We have been on passage from Tahiti for eight days and over 1100 miles. We have been through multiple squalls, days of zero wind and some days of wonderful sailing. We are less than 30 miles from Niue, a tiny island nation about 250 miles east of Tonga. About an hour ago we were hit …
Author: Matilda
Change of Plan
That warship waiting at The Suwarrow Island entrance meant business. It was a patrol boat from the Cook Island Authorities who did not want any visiting boats to anchor in the bay or go ashore on this uninhabited island. Despite having preauthorization to make this a stopover we have now changed course and are heading …
Starlink – It’s the future
Bora Bora provided a beautiful backdrop for the fleet as we departed French Polynesia en route to Tonga via Suwarrow and Niue in the Cook Islands. The fleet has been split into two groups for this leg due to the small sized anchorages that we are heading to. We are in group two and we …
Matilda is ship-shape and ready to go
Jinxing is not something that we want to risk doing on Matilda, however, we are in really good shape after getting all of the broken parts fixed in Papeete. That is all the broken parts that we know of, undoubtedly there are many that we don’t know about yet. Apparently, the cause of our system-wide …
Cleaning
After a quick trip to LA to get her hair done, see grandkids and get our Starlink dish, Fiona will be returning to Tahiti about 9 tonight. I have spent the past few days doing boat projects. These projects invariably make a bit of a mess on the boat which presents me with a dilemma. …
The Tuamotus
Sailing around the world is not just about the sailing. It is perhaps, more importantly, about discovering some beautiful and remote places that we would not otherwise be able to see. We took a very long path to get here but the Tuamotus are delivering an amazing experience. These are some of the most beautiful …
Lazing About in the Tuamotus
We have spent the past couple of weeks sailing from atoll to atoll in the Tuamotus. Atolls are basically a ring of low lying islands that surround a lagoon. The atoll where we are now, Rangiroa, is one of the largest in the world at about 45 miles long by 15 miles wide. Others we …
French Polynesia
After twenty four days at sea we made landfall in Hiva Oa, an island in the Marquesas chain in French Polynesia. We received a very warm welcome from our fellow ARC boats and the local people in Hiva Oa. Our checkin to the country was very smooth and they took us at our word that …
Almost there
Our 3000 plus mile passage to Hiva Oa is almost over. My activity tracker on my phone is trying to tell me that I’ve been in a virtual comatose state with so few steps recorded. Little does my phone know that just standing on a heeling boat to brush my teeth is a work out. …
Update on Whale Strike and a Medical Emergency
We learned today that Raindancer was struck by the whale on their propeller shaft which opened a large hole in the hull. They were sunk in 15 minutes. The whale swam away seemingly unscathed. Was it an intentional act on the whale’s part? Two Japanese fishing vessels which are known to illegally hunt whales have …
Continue reading Update on Whale Strike and a Medical Emergency
Sailboat Matilda 