Sailaway Sarantium

….for this next chapter of my sailing life, perhaps a full new chapter in my life, as I start venturing towards New Zealand and beyond!

After Tatjana left to return to San Diego, my friend Kevin arrived to Rangiroa, to spend 10 days with me. We cruised Rangiroa on beach bikes and visited Hugo, who Kevin had befriended on the plane from Papeete to Rangiroa. Hugo showed us around their beachfront home and served us home baked goodies! Then the plan was to pull anchor and sail towards Moorea or Tahiti!

We were also hoping to install some boat items, discover Moorea by foot or wheels!! But first we sailed from Rangiroa to Moorea for 48 hours and reached our destination after two squally nights and wet days.

Once in Moorea, we planned to hike mountains, cruise around on scooters and eat delicious local fruit and have some dinners out! We did just that!

We also began installing the water-maker that Kevin had brought. Mostly, I watched and learned while it all started to come together.

After three days, we pulled anchor and motor sailed towards the Tahiti. We entered Papeete three hours later. Upon arrival, we hailed the control port on Chanel 12 to ask for permission to enter and cross the airport zone as our preferred anchorage was on the far side of the airport runway. A very friendly border control gave us the go ahead and we motored in and dropped anchor in 14 meters of depth!

SIDE NOTE……. Unfortunately, the alternator decided to overheat again. Seems the alternator had a mind of its’ own, and ignoring my settings in the regulator. This has been a pattern for a while now, so I decided to contact Arco Zues again to have them help trouble shoot further. I previously had spent hours with them trouble shooting and resetting the regulator with me. After some time on the phone and emails back and forth they had some answers. Without getting into too much detail, they explained to us that the current Electro Maax alternator has its’ own built-in regulator and it therefore has been ignoring or perhaps over-riding my settings in the Arco Zues regulator and venturing way past my settings and therefore causing overheating of alternator and also previous batteries. According to Arco Zues specialists my regulator never was able to control the alternator. This is all now starting to make some sense to me… We even pulled the fuses to see if alternator would stop charging the but nothing changed. I’m now purchasing a new Arco Suez alternator, new Arco Zues regulator and a shunt… Although, costly, I now have some answers and clarity. Endless learning… endless fun!

It’s time for a dip and to check the anchor!

Wind was slow to build but once it reached Sarantium’s sails, it never left. We set the sails for a deep broad reach and at times, wing on wing. Three gybes later and we arrived to Rangiroa 24 hours later… a steady south easterly 12-15 knots made for a lovely but sleepless night! Good night!

After three days of snorkling amongst sharks, sting rays and reef fish, at Toau Atoll, wind kicked in and it was time to leave for Rangiroa. We motored out of the lagoon amongst the hundred corral heads lurking underneath the hull of my boat at 4.5 to six metres depth. Once that challenge was complete, timing the pass was next. With an outgoing tide one gets a nice push through the channel, however, swell meets current, and standing waves is the result. We were an hour early for slack tide, but with binoculars I didn’t see a reason not to venture out. I definitely could have waited the hour. At one point I’m sure the prop was fully out of the water.

Once out, wind was light at 7 knots but with all sails up, we managed to start sailing north west towards the largest atoll in French Polonesia and apparently the second largest in the world. We have 120 nmiles to go and with any luck we will reach Rangiroa by noon tomorrow. Out! And a sleepless night will follow!

So, it takes visitors to get me out of the engine “room”. My friend Tatjana’s arrived from San Diego at the same time as most of my repairs were completed! Unfortunately, around the same time the wind disappeared. Stuck in Rotoava is not so bad. We rented bikes, hung out in coral gardens, dove with sharks and visited neighboring boats!

After a few days, wind arrived and we pulled anchor to go to the south part of the atoll where we booked a day of diving. I had read amazing reviews for “Sharkwall” and as it turns out it is a UNESCO site!

Goodnight…

It has been a week now since I arrived to Fakarava. My days here have had a healthy balance of work, R&R and socializing. As I arrived to Fakarava, I noticed that my fairly new (2 year-old VIctron Supercycle 170A) batteries overheated while motoring for 5 hours in through the Fakarava Channel. I noticed this as I dropped the anchor. Of course, for me, it is a reason to panic, but after getting talked off the shelf by a friend and calling marine stores in Papeete, I realized that it is just money. Having said that, the concern is WHY the batteries overheated. