The Crew And Trip to Tuamotus

The Crew

Mark Jones, Lincoln City, Oregon
Mark’s skills as helmsman of the year cannot be overlooked. His helmsmanship and sail trim expertise are without equal. All those years as a sailing instructor, racer and delivery skipper paid off on Present Moment’s voyage to the Marquesas. Everyone on board agreed that Mark missed his true calling as a stand-up comic. He never ran out of lively and colorful material. His 8,300 Ipod tunes showed great taste and helped create the mood aboard. Mark grew up in Texas, lived in California and currently resides in Oregon when not working aboard a seismic oil exploration vessel in the Gulf of Mexico as a navigator. Racing and cruising sailboats for over 20 years is Mark’s passion. He’s looking forward to the remote anchorages and good snorkeling until his feet grow webs. As complete as Mark’s life is, he’s still looking for that certain woman with the right boat.

Bob Pezzoli, Moraga California

A native of Philadelphia, Bob’s sailing experiences includes the Atlantic, Caribbean, Sea of Cortez and the mighty Pacific. Normally the San Francisco Bay is Bay is Bob’s sailing venue. As Present Moment’s provisioning officer Bob got nothing but accolades for the crew for his choices of food stuffs and knowing where to find them whenever called upon. He also enjoyed their feedback when we ran out of lemons, two weren’t enough for a three week passage

Dave Smith, Detroit, Michigan
While Dave currently calls chilly Michigan home, he is a red-hot racing skipper on the Great Lakes circuit and a fantastic sailing tactician. In addition he is a great cook,
delighting the crew with his culinary delights such as apple cake and brownies. But wait there’s more as Chief Fisherman his fishing skills landed us a yellow fin tuna. Dave’s numerous colorful bandanas attracted not only fish but also seabirds to Present Moment’s deck for free rides gaining him the nickname “Birdman”.

Peter Mackay- Lewis, London, England
Seemingly related by Irish connection to most of the crew, Peter joined Present Moment in the Marquesas to gain experience of sailing the South Pacific as part of his around the world adventures taking hem him to Hong Kong and New Zealand prior to entering French Polynesia. Peter is nautically well qualified having grown up on a Hallberg Rassy 42 and so felt right a home, other than adding in a few other necessities like the “Wonder Washer” (the on board hand powered clothes washer) which took a bit of him getting used to having grown up with a nanny and plenty of servants. Coincidently Peter is a student of Ekhart Tolle and was reading “The Power Of Now” the inspiration behind the boat’s name, Present Moment. Some think this was more than a coincidence. Besides bringing his nautical skills he introduced the rest of the crew to British music genre and traded views from across the water on everything from politics to words such as “pudding” (meaning dessert) to how to correctly pronounce “quay” that’s k-e-y for the non-English speakers. Some much for two cultures separated by a common language. By the time Peter left the boat in Papeete the crew was successfully able to turn a robust 29 year old into a semi-senile 65 year old, which just goes to show you there are no generational differences regardless of nationality!

Sam Briggs, Lafayette, Ca.

Sam is a junior at Sonoma State studing biology. Up until this trip his sailing experience was limited to the coast of California and Mexico. He joined Present Moment in Tahiti and got off in Rarotonga to return to school. He's a proficient sailor and avid scuba diver most noted for his underwater photography.

Dave Berke, San Jose, Ca
No we didn't find Dave in the local jail. Dave's a very experienced blue water sailor with the TransPac and Atlantic crossing among his many nautical accomplishments.. He was able to make the passage from Rarotonga to Australia before he had to go back to his day job. Besides being an accomplished sailor Dave is a Diving Master and a great photographer. Many of his photos are in this blog and his running commentary is the basis for my narrative after we left French Polynesia..

