Ya gotta take the GOOD with the BAD !

I used to work with a guy named Tony who would always say "you gotta take the good with the bad". Although he usually used the phrase when talking about subjects that are not meant for this "G-rated" blog it does seem to apply to almost everything about life.

For example, an ice cream sundae can be good (really good with caramel and whipped cream) but you have to take the bad with it (can make you fat and give you an ice cream headache). So, as you might expect, sailing across the south Pacific through it's beautiful islands is like an ice cream sundae -

you gotta take the good with the bad.

Tahiti

May 22-27
Like I said in the last post - we were back where we started 3 weeks ago, anchored just below the apartment we had rented which was also just in front of what has to be coolest, most beautiful McDonalds on the planet.

The sun sets behind Moorea as we sit in Tahiti

MMM...McDonalds

We decided we had to go for lunch and an ice cream sundae (good) but the prices like everything in Tahiti are VERY high (bad). The building is not what made it the most beautiful McDonalds, it was the location, location, location! The shaded outdoor dining tables were right on the shore of the lagoon complete with an incredible view of the island of Moorea and a protected swimming area as a playground for the kids! It gave a whole new meaning to the happy meal!!

Polynesians love to paddle

Since this was the biggest place Dragonfly had been since Panama City almost 3 months ago there was lots of business, repairs and provisions that needed attention. We needed to fill propane bottles (for the stove/oven) which somehow takes 3 days from the time you drop them off until you pick them up and costs 5 times what it does in the USA. The starter motor for Dragonfly's diesel generator quit and needed replaced which is necessary for electricity on board but more importantly, to run the watermaker that turns seawater into drinking water. It so happened there was the model we needed right at the marina (good) but it cost Al over $800 (bad). We also needed to check out of French Polynesia even though we would still be visiting more of the islands in the coming weeks. We also lost a crew member, Jacque had to fly home for personal reasons leaving just the 4 of us for the trip to Tonga.

Cook's Bay in Moorea

Moorea

May 27-29 

After a nice half day sail we were entering the lagoon to the island of Moorea which many people say is the most beautiful in French Polynesia. It definately will always have a special place in my heart as it is where Lori and I went on our honeymoon some forever years ago and the first place we ever did scuba diving together (what did you think I was gonna say?...it's a G-rated blog remember). We anchored next to another catamaran with a couple that Al & Jill met in Panama at the puddle jump party and we quickly organized a happy hour on board their boat. They are quite the couple, he's Italian, a former commercial diver (on oil rigs in the north sea) and a great joke teller. She is Irish, they have lived in Australia for 30 years and have been cruising the world now for 5 years on their cat named "Novae".

The next morning we all took a dinghy snorkeling trip, first to a spot where lots of stingrays hang out hoping to be fed so that when I jumped in the water, they all came over bumping into me looking for a handout. After that bit of fun, we checked out a spot near where we anchored that had some tiki statues carved in stone laying on the sandy bottom in about 10' of water. There were about a dozen of them scattered about, roughly 6' tall and wide with different faces and poses. They were said to have been gathered from the island by the missionaries and tossed into the sea to rid the natives of their pagan idols some hundred years ago (when Lori & I were on our honeymoon I think).

Huahine
May 29-31
We set sail about 4 pm for an overnight sail to the island of Huahine to time our entrance into the lagoon for about noon when the light is best for anchoring. We need to be able to see the different water colors in the anchorage to find sandy patches (good) for the anchor to dig in and avoid the coral bommies and rocks (bad) so the chain doesn't foul around them. As soon as we were anchored we hit the town. It was market day for the locals and the main road was lined with people selling and buying. The next day Lori and I rented a scooter and set out to explore the island "Wild Hog" style (you Harley people can relate).

