The Storm in Rangiroa
Our recent adventures have been a reminder that life at sea can change from magical to terrifying and back again in the space of a few days. It began in Rangiroa.
We were hit by a powerful windstorm, and Equus rocked so violently and heeled so deeply into the water that we hit a bommie, one of those isolated coral formations that can rise unexpectedly from the depths. The impact broke off the bottom of our rudder. Not exactly the kind of souvenir we wanted from Rangiroa.
Fortunately, we were able to use our scuba gear to secure a large metal hose clamp around the damaged area and keep the rudder in place well enough to continue our voyage. With our repair holding and our fingers crossed, we headed on to Tikehau, hoping that our temporary fix would get us safely there.
On to Tikehau
As often happens in this life, the adventure quickly changed from terrifying back to magical. Tikehau is one of those places that seems almost too beautiful to be real, and it was a welcome reward after the stress of our damaged rudder.
While in Tikehau, we visited the remarkable Garden of Eden, or L’Île d’Éden, an isolated and self-sufficient community with a fascinating history. Established in 1993 on the site of a former pearl farm, the community was founded by Elijah Hong of the Taiwan-based Church of the New Testament. His vision was to create a place far removed from modern consumerism, pollution, and the pressures of everyday society, where people could live simply and sustainably from the land and sea.
The location they chose was a remote motu in the middle of the Tikehau atoll, which makes what they have accomplished even more remarkable. Coral atolls are not known for rich, fertile soil. The ground is largely made of coral and sand, with very little natural fertility, and the community did not simply import soil to create their gardens. Instead, they learned to work with the environment, building up the soil with organic compost, collecting rainwater, and using natural growing methods to create a surprisingly lush and productive garden.
Today, they grow papayas, limes, vanilla, vegetables, and other crops, while also raising livestock, tending bee hives, fishing in the surrounding Pacific, and even producing their own salt. Solar power provides electricity, and rainwater is an essential part of their self-sufficient way of life. Walking through the gardens, it is astonishing to see such abundance growing on a tiny coral island surrounded by the ocean.
At one time, the community included around 30 people, but today only a couple of families live there full-time, although the island still hosts occasional church retreats. Visitors can occasionally come ashore to see this extraordinary place and meet the people who continue to live there. I was really excited go back to our boat with fresh honey, eggs, and greens picked from their garden.
Swimming with Manta Rays
One of the most extraordinary experiences in Tikehau happened underwater when we had our first swim with manta rays at Tikehau’s famous manta ray cleaning station. We departed the harbor where we say the Garden of Eden, and a few hour sail had us anchored next to an island in the middle of the atoll not much bigger than a postage stamp. However, it is here that the famous manta cleaning station resides.
A cleaning station is one of nature’s most fascinating arrangements. Large marine animals, including manta rays, return regularly to specific locations where smaller fish gather to remove parasites, dead skin, and other unwanted material from their bodies. The mantas glide slowly through the water, often circling the same area again and again, while the tiny cleaner fish go to work. It is almost like an underwater spa!
(Click on this link: Amazing Manta Rays Video for the song and video I made of this amazing experience. Please consider liking the video and subscribing to our Sailing Equus YouTube Channel so you can see our adventures instead of just reading about them! It really helps us out.)
Swimming with these enormous, graceful creatures was unforgettable. They moved through the water with such elegance that it was easy to forget just how large they were. Dan and I had seen mantas occasionally from our boat, and it was thrilling. But, we had yet to be in the water next to them, with them. We anchored in the early evening and watched a tour boat with snorkelers and tried to memorize where they were in relation to our boat. We would have to find the exact spot the next morning on our own. Sure enough, right after the first tour boat came and and left, by 9 AM, we were ready to go experience snorkeling with the mantas.
It took us a bit to find the location, but finally the first mantas swam into view. I literally shuddered and squealed with excitement as I pointed at them hoping Dan saw them too. Soon, we had our own show of the mantas circling and enjoying their daily cleaning. The small fish came and did their jobs of eating the unwanted parasites from their skin. We were in absolute awe as some of the mantas had over a ten foot wing span. They appeared to fly underwater, no fear of us, swimming almost too close at times. I was in heaven, living an adventure I had spent so long dreaming about.
Identifying Our Mantas
The following day, we decided to scuba dive with the mantas. This would give us a view below them instead of being above. We set out early in the morning, knowing exactly where to find them this time. Sure enough, three showed up just as we arrived to give us our second private show. This time, I laid in the sand looking up at their giant forms soaring above me. I felt the earth beneath me and watched in awe their gracefulness and beauty. It is an experience that will be etched in my memory forever.
I took lots of video, which I incorporated with a song I wrote about mantas. I used the video to capture photographs, like the one above, which I sent to the organization that keeps track of individual manta rays in French Polynesia. Mantas can be identified by the unique pattern of spots on their undersides, much like a fingerprint. I was thrilled when they replied to learn the names of some of the mantas we had seen.