San Francisco to San Diego (Sea Miles 420)
After final goodbyes to the families and friends and frantic last minute storage of a million small items, Present Moment cast off her dock lines and headed out on a slack tide under the Golden Gate bound for San Diego on March 18, 2008. This alone was no mean feat as preparation for this “Dream of a Lifetime Voyage” and taken shape over the prior 18 months. The list to “to do’s” is endless encompassing spare parts, to finding crew and getting the right charts. The trip down the California coast was uneventful with cool temperatures, 25-30 knot winds and a rolling sea. It gave us a taste of “brisk” conditions and how to get the boat organized to adjust quickly to what came our way. The cool temperatures kept everyone alert and eager to get to the tropics. Present Moment’s hot air heating was put to good use. We kept well offshore to avoid shipping traffic and crab pots looking for better winds and sea conditions than what Points Conception and Arguello offered. All the way down we wondered how being in the middle of the Pacific would differ from what we had experienced as coast sailors. We skirted outside the Channel Islands and Catalina motoring into San Diego on Good Friday March 22nd escorted by CG57 USS Lake Champlain.
We spent 5 days in San Diego provisioning and waiting for the fourth crewmember to join us. We were kept more than busy doing our fresh provisioning, changing sails and getting Present Moment ready for the big passage to the Marquesas. Not to mention the crew with their last minute cravings for pizza, Chinese food and steaks. Mark Jones joined the crew that Tuesday and we went to sea Thursday March 28th for what we expected to be at least a three-week passage before seeing dry land again in the South Pacific. I must admit all the “getting ready” was wearing thin. I’m sure some of the crewmembers thought we would never get underway as the “to do list” seemed endless. As we pushed off all of that became instantly in the past and we were now on and in the Present Moment.

Our course took south along the coast of Baja turning southwest past Guadalupe Island passing west of the Clarion Islands some 350 miles off the Mexican coast.

San Diego To Marquesas Week 1 (Sea miles 950)

The weather gods were certainly favoring us as warming temperatures, clear skies and favorable winds gave us smooth sailing from day 1. They talk about the passage from Panama to Tahiti being the “milk run” but our passage was accelerated milk running with winds never dropping below 15 knots and our boat speed over ground between 5-8 knots. We used our genaker to good advantage in light air as well as going wing on wing when we were running before the wind. The 3rd day out our chief fishing officer Dave Smith landing a 8lb yellow fin tuna to everyone’s joy and astonishment. It was devoured within the next 40 minutes as some of the freshest sashimi you could ever wish for. We skirted west of the Clarion Islands as the water temperature rose to 85 degrees plus and t-shirts and shorts became the uniform of the day. At night the wake of the boat created a phosphoresce wake that showed bright white in the night. One night a pod of dolphins added their artistry to the mix looking like white ghosts in the water and leaving their own white wake underwater as the rode our bow wave playing chicken with the boat and leaving x and o patterns in the sea like they were playing tic tac toe in the water.
Spectacular doesn’t quite capture it. Now that we’re over a thousand miles off shore with about 1500 miles to go we’re experiencing the open Pacific. It’s the bluest blue you can imagine and clear days. On overcast days you’d think you’re on the Great Lakes in November. The sea state one day is like being on the Bay and the next you’ve got 8 to 10 foot rollers with wind waves breaking on top of them coming in astern like and undulating road. The vistas are endless and the air as fresh as it comes (without trees). We expect to reach the northern edge of the ITCZ better know as the doldrums by the middle of week 2 and expect to cross the Equator around April 9th.

San Diego To Marquesas Week 2 (Sea Miles 1958)
As we approached the equator we knew we had to cross the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) and the broader “Doldrums”. In our case this band of low winds, confused seas and storm cells lasted for 5 days. The poor sailing conditions were compounded by the need to converse fuel for charging the batteries and making water instead of motoring. After initially motoring for days we decided to motor only 4hrs per day and sail the remainder despite the wind conditions. It was slow going and tested all our spirits and patience. We crossed the equator on Saturday April 12th in the afternoon. We celebrated with a swim in the South Pacific, a steak and mushroom dinner and a bottle of champagne. Neptune got less than his fair share of the champagne but we figured it was the thought that counted. We continued with the program of four hours of motoring and slow sailing for another day. We suddenly appreciated the good winds we had had earlier in the trip and we’re grateful to find even 5 knots. Based on reports from other boats ahead of us we knew there would be wind 60 miles ahead. We decided to go for it and motored to about South 1 latitude where we were greeted with 17 knots of wind thru the night. Free at last! We were back in the trade winds this time in the South Pacific instead of the Eastern Pacific. It appeared to be down hill to the Marquesas with several great sunsets and a rare visit by an accompanying “Green Flash”. The only signs of life were occasional groups of flying fish, dolphins and very small seabirds that resemble sparrows. Where the seabirds came from was a mystery as the nearest land was over 1000 miles away. No luck on landing any fish despite our best efforts and several bites.