The first place we stopped was an historical site called a "marae" which was a gathering place used around 1200 BC for ceremonies including sharing in the roasting and eating (good) of the "long pig" (bad) which is was usually a captured or killed enemy warrior. What we found were some stone foundations, alters and 4 local kids who were blowing their horn made of a conch shell. They offered to show us how and then laughed at the horrible sounds that were made when Lori & I took turns trying. We thanked them with pencils, balloons and smarties that we had with us in our pack packs, brought from home for just such an encounter. Then it was back to the wind (and rain) in our helmets as we circled the island on the only road, which makes it very hard to get lost. We found the Faie river next where the sacred blue-eyed eels were said to live. Not sure why they are sacred but they are most assuredly blue-eyed and very big and ugly.

When we parked the scooter there was a family selling some fruit, cake like bread and cans of tuna that pointed us the way to the river (more of a creek) where we found the eels in 6" of water. There were also a couple of empty tuna cans lying nearby at which point the sales stand made sense. We went back, bought some cake for us and tuna for the sacrifice at which point mom yelled for the kids to come over and show us how to feed the eels. These kids were wading in the creek dumping tuna and when the eels came to eat swimming between their feet they would pick up these 6" diameter, 4' long eels, let them slime through their hands and laugh at the faces we made while watching this frenzy. They seemed to have as much fun showing off as we did watching them. We again thanked them like we did the conch horn blowers and rode off into the sunset. Soon we were meeting Al & Jill for happy hour beers at the Huahine "Yacht club" and wathing the sun disapear with our toes in the sand.

Riatea
May 31-June 1
We left around 11 am for the short 5 hour sail to Riatea in compny with our friends on Novae. There were not many good places to anchor as the lagoon was either too shallow and rocky or it dropped off quickly to water too deep. After 3 tries we got the hook set on a sandy edge just as the sun was setting (good), a set too shakey to leave the boat unattended (bad) to go to shore where they would be having a night of traditional Tahitian dancing with drums and fire in the middle of town. All we could do was have happy hour with our friends and listen to the drums. Tomorrow we would leave early for a full day sail to Bora Bora.

Bora Bora

June 1-3

Almost as far back as I can remember I always wanted to go to Bora Bora. There are so many stories going back to it's early days of exploration by Capt. Cook in the 18th century through WWII and even world travelers today. Cook told of having trouble keeping his ship in one piece because sailors would pull the metal spikes holding it together in order to buy favors (remember...G rated) from the beautiful, uninhibitated and near naked native women. Many deserted and never returned to their former homes. World War II servicemen also seemed to fall under the island's spell as described in many classic books and Hollywood movies. They all seemd to describe a south seas paradise of beautiful lagoons, jungle covered steep mountains and beautiful women which epitomize the South Sea Adventure and now, I was finally there!  

At least one thing has changed since Cook visited the island, I'm very happily married and had no temptation to steal iron from Dragonfly and desert with a Polynesian babe, but the rest seems to be as true today as back then.We anchored late in the evening so we didn't go ashore until morning. Despite it's reputation for being a tourist hot spot, the main village seemed to be built more for working locals than catering to tourists.

Lori and I were on a mission - find a dive shop who could take us diving to a site reported to be a hangout for large Manta Rays. We found a shop that would pick us up at our anchorage and soon enough we were in 30-40 feet of water with GIANT mantas with 15' wingspans gracefully flying quite near us in squadron formations 5 strong (good) but with the poor 30' visibility (bad) they seemed to appear and disappear all too quickly.

Our other dive was outside the lagoon on the reef wall in some of the clearest water we have ever dove in (good) but with coral that has been devastated (bad) by the "Crown of Thorns" starfish that eat the coral. They have no natural enemies except divers, are very hard to kill (in fact, if you just try to cut one up, the pieces will survive and grow into separate animals) and can wipe out an entire reef. The next day we spent snorrkeling and chilling on a deserted motu that we had all to ourselves. With a deadline to keep, we had to leave this small piece of paradise and French Polynesia all too soon and head west for our final leg to Tonga.

The passage

June 3-15

Our plan was to sail the 700 miles to one of the Cook Islands in 4 days where we would take a break for a couple of days. Well, turns out Mother Nature and Murphy's law would demand we alter that plan. Day one went according to our plan, sailing along nicely at 8-10 knots with a comfortable sea. Day 2 and 3 found us with NO wind, total glass for ocean and barely able to do 3 knots which is like walking speed. It was so calm that Al could be hoisted up to the top of the mast (good) to our windspeed/direction indicator which had decided to quit working (bad) to see if it could be fixed (no).

