Sailing to Savusavu, Vanua Levu, from French Polynesia took us 15, no 16 days, as we crossed the date line! 332 islands covering a vast archipelago, but we had 2.5 months. We found a multicultural population of Melanesian, Polynesian, Chinese, European and about 40% of Indo-Fijan origin. There are many religions; 60% are Christians with…
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Happy to return to French Polynesia, we took a ferry from Tahiti to Moorea to see Sara and Patrick who live in Tahiti but who were there on holiday. A fun reunion! We then flew to Apataki having firstly bought as much fruit and vegetables as our baggage allowance permitted, and spent 2 weeks working…
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Nearly one year after leaving French Polynesia we at last could return, although this entailed completing umpteen documents. After 2 weeks of repairs, maintenance and cleaning, Moondance was put back in the water only to find we had various internal leaks plus our windlass was broken. We sailed to Tahiti and spent 8 weeks awaiting…
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The Marquesas lie in northern French Polynesia over 3,000 nautical miles from the Galapagos. As we approached, a solo sailor told us over the radio that due to Covid all sailing boats had to go directly to Tahiti. When sailing we have no internet so were blissfully oblivious of the new world situation. Our 30…
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Completing the paperwork and providing the documents required to sail with your own boat to the Galapagos was no mean task. The 9 day sail turned into 12 through lack of wind but as André caught a tuna we didn’t starve! Around sunset each day red-footed boobies would settle on the solar panel or bow…
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We returned to Panama at the end of January, laden with spare parts and excited to be embarking on the next leg of our travels. Moondance, looking like new after a coat of anti-fouling, was lowered back into the water and preparations for the Canal crossing began. On Saturday 8th February we left Shelter Bay…
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Paddington Bear “from darkest Peru” had not prepared us for the vast expanse of desert covering the north coast for hundreds of miles. 18 hours after leaving Cuenca we arrived in Trujillo on Independance Day. The attractive spacious Plaza de Armas and its surrounding streets boast many colonial churches and buildings with intricate wrought-iron grillwork…
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What a contrast between the heat and 85% humidity of sea-level Panama and the cold dryness of the Andes at the 2,800m of Quito where we landed. We had decided to travel throughout Ecuador and Peru using local buses and staying in B&Bs or small guest houses to be with the locals as much as…
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After so long living on the boat it seemed strange to pack a bag, take a flight, stay in hotels and experience flushing toilets, the convenience of bathrooms, no cooking nor making water and no DIY! Our week’s tour, organised via an agency, started with the Carara National Park on the north Pacific coast reached…
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A predicted 9 day crossing of 1180 nautical miles from the British Virgin Islands to Bocas del Toro in west Panama turned into 12 days due to the lack of wind and an adverse Gulf Stream. André gave up fishing because of the many algae, made bread and turned to the never-ending maintenance of the…
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