Even better, if you send in a photograph and the manta has not previously been identified, you get the opportunity to name it. I have to admit, I love that. Somewhere out there, a newly discovered manta ray could be waiting for its name.
Family Comes Aboard Equus
From Tikehau, we continued on to Huahine, where we set up base camp aboard Equus. We had special guests who would be visiting after a sudden and imprompu decision. San Francisco is a short jump by plane to Tahitit. Our daughter Katie and her two boys and Carter and Ryder, who are three and five years old, were coming to visit since we were about as close to California as we would ever be by sailboat. Plane fares were reasonable, so we pushed the “go” button.
This was the first visit by family to our boat since Ireland, years after we crossed the Pacific, and it was magical. We had been waiting for this moment for so long. Trying to explain our life aboard a sailboat, the places we have visited, and what it feels like to live in the middle of some of the most beautiful places on Earth is one thing. Sharing it with the people you love is something else entirely. There were some logistics involved in making the trip happen. The plane would fly them into Tahiti, then we had to complete the circuit.
It made sense to have Katie and the boys fly into Tahiti but we still had to get them to the island of Huanine. Katie was arriving at 5 AM. We didn’t want her to have to navigate to the ferry dock, buy the tickets and take the four hour ride to our island. So, Dan and I booked all the ferry tickets in advance. We took the ferry to Tahiti the day before, booked an air BnB, and were waiting for her and the boys at 5 AM when they arrived. It was a joyful moment, seeing our family for the first time in a year. How precious every moment is when seeing your family is such a difficult task.
The boys had slept well on the overnight flight and were ready for adventures with Boat Grandma and Grandpa! We jumped in a taxi as the ferry left at 6:30 AM and it was already 5:30. The airport was only seven miles from the ferry terminal so we made it in plenty of time to board and get a great section of seats by the window and with a table for snacks and playing. Four hours later, we arrived at Huanine, the boys having experienced their first boat ride – in open ocean to boot! They did extremely well.
A Special Welcome from the Dolphins
We made a quick visit to the dockside grocery story as Dan walked the mile to retrieve the dinghy we had left a small local marina while we were away. The boys were thrilled to discover that instead of a car, Boat Grandma and Grandpa travelled by dinghy. We zoomed across the bay toward the anchorage with a dozen boats, and they were able to pick out Equus with her horse head and teal sail trim.
As soon as they were aboard we gave them the tour and explained our safety rules. They were never allowed outside the cockpit without their lifejackets on and they always had to tell us when they were going out. However, the most exciting thing for them was the Pirate Booty Box stowed on board. We explained they had to fist find the treasure box, and then each day they could pick from the booty box if they had been really good sailors. I have to say, I think this was the highlight of their stay with us but we had some other amazing experiences.
Carter had his first snorkeling experience. We all went out in the dinghy, even though there was a strong current and the waves were rough. Carter had been practicing in his aunt’s swimming pool with his mask and snorkel. He immediately took to snorkeling like a natural and was pointing and waving at every fish, coral, and blue lipped clam he saw. An avid fish enthusiast, he already knew the names of most of the fish we saw!
A couple of day later, after playing on the beaches, building sand castles and feeding fish at night under the green lights off the stern, we pulled up anchor ready to sail to a new harbor. Just as soon as the anchor was up, we received a very special welcome gift. A school of dolphins suddenly appeared and swam beside the boat, playing in the waves along side our bow. I was shocked as we hadn’t seen dolphins in months and we had never seen them inside the reef! It was as if they had decided to make a special appearance for our guests.
We spent a wonderful week with Katie, Carter, and Ryder. The boys were troopers and took to boat life like fish to water, embracing the adventure with the enthusiasm only young children can bring to something new. Watching our grandsons experience life aboard Equus was a gift we will never forget. Sharing our unusual life with them and watching the world through their eyes made the experience so special. And time with my daughter is something I treasure most. I miss our closeness, years of doing everything together. We have a bond that few moms and daughters have, built from years of traveling with our horses and competing on three different continents at the international level, from tiny tots to the The World Equestrian Games. The journey was magical, our adventures epic, building a very special bond between us.
The Ferry That Never Came
Then it came time to take them back to Tahiti, and because we had not had enough adventure, the weather had other ideas. We were supposed to take the ferry from Huahine back to Tahiti so Katie and the boys could catch their flight home. We had to take the ferry the day before to catch her 6:00 AM flight the following morning to San Francisco. We figured it would be fun for them to see the city of Papeete in Tahiti. And then, the nightmare began.