400 miles from land and barely a ripple...now.

Lori saying "I love you" after the storm

By day 4 the wind had decided to blow into a near gale with 15-18' seas which according to the Beaufort scale description rated it at a 7 out of 10. It was also about this time that one of the brand new hydraulic steering cylinders we had brought for Dragonfly blew a seal leaving us with only one rudder. For the next 36 hours we fought sea sickness and prayed (well, Lori cussed me between prayers) and tried unsucessfully to sleep between our watches every 4 hours.

Our watches were midnight to 4am, 8am to noon and 4pm to 8pm. These events forced us to alter the plans and skip the stop in the Cook Islands.

It was during one of those midnight watches when I realized that ocean sailing is like flying with water all around you instead of air. You can't just stop and get off whenever you feel like it, you have limited space to move around, its hard to sleep and sometimes there is a lot of turbulance. The big difference is speed. Flying is usually between 300-500 miles per hour and the 1400 miles would have taken 5 hours. Sailing is like bicycle riding speed at best and it took us 11 days (10 nights). But, we did catch some tuna and wahoo which you can't do while flying.

Lori really DOES "love me" - We made it to Tonga !!

We're back where we started !!

May 7

We're off!! We weighed anchor and set sail. We were only headed 2 hours west around the island a short distance but it felt great to be sailing. It is a very peaceful feeling when you get the sails, shut off the engines and all you hear is the water rushing under your hull.

It was stunnings as we sailed into the narrow entrance to Daniel's Bay, the bay next door and a Jurassic Park world away. Steep volcanic cliffs 1,500 feet high and clothed in green plunged dramaticaly down to the palm tree lined beach. We came here for 2 reasons. One, we heard you could buy fruit from a local guy, not Daniel, he died a few years ago. Two, we planned to trek to the base of the 3rd tallest waterfall in the world. 

May 8

We set off early for the 2 hour trek to the Vaipo Waterfall after making a very tricky landing on the rocks with the dinghy. There are only a few families living in the bay, one of which is this tattooed Marquesan character, Taechei and his wife.
We placed an order for bananas, limes and palmellos (giant sweet grapefruit) with them before setting down the "road" to Vaipo.

The first half mile was an ancient road, lined with the ruins of the old village and many old carved stone tiki. After the first river crossing the "road" turned into a rugged trail with no "road signs" but we managed to follow it through this steep Jurassic Park valley watching for dinosaurs and cannibels until it dead-ended in a pool at the foot of the waterfall. The water was cool, refreshing and full of fresh water shrimp that nibbled your feet if you stayed still too long.

May 9-12
We set sail this morning at 7am bound for the Tuamotu islands of French Polynesia some 530 miles to the southwest.
We put out 4 fishing lines with high hopes and hooked a few fish along the way but sailing at 10 knots with no way to stop
or slow down very easily makes it hard to land any fish and many escaped with our lures. I did manage to land this yellowfin tuna
and another one a day later. The first night out we were treated to a sunset escort of over 100 dolphins riding the bow,
and jumping all around Dragonfly.
Lori and I have 2 shifts at the helm everyday we are under sail; noon to 6pm and then 1am to 4am. With the tradewinds blowing
steady from the SE at 15-25 knots, once the sails are set we can put on the auto-pilot to steer us which leaves little to do but

watch for other boats (we saw only one) and admire all the stars including the Milky Way and the Southern Cross.

May 13-14
We entered our first atoll, the island of Kauehi, at first light after 4 nights at sea. These atolls are amazing! A ring of coral reef, in places with sand and vegatation scarcley 6' above sea level, surrounding a lagoon that has only one or two natural openings that allow boats, fish and the ocean to enter and exit. They can be very dangerous to enter and timing with the  tides is critical. As the tide rises and falls, the lagoon fills and empties through these passes and the currents can become very strong. We entered without too much problem and anchored in front of the village of Tearavero and we all promptly took a nap as sleeping
while underway with Dragonfly bucking in 8' seas is not the most restfull. The village is home to about 200 people and quite nice with a concrete street, block houses, a store and a Catholic church built in 1867. Most of the people work for the "mayor" who owns one of the few black pearl farms left in the lagoon which once had as many as 50. We arranged to tour the farm along with the 8 other cruising boats anchored here.

