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7.24.19 – Chicago

City Life to Boat Life (6.7.19 – 7.4.19) We haven’t posted in awhile because during the month of June we have been downsizing – AGAIN!  It was fun to do some last Chicago activities with family and friends. We took a U-Haul trailer load to our cottage and another to Linda’s parents’ in Columbus. Her parents are nicely willing to be our “Hub” and they are now our new mailing address. We moved our bed and furniture into their basement for a place to stay next winter, making us perhaps the oldest boomerang kids ever.  We spent the 4th of July in Columbus and got to look down on the fireworks from Linda’s brother’s apartment on the 33rd floor.

  • Knee surgery was a speed bump in the “Plan”
  • Linda struggling to say goodby to the West Loop
  • The last U-Haul load to the cottage
  • The cottage full of “stuff” before finding a home for everything
  • Enjoying the West Loop with Mom and
    Dad
  • The fireworks from Uncle Bill’s apartment

Moving onto the boat (7.7.19 – 7.19.19) Bob’s knee was pretty much recovered by the time we moved aboard Tiger Lily at Larsen Marine in Waukegan on July 7th. Larsen did a great job installing new electronics and new rigging. We joked that we had our own gated community because all the staff went home each night and closed the gates and we were the only ones in their boatyard.

  • Kevin and Tom at Larsen Marine took good care of us

6.10.19 – New Zealand, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine

New Zealand to Tahiti (5.9.19 – 5.29.29) We are back from our sailing training voyage from New Zealand to Tahiti with a stop at Rurutu! We learned a ton about open ocean sailing and then decompressed in French Polynesia for a few days.

  • Our route

The sailing started out easy (motoring) and got tougher as the days clicked by. The sail from Rurutu to Tahiti was particularly challenging with consistent 35 knot winds and 15 foot seas with sideways rain. There were a couple of times during Linda’s watch where a wave broke on the boat and filled the cockpit. It’s a good thing we had the wash boards in the companionway. We learned that long ocean passages in heavy seas going upwind is not what we want to do. We also learned that having a great crew on board makes the voyage. Clink on this link to see the details of the trip. http://www.mahina.com/leg19/1.html#itinerary

  • Linda reefing, Bob helming
  • A focused sailor
  • A happy sailor
  • Our only fish the whole trip
  • It wasn’t all tough sailing
  • The hearty crew in Rurutu
  • Our guide’s husband dropped off a bit of fruit:)
  • Harvesting papayas on the roadside with our guide
  • The view from the masthead
  • John and Amanda, the source of endless knowledge

Tahiti (5.29.29) We stayed in a great hotel (Manava Suites) with our new friends, the Grants, and had a yummy dinner at the Blue Banana down the road. As we waded in the infinity pool we watched John and Amanda leave the harbor headed to Huahine. We didn’t realize the day we planned to take the ferry to Moorea was a holiday and there was only one ferry that day. It was dumb luck that we got to the ferry in time. We met Harry (a mega yacht 1st mate) and Morgan (a travel blogger) on the ride to Moorea.

  • Our new friends, Jo and David Grant

Moorea (5.30.39 – 5.31.19) We loved the Intercontinental hotel partially because we were upgraded to a hut on the lagoon. Our big adventure was hiking up the Mt. Rotui ridge. We got lucky with the weather. Any rain and it would have been a treacherous hike. We also took paddle boards out to the sand bar and snorkeled with the sting rays and black tipped sharks. We thought it was interesting that chickens were roaming free in the open air restaurant during breakfast.

  • The hike up Mt. Rotui
  • Our bungalow by the lagoon
  • Chickens with (not for) breakfast

Bora Bora (6.1.19) The Sofitel hotel we booked was under renovation so we stayed at the sister hotel on their private island. This is a place for couples on their honeymoons so we were entertained by the couples walking off to their private dinners on the beach. We were good with the normal restaurant:) We kayaked around the small island which had some good snorkeling.

  • Bora Bora snorkeling
  • The private island
  • Our tree hut

Huahine (6.2.19 – 6.3.19) We had our first dive here after getting re-certified in April. Annie from Mahana Dive did a great job making us feel comfortable even though we were diving with gray sharks. We took a hotel kayak out around the boats anchored near the hotel and met Adam and Adam on their boat Langoust. We enjoyed learning about their sailing adventures. They are both architects and they talked about having Mark (our youngest son) come to New Zealand to intern at their firm.

  • Annie and Robert our dive instructors
  • Super chill dive shop
  • Kayaking to the boats in the harbor
  • Adam and Adam – super cool architects

Back to Tahiti to fly home (6.4.19) We met up with Harry again at the airport and learned that he met a woman that wants to build bungalows on her land and give one to him if he builds them. He is planning to head back to Moorea in December with a bunch of tools. It’s interesting the different paths people take through life.

A stop in San Francisco (6.5.19) We stopped in San Fran to visit with Mitch and Erin for an evening. It was good to catch up in person after being off the grid for about a month.

  • Sushi with Mitch and Erin

5.6.19 – Off to the South Pacific

We embark on our intensive sailing training trip on Mahina Tiare tomorrow and will be gone until early June. We will be off the grid – Linda is most concerned about not being able to communicate with the kids. There may be some updates from Mahina on our trip via this link https://www.mahina.com/expeditionupdates.html#

We hope to have some (not too) interesting photos and stories when we return:)