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From Nuku Hiva to Raroia After a day and a half of superb sailing, the wind fizzled out to little more than a zephyr, so we motored the other day and a half towards Raroia. Easing our way through the pass at midday, we made our way to the east side of the atoll to...

Fatu Hiva We couldn't have asked for better weather for our sail to the Marquesas. Just like our passage to the Gambier from the Tuamotus, this was also a single-tack sail all the way. And we only switched on the engine after five days and 800 miles to park up in...

Volleyball, boules and booze Our tour of the islands gave us ideas on where to go - and the places to avoid because they look too sketchy for boats carrying over two metres of draft. Following the channel back out of the Gambier, we turned left near the northern tip...

Practicalities This section is probably more interesting to sailors planning to visit the Gambier, so skip to the next bit if you find your eyelids drooping. Arriving somewhere new is always a bit disorienting. Fortunately, though, our buddies on Ticket To Ride came...

At first, there were three. BioTrek, Ticket to Ride and Jamala: two catamarans and one monohull. The only boats here enjoying the peace and quiet of Hirifa’s beautifully calm anchorage. The only noise we could hear was water rushing against the windward reef and the...

Waterfalls Tahiti might not be all about waterfalls, but there's enough of them to merit splashing out more cash for a tour of the interior. Our friends Bertrand and Pascale organised the tour and arranged for the driver to pick us up outside Papeete Marina - the two...

Maintenance and blood-letting It isn't all scenic views and waterfalls, you know. The reality of the cruising lifestyle is often the polar opposite of the dream-like vision of sipping a decorative cocktail under the tropical sun with beads of cool condensation running...

Car hiring around Tahiti We hired a car and split up the duties: me driving, Mark and Cindy guiding, and Maria supervising. That worked well. Mark and Cindy know the island well enough, having put more rubber on the Tahitian roads than an average Papeete taxi driver....

Shiny New Boat A week late, but it was worth it because we now have a shiny new-looking boat. After an extended stay in the boat spa, Technimarine relaunched Jamala early morning on the 27th of July with her bottom smoothed, hull polished, propeller painted, and gear...