The mayor picked us up in a flat bed truck with wooden church pews in back where all 19 of us sat for the 15 minute drive to "Paradise"...which was the name of the farm. We then split into 2 groups to take turns for a boat ride into the lagoon to snorkel through "Paradise". There were floats strung together with rope that had net sacks hanging from them full of oysters all covered in sea growth...really not much to see but still interesting. Back on shore we had lunch of chicken in broth and rice. Al was sure the chicken had been hacked to pieces with a machette and tossed into the pot, bones and all. Afterward we all piled back onto the truck and went to the mayor's house where he poured bags of black pearls onto the table for us to buy with prices that ranged from $5 to $600 each.

May 15-16
Kauehi atoll's lagoon is about 10 miles long and 8 miles wide and today we sailed down to the southwest corner. Nobody lives down  here but we heard the snorkeling was good and the scenery postcard perfect shades of blue, pink sand and palm trees...which is exactly what we found.

We spent the next couple of days here snorkeling, getting a sunburn and exploring the beaches which were pink sand covered in inches of tiny shells and broken coral bits. Lori and I also donned our snorkel gear to scrape and clean Dragonfly's bottom of the sea grass and barnacles which I'm sure grow faster than the black pearls on the farm. The shallow reef pass Lori is standing in had about 8 black tip reef sharks from 2-4 feet long cruising around that would swim quite close to your feet. If you want to come down here and check it out, put this Lat/Long into your Google Earth S15-57-32 W145-04-45

May 17-19

We exited Kauehi's lagoon through the south pass and sailed about 8 hours to the second largest atoll of French Polynesia. Fakarava is x miles and we entered again through the north pass and anchored in front of the only village, Rotoava which is very similar to the one on Kauehi only slighty bigger with 2 stores (one of which sold ice cream bars). The next day we sailed through the lagoon to the south end dodging quite a few pearl farms along the way. As soon as we anchored we were greeted with 6-8 reef sharks who circled Dragonfly almost constantly and stayed until we pulled anchor and sailed away days later.

 There is a mostly abandoned village here that used to be the capitol of the Tuamotu's in the 1850's but now has only about 20 people living here among the ruins. More important, it has a scuba dive company and Lori and I were dying to blow some bubbles. Our first dive was to be at the lagoon entrance but got changed to inside the lagoon to see a couple of BIG...no...HUGE 15-17' Tiger sharks that had been attracted to the area by a dead Sperm whale that had washed up just behind the dive shop. Our dive guide towed some whale guts down, stuffed them into the rocks at 40' and we waited. We did see them cruise by but they were not at all interested in guts or us and didn't come very close, which might have been good because they were HUGE!! Our second dive was riding the current through the pass to see what the shop called "the Wall of Sharks". Sharks need to swim constantly to have water flowing over their gills or else they drown. They like the current in the passes because they can almost hover with no effort in the flowing water, resting and looking for food that might float by...not divers...fish. As we drifted through at about 70 feet deep we floated right by them...100's of them...I guess you could say a "wall of them". This place is DEFINATELY the "sharkiest" place we have ever been. And yes, that's a word "sharkiest" (it's probably Tahitian). And yes, I'm using all 10 fingers to type this.

May 20-22

It was sad to be leaving the beautiful atolls of the Tuamotu archipeligo but we need to keep moving west. The 160 miles to Tahiti was only going to take 24 hours until the trade winds decided to quit blowing. The trip ended up taking twice that long and we spent 2 nights sloshing along at 3-5 knots. I could have almost walked that fast except for the water thing would have made it difficult. Anyway, we are anchored just below the apartment we rented for 3 nights...right back where we started about 3 weeks ago. All yachts traveling through French  Polynesia have to register and check out here. Next stop, Moorea and Bora Bora. Bon Voyage!   

