in.
I wish you were here to join us for dinner. We've got the fish and the bread! You just bring a smile and some ice cold beer.

H�kan

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Maiken dancing saturday night..

2006-05-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Lat 2 deg 45' S Long 133 deg 6' W 29.25 local time May 27 2006

Saturday evening, the end of the third week at sea. Maiken feels this and she is taking liberties. Dancing with Mr SE Trade in a rather wild manor. And Neptune wants to have his say to. Have to admit it almost makes me dizzy when Mr Trade pulls Maiken closer, just to feel Maiken steers away the next moment. Up and down, faster and slower. Maikens slipping and sliding on the rather steep swells on the port quarter doesn't help. Cap Horn has a problem holding her. It's a fast ride though, up to 9 knots, so leave and let be. We've had another fine day with sunshine and good stabile winds. Wednesday next week we will be in Hiva Oa if everything goes according to plans. Last night we saw strong lights five nautical miles to the east. Hardly visible on the radar and no navigation lights, just strong searchlights so it had to be a rather small vessel. A small fishing boat out here?? It felt strange, this sign of civilisation after three weeks of solitude on the waves. We just took down the genua. We started to surf too fast down the swells making it difficult to steer. Now it's back to normal. Five to seven knots with just the mainsail!
Hope everything is fine with all of you out there.
And a special thanks to John Hughes for his enthusiasm and his nice comments on our blog. He's a real sailor!
Thanks for your support John!

H�kan

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I just cut my hair..

2006-05-26T19:10:00.001-07:00

Lat: 00 deg 52.533 N Long: 131 deg 38.340 W 18.30 local time May 26 2006

Yet another very sunny day, 34 degrees Celsius in the shadow. Luckily the sun came with a cooling breeze, after the nights dead calm. And as a result of passing the equator I cut my hair which also help to cool off. Once every hour I pour bucket after bucket of, not so cold, but still refreshing, seawater over my by now no longer patchy red but rather evenly tanned body. I have to admit that the high temperature makes me a bit lazy. But we try to do something in addition to the everyday chores each day. Today we started to put the sea anchor together. Some 200 small cones are to be tied to the anchor rope, six lines per cone and two knots per line makes a total of 2400 knots. After an hour I came to feel like Sisyfos and then it was time for the bucket again. Hopefully we will never be in the position to use the sea anchor. But now I have done that little extra for today. And believe me, the sea anchor will provide us with that extra chore for some days to come. Besides chores there are books to read, subjects to be discussed, music to be listened to, waves to be watched, sheets to be tightened, fish to be caught, dreams to dreamed, words to be typed, muscles to be activated, films to watched, calculation to made and minds to be blown. So here I am, fingers on the computer, ears attached to the Ipod and Dave Matthews Band, body rocking and rolling with Maiken, tastebuds awakened by spicy mexican snacks, replying all lovely mails from my family and friends out there. It's nice to get a lot mail :-) and I love U all!
It is now final that Oskar, my 24 year old son, will join us in Tahiti end of June. I'm so glad! We'll be sailing, surfing, snorkeling, diving, smiling, fishing....
As you can see I'm happy! And I don't think it's because crossing Mother Earths waist, the equator. I looked for the line, but nothing! Well, maybe there was a little bump like crossing an intersection. But I can tell you, the gravity is a bit less here. I think I can feel it..

H�kan

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Well, we crossed over to the southern hemisphere

