Tales of the South Pacific
As cruising the South Pacific is a little tricky at the moment, we decided to share the Schmidt family’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” which appears in this month’s Latitude 38 magazine.
We introduced readers to the Schmidt family back in 2018, when their otherwise uneventful Pacific Puddle Jump turned pretty eventful: They towed a disabled 36-ft monohull named Vata almost 700 miles to safe harbor! Aboard at the time were owners Shaun and Sherrie, and their kids Paige (then 14) and Jordan (8), as well as Manuel and Nadia, German cruisers they had met and befriended the year before in the Med. Since then they have sailed more than 23,000 nm and visited — so far — 33 countries.
After towing Vata to the safety of the Marquesas in April, doing some exploring and meeting up with other sailing friends who had recently arrived from the Puddle Jump, we set sail for the Tuamotu atolls in search of gin-clear waters and uncrowded anchorages.
We visited five atolls, each of them leaving a special place in our hearts: the isolation, snorkeling and beach bonfires of Kauehi; the epic diving of Fakarava and Rangiroa; the hospitality of Valentine and Gaston on Toau; and receiving a guided tour of a retired couple’s private paradise on a private motu in Apataki.
After a great sail from Rangiroa to Tahiti to provision and explore, we enjoyed the anchorage near the Hilton Hotel of Moorea for more hiking, snorkeling, horseback riding and even a golf game at the Green Pearl Golf Club to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. With an early-morning arrival in Huahine, we were fortunate to grab the last mooring in deep water in front of the village, and after a good pull test with our engines, we set off to circumnavigate the island on rented scooters. It was so much fun, we did the same on Bora Bora, where we stopped to tie-dye our own sarongs. With our early-season timing, we were also able to take in the opening ceremony of the Tahitian dance festival in Bora Bora with the first few groups of competing performers.
(Note to self: Wait one extra day to leave on a passage after a Pacific weather trough passes through.) We departed Bora Bora for the small island nation of Niue the day after a weather system passed through, and we were met with four-meter waves just outside the lagoon entrance. With Element launching off the top of these waves at 11 knots, four of our six crew were feeling “unwell” only 15 minutes into the journey.
Continue reading at Latitude 38.com.