Hello Nuku Hiva & Dragonfly !!

The flight from Tahiti to Nuku Hiva was great...after we got off the ground. We checked our bags and were in line for the security check when the TSA people asked me to come with them...YIKES!! Turns out they saw the boat parts we were transporting for Al & Jill on x-ray and just wanted me to show them what they were. After they held them and they did not explode they told me to repack everything and NaNa (goodbye in Tahitian). The clouds parted enough to see our future...some of the Tuamotu atolls we would soon be sailing through...AMAZING!!

Nuku Hiva is the second largest island in French Polynesia and VERY rugged. The airport is on the north side of the island and the village of Taiohae is on the south separated by a 1.5 hour ride over the 3,000 foot high summit on a very impressive winding concrete road. At the summit we looked down what seemed to be a couple of Grand Canyons from every angle. The island's environment varies extremely from one side to the other, going from a scrubby type desert on the north coast to a pine (yes, PINE!) forest that seemed more like Colorado than the south Pacific at he summit. The middle of the island is a high plateau with cattle ranches and lots of horses.   

Our first night we stayed in the Pension Koku'u (that's Marquesean for some families house). Even with their 4 children, chickens and roosters running around the yard we managed to get a good nights sleep. The next morning we were down at the harbor snack shop where the yachties hang out and could see Dragonfly at anchor. We borrowed the VHF radio from the shop and hailed Al who promptly dinghied in to fetch us.

  

Our first night aboard we were treated to a great dinner of seared Tuna, keenwa (I have no idea how to really spell it but I know you can read it) and green beans with brownies and a fantastic sunset for desert.

Al & Jill are great and I have no doubts that we will get along well. They both seem pretty easy going and Al seems to be almost as big of a joker as me. Jill has got the boat and all the provisions very organized and from what I saw and tasted on that first night...we should be eating very well with lots of fresh FRUIT and vegetables. As it turns out, the other couple that was coming from Australia had to cancel so that leaves just the 5 of us. Jacque is a semi-retired motorcycle cop for the Los Angles Police Department who I am quite sure can take care of herself in most any situation yet seems to be very easy going also. She is a southern California girl so I am sure we should get well.

Nuku Hiva has lots of great culture and history. The Marquesasans are a very proud people with a history that includes fierce tattooed warriors and a reputation for eating their enemies. Catholic missionaries came to the islands in the early 1800's and their influence is still very evident with 80% of the islands population converted and a beautiful church built in 1837 and still being used.  

We are not sure when we will leave Nuku Hiva and start sailing west but we are sure that we don't really care!

Sun, Sand & Surf

Why is it that pictures never do the beauty of nature justice???

That is the island of Moorea in the background

That is the view that greeted us from the apartment we are staying in and it was waaaayyy more beautiful than this photo.

Thats an Amelia sandwhich

We arrived tired but happy at 5:00 am and were met at airport by a great couple, Damien & Amelia who own the apartment. We had found the place on a great website we have used in the past where owners rent out their places to vacationers. Check out our Tahitian digs and the site by clicking here. The apartment was fantastic but nothing compared to these two locals who looked after us like we were their very own grandparents. We rented what looked (and felt) like a little toy car and the next day we were off to drive around the whole island, all 110 kilometers of it (those are like miles for French people).

Not even in my younger days

 

One of the highlights for me was being able to see one of the greatest surf breaks on the planet. Growing up surfing in "Surf City" aka Huntington Beach, Calif. made this stop a must.

Teahupoo is known to be the heaviest wave in the world. As you can see in this You Tube video the wave is thick and hollow. What you can't see is that it breaks out on the reef top in only a few feet of water far enough off shore that you need a boat to get to it - and some huge b@*ls. Every year it is a stop on the Billabong Pro Surf Tour with the greatest surfers in the world. OK...you're right I'm gushing but I can't help it, it's my surf dude coming out...fer sure dude!! Anyway, it was a beautiful beach at the end of the road as far from Papeete as you can drive.