2006-05-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

00deg20.4155S 131deg18.880W 10:55L

We just had the welcoming committee for the southern hemisphere, a group of 50 or so porpoises jumping around on our starboard side. The equator was crossed during the night, and we sailed past the line slowly with light winds from the SE. We celebrated the crossing during the sunset the night before with a good bottle of bubbly and some smoked trout, after having landed a big sailfish (the same family of fish as marlins and swordfish) on our now fairly beaten up fishing reel. It was a long beautiful fish with nice meat, and so far we have caught a wide variety of different fish which is a proof how alive this ocean is. So today it will be fish for lunch and dinner, we can probably feed a family of 20. H�kan and I are having good conversations and reflection about our lives and families, this is one of the advantages of sailing on a long passages like this one, you have the time to just hang out. Our destination, Hiva Oa, is currently 718 nm off to the southwest. Hiva Oa is the second of the large Marquesas islands from the south. The most southerly island Fatu Hiva is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, and is very well described in the book by Thor Heyerdahl by the same name. The problem is that you first have to check into the country at either Hiva Oa or Nuka Hiva, and then it is a hard beat back to Fatu Hiva which is SE of Hiva Oa and against the wind. So, considering that, and that I have already been there, and that our time is limited, and that we kind of want to be following the rules, we will start our exploration of the Marquesas with Hiva Oa and then sail to the other islands in the chain in a northwesterly direction. Hiva Oa is famous for being where the painter Paul Gauguin is buried among other things. The trade winds are blowing nicely today, and they are being more ESE than SE which is great for us. Life can be full of simplified beauty if you just let it happen.

Fredrik,

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Going roller coaster. Yee-haa!

2006-05-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Lat; 00 deg 42.014 N Long; 130 deg 44.886 W 14.00 local time May 25 2006

Breakfast this wonderful morning consisted of sliced eggs on crisp rye bread with Kalles kaviar on top. A delicious Swedish sandwich served with espresso. During the morning hours the sea changes. The waves are building ahead to port. Whitecaps everywhere and the swells seems to be building from two directions, sometimes adding up to small mountains that comes rolling and firmly lifts Maiken to the sky despite her 10000 kg displacement The wind rips of the top of the waves and the sea gets a rugged surface full of white streaks. Maiken gets a lot of showers, but manages to keep her bow out of the waves most of the times.
It's a hard beating on the port tack. The wind is flogging the headsail.
Trying to remember the American terminology; I reckon taking the "head off" by moving the helm to lee would do the trick silencing the headsail. Or "sheeting in" depending on the situation.
As you can see the terminology is a lot about beating and flogging. Makes me associate to the Spanish inquisition, and since Spain was one of the great sea nations back then, there might be a connection (?). I have taken some beatings myself when the sea forces Maiken to do an unexpected move. But most of the bruises have vanished by now and I have learned to be more vigilant. Its three weeks today since we left Oxnard CA.
We're living a life aquatic. Have you seen the movie? I like it and especially Bill Murray's detached character as an oceanografer. Yesterday evening "Cinema Maiken" showed The upside of anger. A sweet lightweight piece I wouldn't bother seeing again. But still, I don't mind looking at Joan Allen, a beautiful woman. I guess you could say that we are pretty much self sufficient here at sea, except when it comes to the opposite sex. Right now Chubby Checker is streaming out of the loudspeaker and I'm moving out on deck to stand on the cockpit seat holding the dodger to go roller coaster. Yee-haa!! Well that's it for now. Hang on out there!!

H�kan

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Heading to the south..

2006-05-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Lat; 00 deg 59.503 N Long; 130 deg 39.880 W 0740 local time May 25 2006

I'm sipping my coffee looking at the sunrise. The sky is red, it's very beautiful. There is even some huge cumulus clouds in the sky this early. I remember an old saying "Red sky at night - sailors delight, red sky in the morning - sailors take warning". Well we've had red sky three mornings in a row. So I guess that we've been warned alright. But for what? See that I can't remember. I guess I'm not much of a sailor not knowing the old sayings. Fredrik, the youngster, is still snoozing. With a happy smile on his face. Of course I can't ask him, because then he will know about the red sky and perhaps be worried. Like me. So this must be my secret. The winds is fairly good though, 15 knots. But like yesterday, it comes from the wrong direction namely south, even if it has shown some tendency towards east. We are close-hauled, beating. See I'm trying to learn the American terminology. The other day I wrote in Swedish, which is my native language, and therefore easier. I felt lazy that day. But unfortunately some of our readers are not familiar with the old beautiful Viking language so.. Well we're close-hauled, beating (beating who?) and Maiken jumps from wave to wave. I tried "head off" (falla av) with the only consequence that Maiken started heeling (kr�nga) more. As you can see I've learn some. But sailors terminology is funny. Head on a boat doesn't exactly mean what you would expect. There's a sign on the boat pleading "please do not put anything into the head unless you have eaten it first". It takes no more than average imagination to figure that out. But seriously, who got this meaning of the word into his head in the first place? Fredrik is showing sign of waking up now from his deep sleep so it's time for breakfast. Isn't there a sailors term for eating as well? Don't turn off the computer, well be back soon.

