[PUP] More info (long)

[Philip Eslinger]

I have fully intended to supply additional information for the PUP,  
some of which I am sure will ignite lively discussions.  Patrick  
Gerety sent me an email and asked a series of questions about our  
expedition.  I am posting his list of questions and my reply for the  
information and discussion of the list at large:


> Welcome back Phil,
> I have some questions about your trip.  Wife and I are thinking  
> about taking off for the Marquesas from Mexico and cruising as far  
> west as Fiji, then back to Tahiti and up to Hawai'i.  I have a 3500  
> mile range in my boat at 7+ knots, so I figure about 3000 miles with  
> some reserve.
> - how many in your crew each way?
> - any significant weather that time of year?
> - any problems with visas in the Society Is.?  I hear that they can  
> be very particular.  Did you get visas in advance?
> - any problems with getting clean fuel?
> - what was your favorite place?
> - what place would you skip next time?
> As I recall, you keep your boat at Ko Olina.  Do you live there  
> too?  We live full time in Cabo, just down the street from Ken  
> Williams.  We are talking about relocating to O'ahu.  We looked at  
> the condos at Ko Olina but my wife prefers a Waikiki location.  Any  
> comments?  We lived in Tonga for two years, and on Molokai for a  
> while, so we know all about the South Pacific and what we're getting  
> into.
> Thanks
> Patrick
> Willard 40PH
> ALOHA
> La Paz, MX

Patrick,

Good to hear from you again.  Please relay my regards to Ken Williams  
and tell him that I will have lots of recommendations for his Pacific  
cruiser's web site regarding Polynesia.

We also technically have a 3600 NM range at 1100 RPM in smooth water.   
Practically, I like to limit myself to 3000 NM, but I am uncomfortable  
with ranges beyond about 2400 NM which is all you really need.   At  
this lower range, I usually run at my efficient 1100 RPM setting for  
the first half of the passage until I am more sure of the fuel.  We  
have sight gages where the fuel is not even visible until we get to  
800 gallons out of a total of 1400 gallons, hence the conservatism.    
We also ran the generator about 12 to 14 hours a day to give everyone  
in the crew a full nights sleep in the cool.  It was very hot going  
down to Polynesia and we couldn't use the generator because of a fresh  
water pump  problem.  Everyone was miserable and slept little.  Coming  
back, we all slept well and the one gallon per hour use of the gen.  
was well worth it.  After 2200 NM on the way back, we had about 400  
gallons remaining.   Going down, we stopped by Christmas Island which  
was a miserable experience.  We would have been much better off  
bypassing Christmas and heading straight for Tahiti.  We could have  
made it easily and been there four days sooner, but I have this thing  
about passing up either fuel or a bathroom.

We had four in our crew on the way down, myself, my brother (who is co- 
captain and engineer), my room mate from the Naval Academy who is an  
ex nuclear powered submarine skipper, and a friend who is minimally  
qualified and basically a seat filler during easy periods.  We ran 3  
on and 9 off watches.   On the way back, we had three crew: myself, my  
brother, and my wife.   My wife was minimally qualified but her  
experience level increased dramatically.  We ran 4 0n and 8 off.    
There was little difference between the watch cycles.  The three hour  
watch was nice because it was short.  The four hour watch cycle was OK  
because, my wife would come up and entertain me during the day (we  
would play cribbage).  At night, we would set up the lap top computer  
and play DVD's to entertain us and keep us alert.  During those times,  
we would watch TV series like Monk, Boston Legal, and Seinfeld.  (We'd  
seen all of the movies four times each.)  Having just three people  
aboard was a little more comfortable than four.

Weather was not a problem.  I had a weather forecaster both on the way  
down and the way back.  It was probably not necessary on the way down,  
but safer doing so. The weather in French Polynesia was also not a  
problem.  They haven't had a hurricane in twenty years.  There were  
some windy and hence rough days and many smooth days.  With the trade  
winds, there is always an Easterly uphill direction and a Westerly  
downhill direction.  When we were going from the Tuamotu to the  
Marquesas. a distance of 500 NM, we were going directly uphill and got  
the stuffings pounded out of us.  We had things fail, such as belts,  
and get thrown around that have never moved before.  The main computer  
was unusable because it would freeze every few minutes because of the  
pounding.  In contrast, the main computer froze only once during the  
long passage back.   The payoff to slogging uphill to the Marquesas  
was 10 to 11 days of decent ride on the way back to Hawaii.  The  
Marquesas are far enough East to make the passage back to Hawaii  
mostly downhill.

Visas in French Polynesia are not a problem.  They have an automatic  
30 day visa for Americans.  This can easily be extended to a maximum  
of 90 days.  The catch here is that you have to post a bond if you  
can't show a return ticket to the US.  We used an agent in Tahiti,  
Polynesian Yacht Services, who handled everything, all of the  
extensions and the bonds.  It also gave us a place to have parts  
shipped with French speaking agents to retrieve the shipments and pay  
the customs on them, an invaluable service. We got fuel at Christmas  
Island,Taina Marina in Papeete twice, and at Nuku Hiva before our  
passage back to Hawaii.  All places provided extremely clean fuel.  We  
have not changed our fuel filter since our passage South to Polynesia  
in April.  I don't think our tanks have ever been cleaner.

Picking a favorite place is difficult.  Each place had it's own  
charms.  We are divers.  French Polynesia is a diver's paradise.  My  
wife who is newly certified has been spoiled for all time.  I can tell  
you my least favorite place: Papeete.  It is a big city, crowded with  
traffic, not particularly scenic, and the anchorage at Taina is very  
crowded with water that is less than clean.  But it is also not to be  
missed.  Papeete on Tahiti, is the largest city in Polynesia.  It it  
where you have to get your visa extensions and duty free fuel  
certificate.  This is where you resupply at the huge, super-Walmart,  
like Carefour store.  This is where you can buy things that you can't  
get anywhere else in the islands.  It has its conveniences.  The  
Society Islands are all gorgeous volcanic islands with protective  
barrier reefs.  These islands include Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora.   
The Tuamotu are all atolls.  The lagoon at Fakarava is the second  
largest in the world, large enough to fit the entire island of  
Tahiti.  It is literally an inland ocean at 400 square miles.  The  
Marquesas are younger volcanic islands, similar to the Hawaiian  
Islands, that have not had enough time to develop barrier reefs.  Even  
the native Polynesians differ from Island to island.  In the  
Marquesas, the Polynesians speak different languages on neighboring  
islands and actually have to speak French when they communicate with  
each other.

The only place I would skip (and I did on the way back) would be  
Christmas Island.  Christmas is part of the Line Islands which define  
the Eastern end of the Republic of Kiribati (pronounced K ear ibas).   
If you look on a map, look for the jog in the international date line,  
otherwise Christmas and the capital of Tarawa would be 23 hours apart.

Patrick- consider Ko Olina.  First, there is a two year (at least)  
wait list for Ala Wai Marina in Waikiki.  It is dirty with minimal  
security and questionable power.  Ko Olina is new, the best security I  
have ever had, and the best power I have ever had.  Yes, it is more  
remote.  Cars are very reasonable here.  Lots of people leave the  
island and want to sell you their car.  Even if you only keep it for a  
year, you can get most of your money out of it.

Phil Eslinger
Flat Earth N50