These dudes were surfing the inner break inside the lagoon just off the beach. It looks like the bigger dude has been surfing here longer than the little dude has been alive...fer sure dude!

Tahiti has some mountains that peak at over 3,000 feet and are usually covered in clouds generated every day by their own humid jungles. They are VERY steep and have some spectacular cascades (those are like waterfalls for French people) a few of which we hiked up to. Driving around was a little bit of a challenge since everything is written in French, the Tahitians speak french and our french is terrible (which is french for we don't know any french). There are also those crazy traffic circles (which is french for stop lights) at every intersection. The easy part about driving here is that once you get out of Papeete there is pretty much only one road hugging the coast around the whole island. The hard part about driving here is getting out of Papeete.

We spent our last day on Tahiti soaking up sun and 80 degree seawater at "Venus Point" which was named by hero Captain Cook. In 1767 he sailed here on his first voyage to observe, measure and record the Transit of Venus across the sun. The Royal Society of London then used these measurements and a super computer to calculate the distance of the earth from the sun.

Well, I need to get this posted and get to bed. We have to get up at 4:00 am (and you thought this was all fun and relaxation) to catch our 4 hour flight to Nuku Hiva. Tomorrow we meet Al, Jill, Dragonfly and the rest of our crew.

Life as we know it is about to change!!

"Nana" Alaska..."ia ora na" South Pacific !!

That title is not a typo or some kind of baby talk.

It is Tahitian.

"Goodbye" Alaska..."Hello" South Pacific !!

What it really means is that we are off on what we like to call a

"Super Dave Bucket List Adventure"

We are off to the South Pacific to crew on a 65' sailing catamaran for 42 days as she makes her way 2,000 miles through some of the most beautiful islands on the planet.

Dragonfly

You might be saying ??? 

So let me try to explain. 

We all know the internet can be a dangerous place where you can get into trouble and that is how this came to be. You see, there is this website called "floatplan" where people post "crew wanted" ads. 

BEWARE...look at your own risk or else you may get sucked in like we did, reply to an ad and then, next thing you know...

Al and Jill are the owners of Dragonfly, the beauty you see pictured here. 

They are moving their home/yacht from Florida to Tonga where they will spend the next few years in the service of a nonprofit organization called "Sea Mercy" (more on that later). They have accepted us as volunteer crew for the last leg of their long transit so...pinch me, here we go!!

As I've said before, life's adventures are best when shared with family and friends.

So if you want to come along with us - keep reading - we would love to share this adventure with you and....you won't even get seasick or sunburned.

Just like many great adventures, this took a lot of planning which we began in mid December of last year.

We all know the internet can be a fantastic place where you can get invaluable help and that is how this planning started. You see, there are websites where people post "everything you could need" ads.

After doing some initial research on the travel logistics, cost, the proposed route, the boat, and checking with my boss about the consequences of being gone for 2 months - we committed and started making solid plans.

My first plan was to lose about 20 pounds I had gained during the holidays. Let's hope the rest of the plans go MUCH better or we're in serious trouble.

The rest of the plan goes like this:

We will be leaving Haines April 29th and after traveling a mere 34 hours we will arrive in Pape'ete on the island of Tahiti, the capital of French Polynesia. The country consists of around 130 islands lumped into 5 main groups scattered over almost 2,000,000 square miles. Yes, you read that right, two million square miles. After a couple of days exploring Tahiti, we will fly 800 miles to Nuku Hiva which is a small island in the Marquesas group. We plan to spend a couple of days seeing this island which is home to one of the highest waterfalls in the world at 1,159 feet! This is also where we will meet and join Dragonfly.

Tahiti is about as close to the middle of the Pacific Ocean as you can get.

From there, the dream begins! We will sail through the atolls of the Tuamotu group which have fascinated me for most of my life.

Atolls begin life as a sea volcano with a fringing coral reef around it. Over eons, the cone sinks into the ocean thrusting the reef above the surface where sand and plants get deposited into little islets called "motus" surrounding a lagoon where the volcanic cone used to be. The highest ground is only a few feet above sea level.

See, fascinating right?!?

Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world and home to one of the most exciting scuba dives on the planet in the Tiputa pass. You drop in and "fly along" as the tides rush through the pass to empty or fill the lagoon. There can be as many as 200 sharks at the entrance waiting for the flood of food. We heard they don't like the taste of divers so if we are fortunate enough to get to dive here we should be alright (besides, I swim faster than Lori).  

Next will most likely be Bora Bora. Simply said, Bora Bora is the most beautiful island in the world. Looking at this picture it would be hard to argue otherwise.

My hero Capt. James Cook put this piece of paradise on the map when he visited it in 1770 although it has been inhabited by Polynesians since the 4th century AD.

If we don't come back home in 2 months, this would be a good guess as to where we might be.

And all of that was only the first half of this adventure! We still have the Cook Islands to sail through and the Kingdom of Tonga to explore! 

The downside of all of this (as if there is one) is that we will be part of the crew and not the king and queen on a luxury cruise. All that really means is that we will help with everything on board - sailing, anchoring, eating, snorkeling, amusing the captain, night watches, cooking, cleaning, annoying the captain, making cocktails, catching fish, disposing of beer and napping but hopefully NOT walking the plank.

One of the coolest parts of all this is that Al & Jill, the owners of Dragonfly, left their successful charter business behind and have already sailed halfway around the world to spend the next few years serving Sea Mercy, a non profit group whose mission is to bring health care to remote island villages. After we leave them in Tonga, they will begin carrying skilled medical and dental professionals and supplies to people who currently have no access to such things. I wish we could stay and help with that but apparently the islanders don't need a land surveyor and a retired bartender/traffic control flagger.

So if you still want to come along on this "Super Dave Bucket List Adventure Tour" we will do our best to share it with you. We will obviously not have constant internet access and posting photos might be difficult but we will try and post to our blog as often as we can. There are some other ways (links) I have listed below that will help you share a ride with us all.

Be sure to bring your DEET, I hear the sand fleas can be ferocious on those deserted beaches! 

Don't forget to bookmark these links in your favorites when you open them.   

http://saildragonfly.wordpress.com/ 

This is Jill's blog site and probably the best way to get the most frequent updates. She has the connection to post even when she is thousands of miles from land. The best way to make sure you get every new post is to sign up to "follow". There should be a tab in the bottom right corner to click on and enter your email address. 

http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=wda3831a

Be sure to bookmark this one. It is a cool site that tracks the location of Dragonfly using GPS and displays her track and most current location.

http://lordaveus.blogspot.com/

You probably recognize this as our blog site but don't forget to bookmark it. Just like with Jill's, the best way to make sure you get every new post is to sign up to follow. Look for the box on the right side labeled "followers" and sign up. Don't worry...it's FREE!

Those are the essential links you will need to come along with us.

These are some fun links you might also enjoy.

(c'mon...you know it's better than whats on TV right now) 

http://www.seamercy.org/
Please check this one out. It is a great mission they are accomplishing. FYI...In January of this year, Tonga was hit by a Force 5 cyclone and destroyed 80% of the homes on some islands. 

http://saildragonfly.org/index.htm
Dragonfly charters site. Check out the "Specs & Equipment" page for details on the boat.

http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com/discover/introduction.asp
Check out "the islands" drop down menu for details about all the main islands.

http://www.pacificpuddlejump.com/about.html
A fun site with lots of info for and about all the crazy cruisers who are sailing across the Pacific.

http://lil-explorers.blogspot.com/ 
A family of those crazy cruisers I just mentioned - 7 kids, 6 of them younger than 6 years old sailing the world. How crazy cool is that!

http://www.yachtseagoon.bravehost.com/ 
Another crazy cruiser (and the first boat we crewed on) doing some cool stuff in Papua New Guinea.

PLUS...you can find links in words highlighted throughout this post you just read as well as in the box on the right side labeled "Links you might Like".

We're ready to set sail...you coming??

FINE PRINT - Publisher of this blog cannot be held responsible if you learn something from clicking on any of the links above or develop sudden and uncontrollable urges to chuck everything and sail away somewhere.