Take care out there!
H�kan

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På kryss mot jordens midja..

2006-05-24T01:21:00.000-07:00

Latitud 2 grader 55 minuter, Longitud 129 grader 33 minuter. 24/5 2006

Klockan är halv ett, det är kolsvart ute. Enda ljuset ett svagt rött skimmer från nattbelysningen vid navigationsbordet. Vinden piper och Maiken kränger. Gasspisen slår till mot skrovet som gnyr saktmodigt när Maiken dunsar in i vågorna. Vindgeneratorn snurrar som en besatt. Ena handen hela tiden på något av vägghandtagen och ena foten mot läsidan beredd, där jag sitter i mörkret och lyssnar. Vi går 7 knop, tungt lastade, på kryss mot Jordens midja. Känslan av svindlande hastighet är påtaglig. En ständig, oavbruten acceleration. Värmen är tryckande och takluckorna stängda mot sprutande vågor. Jag går ut en stund och blir svalkad av vinden. Enstaka regndroppar och en mörk himmel som flyter ihop med det nattdunkla havet. Det enda som lyser upp är "fosforescensen". Mängder av lysande punkter, som stjärnor, i bogvatten och aktersvall. Maiken skapar sin egen vintergata där hon forsar fram. Efter en halvtimme går jag in igen. Kokar en kopp kaffe. En dryg timme kvar på min vakt.

H�kan

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The SE trades

2006-05-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

03deg09.341N 129deg19.683W 21:10L
Sailing along in what we hope is the start of the SE trades, the wind is picking up and is turning from S to SE. H�kan just measured the air temperature and it was 31 deg Celsius, and that is at 9 in the evening. There are still some rain clouds around and very humid, but it feels like we have gotten past the converging zone. Today H�kan woke me up to a breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice, a beautiful omelet and a cup of espresso brewed coffee Life is tough for us sailors. We do our best to cool off during the day with several buckets of seawater showers, and a light rinse with fresh water. We are very pleased to see that we have an audience for this blog, as we didn't really know how it would turn out. Feel free to post a comment, although we can't actually see the blog, we have a system set up so that we can read all your comments. Maiken has proved to be a tough boat, just like the lady she is named after, my grandmother. My longest sailboat passage so far has been crossing the Atlantic years ago, it took 22 days, this trip will surpass that with a few days. We spotted the star constellation "southern cross" yesterday night, and that together with some CSNY on the stereo, well that is a formula that spells South Pacific.

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The Doldrums

2006-05-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

04deg.21.139N 128deg.29.400W 21:33L
We are currently sailing along with light winds from the south, after a couple struggling days in the ITCZ. We had a large rainstorm the other night, which dumped rain, heavy winds and confused seas at us for what seemed like an eternity. Like a lot of times in life, bad things like to in clusters, and we had a small tear in the Genoa (large foresail), and a turning block ripped from its support on the wind vane at the same time as the rainstorm. It was a really surreal night with rain so heavy that it was hard to look up, a seabird flying into our sail breaking its wing and flapping around deck, and I saw a Mahi Mahi jumping 3 feet out of the water right next to the boat. The line between dry deck and the ocean seemed blurry, and at times you felt more like a swimmer than a sailor. When morning came and the clouds scattered, we dried out and started to fix the sail and block to be able to continue like before. The converging zone is a belt with very unstable weather near the equator, and the kinds of clouds that we have been seeing supports that. The southernly winds have forced us to slow our progress some, and last night when the wind died, we started the engine and motored through the night. The last weather forecast suggest that we finally have passed the zone and the SE trade winds will fall into place. Tonight we had our dinner sitting outside at sunset, things were back to normal, the sail fixed and the new block epoxied in place. I guess if this is the last of the ITCZ, we came through pretty easy, with only one night of motoring and one rainstorm. Now the new waypoint in the plotter is set for Hiva Oa in the Marquesas (1040 miles to go), and we shall not forget that we are crossing the equator in the next few days.

