Pacific Paradise

We had a great start leaving Panama but it was only a few days before we were becalmed and then followed days of little wind so it took us 10 days to get to Galapagos. With a forecast of no wind for another 7 days around Galapagos we decided to motor south.to find some.

We never usually motor on long passages but this trip to Gambier saw us run up 100 hours on the engine. Even so, we still drifted for days and did some very low daily miles so it was 38 days before we arrived, our longest passage so far. Very enjoyable but also good to arrive.

While we were at sea the world went into lockdown with the virus. We were in our own little bubble and had no idea how serious it was, so it all felt a bit unreal when we caught up on all the news. Even now 6 weeks later I don't think we realise how it is out there.All boats arriving had to do 14 days quarantine even though we had all been at sea for ages, but it was pretty easy.

 We were sorry to hear that Johnny, whom we had spent time with on our previous visits, had passed away, but his family were very welcoming and invited us out to their island for a weekend. They were pruning an avocado tree and gave us a sackful to share amongst the other cruisers which made us very popular. Johnny rests in a most beautiful site on the island that was his home and personal paradise.

This has been a good place to be stuck while in lockdown. There are well over 30 boats caught here but plenty of islands and lovely anchorages in the lagoon. We have been free to roam once our quarantine period was over and the walking is great, the shops have all the essentials and the ship arrives regularly with some fresh produce. At first all the boats were ordered to go to Tahiti but most managed to ignore that and now the islands of French Polynesia have been opened for cruisers to move around so this coming weekend there will be quite a few boats heading off to the Tuamotus and Marqueses. Not us though, We have decided to sail directly to New Zealand to spend more time in the North Island, sharing anchorages with our son and his family who are cruising up there on their own boat. We are lucky to have that option being Kiwis, as at the moment NZ is closed to foreign boats. Hopefully that may change as there are hundreds of boats in limbo with very limited options in the Pacific.

There is an interesting bunch of cruisers from all around the world so it's been pretty social. The locals have been great putting up with us all anchored off the village a lot of the time. Normally there are only a handful of boats here at a time as they visit then move on, so this is very unusual for them. We finally have a great forecast to leave this weekend after weeks of watching the weather. It's over 3000 miles from here to Opua and we will probably only stop at Beveridge Reef as the Cooks, Tonga and Fiji remain closed to yachts. The boat is ready, fuel, food and water, and so are we, so next blog should be sent from home. Hopefully by the time we arrive things will be returning to normal, whatever that will be post-virus.