San Diego To Marquesas Week 3 ( Sea Miles 2938)

Having found the Trades again, the ship was happy to be back under sail. Time flew by as we approached Hiva Oa the first landfall in the Marquesas. Dave spotted the island at 05:13 on April 18. As dawn broke, we got our first glimpse of a Pacific island’s towering cliffs plunging into the sea along with its thick lush vegetation.

We entered Atuona Harbor on Hiva Oa and anchored by 09:30 hoping to check in with the French officials before they closed for the weekend. We didn’t make it and found out the pace of life on the islands meant everything closed at noon on Fridays for the weekend and didn’t open until Monday morning.
There is a lot of yachtie socializing that takes place at these crowded harbors and we had dinner with new found friends from other boats that had made the passage from Mexico and Europe.

Over the weekend we took a day trip to Tuahatu, a small island off of Hiva Oa. It ended up being one of our favorite anchorages. We had the anchorage to ourselves with crystal clear water and a sand beach. On Monday we came back to Atuona to check in with the Gendarmerie. Once cleared, we fueled up, restocked our provisions and headed for the island of Ua Huka some twenty miles away.

Two other boats shared the anchorage. Richard and Mathew from the UK had just caught a 40-pound wahoo and shared most of it with us. On the island we visited the town of Hane with its woodcarving school and petrogliph museum along with other anchorages.
After Captain Bob’s pancake and egg breakfast we headed for the island of Nuka Hiva, the largest in the Marquesas chain.

There Taiohae Bay easily accommodated 35 boats. The days start early in Nuka Hiva with the market opening at 4:30 AM and the day heating up by 10 AM. Everything closes during the heat of the day and reopens at 4PM, a very relaxed schedule.

We later ventured to Daniel’s Bay the site of a Survivor Series episode and hiked thru the jungle to the world’s 3rd highest waterfall. Spectacular sheer rock cliffs lined the small river at the end of a 2-hour hike. Not much water was flowing but worth the hike. We saw numerous rustic homes built on ancient rock foundations. There were stone carvings adorning each home. After experiencing Daniel’s Bay we returned to Taiohae Bay in anticipation of meeting Peter Lewis our new crewmember replacing Mark Jones.

Marquesas To Tuamotus Week 4 ( Sea Miles 3358)
After a tricking refueling stop (anchored and stern-tied to the fuel dock) we took our leave of Nuka Hiva . A quick overnight at Oa Poa gave us a much needed rest before the passage to the Tuamotus. We quickly adjusted to sea watch schedules and round the clock sailing for 4 nights until we arrived at Manihi our first atoll in the Tuamotus. It was a very sleepy village closed for the weekend on Saturday afternoon and a shallow lagoon with large chop making it less than appealing. After doing some pearl trading with the locales we weighed anchor early on Sunday and headed for Fakarava. The passage was a delight with 20-knot winds and balmy night skies under a fantastic Milky Way.

Fakarava was a charming atoll. Lovely white coral sand beaches and a village strung along the narrow atoll matched our image of an ideal South Pacific atoll. We were the 3rd boat in a very large anchorage area. Fakarava is civilized yet still remote. Numerous pensions, a dive shop and pearl farms along with a grocery store and bakery and several good restaurants completed the village.

We made our first scuba dives of the trip outside the atoll and saw sharks and eagle rays.

We toured a pearl farm to witness the whole pearl making process. One evening we even heard the local drums of native music coming from the shore. We reluctantly left Fukarava on the morning slack tide and headed north to Rangaroa the Tuamotus largest atoll reputed to have even better diving. After an overnight sail we entered Tiputa Pass and anchored off the hotel Kia Ora. Just after we anchored an outrigger race passed by our boat with hundreds of local boats cheering their favorite racers. Little did we know that a four-day holiday weekend had begun. In the village there were copra husking contests, food stalls and more celebrations until Monday with the atoll shut down for the festivities.

The Tuamotus were like a dream, peaceful waters, clear skies, great diving and nice people. But it was time to move on to legendary Tahiti