Fredrik,

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We are steaming along on a flat ocean

2006-05-20T15:20:00.001-07:00

So we have entered the ICTZ, the converging zone that separates the northern and southern hemisphere trade wind belts. I was on watch last night when the wind died (we have had great winds the last few days), a small rainstorm with strong SE winds appeared and for a moment I thought we might be seeing the southern hemisphere trades. That would have meant that the converging zone was almost non existing, but we were not that lucky. We have used very little fuel so far, so it is ok to motor for awhile. I have been surprised how much life there are in these parts of the Pacific, a lot of different seabirds, flying fish all over (several on deck in the morning, this morning also a squid), and we have caught two different kinds of tuna and one beautiful Mahi Mahi. On almost every night watch, I have spent some time just checking out the phosphorus glowing in the water. Especially in our wake after the boat, it is almost mind blowing the kind of performance these glowing dots makes. Last night we had taken some water over the side and there were a lot of glowing dots on deck, flowing around like a Pac Man game. The cool thing is if you put your finger on one dot, you can squeeze out and pull the glowing stuff all over. I have no real understanding on what the particles are, but they are wickedly cool. The heat is definitely slowing us down, and the most comfortable part of the day is at sunset when the wind cools your skin a bit. Both me and H�kan have begun to study the guide books for place that we want to visit, when we hit the islands. The anticipation of landfall is starting to take place.

Fredrik,

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Another lazy day at sea....

2006-05-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Lat: 7 deg 11.695 N Long: 128 deg 07.446 W 13.30 local time May 20 2006

Only 436 nm to the equator. A couple of hours a go we entered the doldrums and the wind just died so now we are motoring.
Hopefully we will be sailing before evening. The noise from the Yanmar diesel is a little bit annoying when you are used to the soft whisper of the wind and the bubbling sound of water against the boat. But at least we get to recharge our batteries. Tonight we had the first rainfall showering off all the salt from sails and deck. We still have plenty water so we didn't bother gathering rainwater. The temperature is 28 degrees Celsius and we feel rather lazy around noon. But then again cloud and wave watching doesn't take much energy. We try to cool off by pouring seawater over ourself's but it only helps a little while. Water temperature is some 25 degrees. I look forward to crossing the equator and entering the southern hemisphere. The southeast trade winds seams to be a little stronger and very steady. Crossing the line for the first time usually means that you have to do something stupid like shaving your head. Of course Fredrik doesn't have to do that since he has passed the equator before. So far everything has gone well, fair winds most of the time. There have been quite a bit of fixing and trimming to make the best out of Maiken and her gear. We have had good luck fishing. Right now I have no hurry to get Marquesas. In a few minutes we will have "inlagd sill (pickled herring , kn�ckebr�d (crisp rye bread" and potatoes. A god day to U all.

H�kan

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Two weeks at sea

2006-05-18T05:10:00.001-07:00

12deg15.828N 128deg14.674W 04:20L

The miles keeps on adding up on the GPS, and today it will be two weeks since we left southern California. The days kind of run into one and another, and it is the small tasks that needs attention, the culinary attraction of the day, the ever changing sky, the interaction of the sea life around you, and the personal contact between H�kan and me, that shapes the day. I woke this morning with a beautiful thought of a certain marine biologist in Monterey, whom I had the fortune to meet briefly during our visit there (how did the knee surgery go?, please send me a line "yacht-maiken@hotmail.com"). The fact that we can email family and friends has been a pleasant addition to the trip, both for them and us (I hope). It is warm enough now to just have a pair of swim trunks on even during the night. The feeling of standing outside at night, swaying along with the rhythm of the boat with a warm breeze on your skin is heaven.

Fredrik,

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Never a dull moment...

2006-05-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

Lat; 12deg 29.242 N Long; 128deg 16.549 W 0130 local time May 18 2006

Yesterday a couple of flying fish came to lunch. Very tasty, a little like herring. In the afternoon, repair of the self steering. Forces greater than expected on the lines from the wind vane to the rudder, threatening to tear away the block. No match for Fredrik, who really enjoys fixing, adjusting and mending things.

