Monthly Archives: May 2010

Final Days in Hiva Oa

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Frank Taylor

[Warning: this is a long entry, but lots of interesting little stories.] Our earlier posts didn’t cover some important highlights while we were still in Taahuku Bay near Atuona in Hiva Oa. And, we have some cool things to share … Continue reading →

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Internet Routing

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Frank Taylor

The title to this post is probably not what you think. We do use the Internet to plan our routes. I have been using Google Earth for years to view the places we want to go, and collect information about … Continue reading →

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Kite Aerial Photos BBQ Island in Google Earth and Maps

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Frank Taylor

Back in March we were visiting the beautiful San Blas islands off the coast of Panama. The San Blas are an archipelago of several hundred small islands which are managed by the Kuna Indians who live there. They are also … Continue reading →

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Completed Passage to Marquesas

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Frank Taylor

We completed our 3000 mile passage safely from the Galapagos to the French Marquesas on May 10th in just over 16 days. A very respectable time – especially considering we had a very challenging weather pattern that produced unusually light … Continue reading →

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Tahina Arriving Marquesas Today

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Frank Taylor

It’s dawn and we’re less than 70 nautical miles from Hiva Oa. We should make landfall by 2 PM local time! We’re currently sailing about 8 kts under spinnaker straight downwind, and are hoping the winds will hold up to … Continue reading →

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Excitement Mounts

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Frank Taylor

Saturday, after two weeks at sea, we had a beautiful sunny day and the wind was perfect. We had been flying all night, and at 10 o’clock we had logged 215 nautical miles in 24 hours! An excellent run yet … Continue reading →

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Tahina Has Gone Bananas

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Frank Taylor

Before we left the Galapagos, we made sure to provision plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. The challenge is keeping them from going bad during the passage. One technique is to buy under-ripe fruits. We bought half a full-bunch (branch) … Continue reading →

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Power Days

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Frank Taylor

Tahina is the first boat we’ve owned where we had a generator on board. The solar panels do a good job of making our batteries last longer, but the power demands on a bigger boat are pretty high. Especially while … Continue reading →

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Frustrating Wind Hunt

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Frank Taylor

During the weekend, and especially Monday night, we spent a lot of time hunting the wind. We have been faithfully downloading wind data from NOAA over HF radio, and I even went online with the satellite and downloaded longer-range data. … Continue reading →

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A True Fish Story

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Frank Taylor

Since we have four people on board now, during our night shifts on passage Karen and I both go to bed not long after dinner. Karen has the second night watch, and I have the fourth. On May 1, I … Continue reading →

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