At 8:00 Pm, the eve of our ferry departure, we learned that the windstorm we had been experiencing caused the ferry to be postponed. There was no time for a leisurely Plan B. The only solution was to immediately secure plane tickets for all five of us. Katie is a doctor of acupuncture and herbs and hade eight clients scheduled the day after she returned. Rescheduling them all would be a nightmare.
Katie didn’t want us to have to buy plane tickets but there was now way we were going to send her to find lodging, and get to the airport at 5 AM then next morning in an unfamiliar city, on her own with two small children. So, for the next stressful hour, we searched for flights and tried to find enough seats together to get us to Tahiti. Fortunately, somehow, we did. Stressful does not even begin to describe it, but we persevered.
Saying Goodbye
Early the next morning, we piled into a taxi, headed to the airport, and made it to Tahiti on schedule. We didn’t arrive until late afternoon. We were able to take a quick swim in the BnB pool before heading down the streets of Papetee from some pizza and ice cream. It wasn’t a great taste of what Tahiti has to offer but at least Katie can say she’s been to Tahiti!
At four AM the next morning, we carried sleeping boys into the taxi for the 15 mintue ride to the airport. When the time came for Katie and the boys to leave, I cried. I knew what a special gift their visit had been. What is much worse is that I have no idea when I will see them again. It is hearbreaking, especially with how close I am to my daughter. It is the ONLY huge drawback to our circumnavigation and sailing life. However, we had our daughter and grandsons aboard our home in French Polynesia, halfway around the world from where this journey began. Those memories are priceless.
The Voyage to Raiatea
As soon as we were back aboard Equus, we departed for Raiatea, the island we could see from our harbor. Dan had made reservations at the boatyard there so we could finally get hauled out and have our damaged rudder properly repaired.
Thanks to the Super El Niño that is currently tormenting French Polynesia, the weather here in the Pacific has been rough. It has been stormy, cloudy, and challenging, with far more unsettled weather than we would prefer. Our four-hour sail to Raiatea was one of the roughest we had experienced in a while. As Equus heeled so far over at times that the rail was nearly in the water, I could not stop thinking about our broken rudder, which was being held together by a hose clamp. I prayed it would not fall off before we got there. Thankfully, it didn’t.
When we passed through the inlet in the reef, everything changed almost instantly. The raging ocean was left behind, and we entered calm water.
The reefs that surround these islands provide incredible protection, creating peaceful lagoons even when the sea outside is rough and unforgiving. These are the islands that inspired the Disney movie Moana, and I can understand why. Like Moana’s voyage, you have to cross the reef to reach the open ocean. Inside the reef, the water is calm, beautiful, and almost impossibly blue. Outside, the ocean reminds you who is in charge.
Waiting for the Boatyard
We spent two nights at anchor before sailing inside the reef to reach the harbor where the boatyard is located. Then we waited for them to tell us when Equus could be hauled out.
Things here do not always work the way they do in other parts of the world. Time and schedules can be more like rough guidelines than promises set in concrete, so patience is an important part of life in the islands.
As we waited to hear when Equus could be hauled out, another boat anchored next to us. There were five women aboard, and they were also waiting for repairs.
Their entire rudder had fallen off during a rough passage, and they had to be towed into the harbor. It was an immediate reminder of one of the most important lessons of cruising: things can always be worse. Suddenly, our broken rudder, held together with a hose clamp, did not seem quite so bad.
We are now sitting on the hard, with Equus high in the air on blocks while our rudder is being repaired. Life without the ocean around us is an adjustment.
Our refrigerator and freezer rely on seawater for cooling, so while the boat is out of the water, I have no refrigeration. The grocery store is an eight-mile round trip by bicycle, which makes provisioning a little more complicated.
For years, our unofficial requirement for success has been that we are still alive, still in love, and still afloat. Right now, we are missing one very important element: the afloat part.
I cannot wait for the rudder to be repaired so we can splash again and resume our rightful place in the water.
Bora Bora Is in Sight
The weather will probably still be nasty, and the next passage may be rough. Something else will undoubtedly break eventually because that is simply part of life on a boat, but I am excited to sail again.
If we look straight out from this marina, we can see our next destination: Bora Bora.
Of course, sailing to Bora Bora is a dream. One of the greatest things about this life is finally arriving at places you have dreamed about for years.
We have now sailed almost 50,000 miles. We have crossed oceans, survived breakages, endured hardships, faced setbacks, and wondered more than once whether the next repair would hold long enough to get us safely where we needed to go. Then you finally arrive at a place you have dreamed about, and the feeling is immense. The gratitude is incredible, and the sense of awe is overwhelming.
That is why we sail. That is why we persevere. One of our greatest privileges is being able to share these moments, the photographs, the stories, the challenges, and the beauty with our friends and loved ones.
For now, Equus is healing. We are still alive, still in love, and temporarily not afloat, but hopefully that will change very soon.
See you soon in Bora Bora.
Fair Winds,
Captain Dan and First Mate Alison