H�kan,

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On the "road" again...

2006-05-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

Lat; 14deg22.501 N long; 128deg18.113 W 0413 local time May 17 2006

At 38 minutes past two the night before the wind came back with full strength just like that, and we have had 15 knots from the east since then.
It feels great to do 7 knots instead of two to three. We still have 1700 nm left, so speed makes a difference even if sailing is more about the journey itself and not primarily about getting to the destination. This morning we caught our second tuna, bigger this time, about 5 kilogram. So for lunch we had homemade sushi; nigri and sashimi. Delicious! My son Oskar has taught me how to do sushi "the right way", he's very into Japan. And then for dinner grilled tuna in two different marinades served with lime aioli and cocked potatoes. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of tuna on the menu the coming days. At least we don't have to resort to canned fish. I hope we catch a Mahi Mahi some day soon. Well enough about our diet.
I'm beginning to get hang of the celestial navigation. By just establishing the time for your local noon and the suns altitude at that point you are actually able to tell your position! I got pretty close to the GPS reading the other day. There is a problem using the sun at days with overcast though, and navigating by clouds haven't been fully looked into. But seriously, weather is interesting. A couple of days ago the weather fax forecast stated "possible tropical cyclone" west of Mexico not far from our position. That made the weather extremely interesting until next forecast. By then the alert was gone.
Tonight it's cloudy but instead of stars you can look at the phosphorous light in the water. They are bright spots glowing in the water near the boat, like stars. Fascinating! But you can't navigate by them either. It's been a week since we saw a boat. But we don't feel alone. There's some birds flying around out here and the other night I saw, or mostly heard, a whale. Flyfish is legio. So you see, all is well onboard Maiken. May the sun shine on all of you out there.
Bye. H�kan.

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We tried everything

2006-05-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

16deg39.873N 128deg11.388W 02:00L May 15
Still not much wind, and the wind we have is either light N or NE, which makes it a slow downhill slide. Today we tried several different sail configurations, to see what works best in these conditions. Up with the new Gennaker, it looks nice and it does pull us gently, but the drawback is that we need to hand steer the boat because of the light winds. Change to the Drifter and pole it out, looks cool sailing wing in wing with the mainsail and it is stable, but it actually doesn't contribute that much more speed. Back to just winged out mainsail, which is a good compromise with these light fluky winds. It stays put, the wind vane steers it easily and it produce steady speed without all the flapping of collapsed headsails. Despite the light winds, the mood on Maiken is good. It is only so much you can do, so you might as well enjoy the nice clear sunny weather and the deep blue color of the ocean. Tonight's sunset was the best so far, and we have fallen in to the routine of eating our dinner while admiring it. The communication using the SSB and Sailmail works great, and we get both weather faxes and gribfiles everyday. We had our first real saltwater shower session the other day and I must say it does look a bit funny trying to hold on while soaping up and filling the water bucket over the side. After a final rinse with fresh water, we are back in the world of the cleanliness. I am amazed of the amount of small seabirds this far from land, they fly very close and very fast to the water, swerving side to side avoiding the wave crests, like Luke Skywalker avoiding asteroids.

Fredrik,

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The wind is back, for now at least.

2006-05-14T02:59:00.000-07:00

19deg06.033N 127deg40.661W 23:14L May 13
We are slicing our way through the moonlit night in an easterly breezy, steering south. I hope that we will be able to keep the wind we have now, since we are starting to get tired of the light to non-existing winds that we have had lately. We had the last of our fresh meats today, a nice pork loin on the BBQ. That means from now on, we will have to dig into our cans and bags for dinner highlights. I have started to read all the books that I stashed away for the trip, just finished the Da Vinci Code (yes, I know that I am way behind). I saw the first flock of flying fish today (maybe you don't actually call it a flock, but they were airborne at the time), I have been telling H�kan about how they used to land on the deck of the schooner I used to sail on, the Tree of Life. We eat a lot of eggs, as we had the fortune to be able to buy 100 of them from a farmer that actually went out and picked them while I was there. The trick is to get eggs that haven't been refrigerated or washed, as they tend to keep a lot longer.

Fredrik,

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Sail without wind..

2006-05-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Lat 20 deg 47161N long 127 deg 30.987W 2000 hour May 12 2006
Last night we "ran out of wind". The sea was completely calm and it wasn't a nice experience. Without wind Maiken rocked from side to side more than ever. I had a hard time sleeping,even though I usually sleep like a child onboard. In Sweden the Pacific ocean is called "Stilla havet" meaning the Calm Sea. Perhaps our Swedish ancestors had some insight into the matter. Today we have light breeze and sunny. I lost my shadow completely at noon today. We have passed south of 23,5 degrees. Very nice to sail slowly like this. Almost no swells. Fredrick and I had homemade pizza and a glass of vine during sunset. It's funny but the boat really feels like home, and when I look out I immediately recognize my surroundings. Blue water every where, very safe, soothing and familiar. You don't get the impression of being on a large ocean, of course sight is limited to 5 kilometers, but you get the feeling of really knowing your backyard.
I very much hope that my beloved son Oskar have the opportunity to join us in Tahiti for some fine sailing, snorkeling and just enjoying life.
Now Fredrik is waiting with blue Castello cheese and crackers. Got to go folks. See Ya!

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Slowly drifting forward under a moonlit night

2006-05-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

23deg24.740N 127deg11.971W 22:06L
It is just after 2200 and we are drifting along with only the drifter sheeted back to the winged out main boom. Very little wind, maybe 5, 6 knots from the North. With this setup, we are at least doing some headway dead down wind, which is where we want to go. We had some NE winds earlier, which is what we want, and hope to get more of later. The sun is getting warmer and we starting to spend more and more time outside. We had another fish on today, but it slipped away. H�kan is really getting into the celestial stuff, going around counting out the precise time and cursing all the calculations. My plan is just to wait until he perfected it and then let him explain it and show me the way it is supposed to be done. Maiken slides forward without much effort, which surprises me a bit since she is heavily loaded with all the water, fuel, and supplies. We had to use the engine to charge the batteries today, which I don't really like, but since we have had fairly light winds lately and a bit overcast sky, the solar panel and wind generator can't keep up with our demands. We sat outside while the sun set, and had a philosophical discussion about how absurdly civilized our existence is out here on a small boat far away from any coast. We eat well, read good books, sleep, and do small chores to improve the boat. I am finally starting to get into the habit of actually just stop what I am doing if I feel like it, and sit down and read for a while or just sit and relax, there is always time to get back to whatever I was doing later in the day.

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Getting warmer

2006-05-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lat 24deg31.942N long 127deg16.210W May 10 05.56

It's getting warmer and my shadow is constantly getting shorter day by day, so I guess we are on the right course. Instead of studying your shadow you can study celestial bodies trying to figure out were you are. Last night 19.59.43 local time the moon was 35 degrees and 24 seconds above the horizon. This gives one line of possible positions. If you have another intersecting line (from another celestial reading) then you can figure out were you are. You would need a nautical almanac with tables of the celestial bodies position of course. Much easier then to look at the latitude and longitude on the GPS navigator, but then again nothing compares to looking at a moonlit sky filled with twinkling stars. And you've got lots of sky-watching time, sailing silently thru the night. Rocking and tilting, listening to the sails discreet flutter, the water splashing against the boat and an occasional moaning from rig or boat.
The only thing needing attention this hour is Cap Horn, the wind vane. And looking out for other boats of course. It's almost two days since the last sighting. Now it's morning and we hope for some change in winds today. We need to go straight south at this point, and not so much west.
We have done roughly one quarter of our trip to the Marquesas at an average speed of six knots. That's the speed I usually have when I run. Not very fast you might imagine, but given time it will take you anywhere. For comparison, starting in my hometown Ume� we could have been in Milan Italy by now. Provided one could sail straight to Milan, that is.
It�s time to wake Fredrik. Bye for now. H�kan

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We caught the first fish

2006-05-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

26deg07.960N 124deg43.736W 21:52

Another great day at sea, and to top it off, we caught a small tuna at sunset. We have experienced lighter winds from the North today, so light that we dropped the big Genoa and replaced it with a lighter drifter sail. We still haven't experienced the NE trade winds, but according to our latest grib file (weather forecast), we should see it later tonight or early tomorrow morning. We are sailing a bit West of our track, but as soon as we hit the trades, we will sail more or less due South. Our big flexible water tank on deck hasn't really performed like we thought it would and today we discovered a leak at the seam. The thing is that we have so much water, so after filling all the tanks, we dropped our clothes and had a shower in the cockpit, and we still have over half the flexible tank left. The good thing is that since we emptied it some, we could tie of the leaky spot. We are really trying to conserve power, since the overcast sky and light winds are not good for the solar panel and wind generator. Now it is time for me to hit the sack, since H�kan's watch is coming up next. We takes turn sleeping up in the bow, since it is a bit more private and the person on watch don't really need to be concern about waking the other person up accidentally.

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Sailing along in the dark night

2006-05-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

27deg30.593N 123deg29.620W May 8th 00:45

The moon just peak out between the clouds and startled me a bit. The night gets really dark when the clouds hide behind the moon and stars, and the only light you have is the tricolor navigation light at the top of the mast. I have the 22:00 to 02:00 watch now, we have decided on a watch schedule that divides the day and night as follows: 0600-1200, 1200-1800, 1800-2200, 2200-0200, and 0200-0600. Since we don't really steer the boat (the Cap Horn self steerer is doing that job), what we do on our watch is pretty much that person's choice, as long as we keep some kind of lookout. Our life sailing along has been almost too good the last few days. Good wind, fast sailing, good food, and even a DVD movie in the evenings (saw Crash last night). It takes a few days to really get used to rhythm of the watch schedule and the constant movement of the boat, but it has been going surprisingly smooth. H�kan has discovered the magic of the Ipod, so now you can find him swinging along with the white headphones popping out of his ears. The weather has been mostly overcast, but as we are sailing almost due South, you can feel a slight warming trend in the air. We have had a good salad accompanying every meal since we started, as the salad is the first that goes bad of the vegetables. If we keep on eating snacks like we do, there will be some expansion issues in the midsection to be concerned about. We have started to fish, although we had a bit of bad luck loosing the first set of lures as it snapped off even before we were properly setup. Don't know if it was a fish that was just a bit too eager, or a snafu on our end.

Fredrik,

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Champagne for Maiken

2006-05-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

31deg.56'N 121deg00'W 2100 Local Time
The sun was shining and the winds fair leaving Channel Islands. The windvane works well after some adjustments, so we decided to give a toast to Maiken and the Pacific ocean for a safe and happy journey. We rounded San Nicolas Island at midnight and turned south for Marquesas. Today it's cloudy and wind West 10 knots. The forecast shows expected NW winds 5-15 knots the coming days. Fredrik and I are in a good mood. Right now Fredrik is preparing our fishing reel,
Durado (mahi mahi) for dinner?

H�kan

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2006-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

So we went to Oxnard for a couple of days to fix the self steering. We have made almost 700 nm and tested Maiken in rough weather. This afternoon we set sail again for the Marqueses.
There were some traffic along the coast but very few sailboats.
Then came the night with cold air and as the hours went by it became a little chilly. Sure wish that windvane were working. Wind 25 to 30 knots and by early morning we decided to heave to (dreja bi) and Maiken behaved very well, so we could rest for a few hours.
A beautiful sunset while we had our dinner, fresh tortillini and a Caesar salad.
I look happy steering, but in fact we have had some trouble with the wind vane selfsteering. And there was some problem fixing it while sailing, partly due to strong winds.

Here Fredrik makes his last telephone call for one month as we leave Monterey.

2006-04-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from Monterey. A seal is waving us of.

My daughter Amanda will like this picture of a sealion. Fredrik likes to be at the helm. Thinks he is a cowboy.

This is our route as we plan it. Some 6000 nautical miles. We have done 200 nm so far.
Today we leave so this will be the last pictures for a month. But there will be short postings via sailmail. Take care out there. We will. Bye for now. Håkan and Fredrik.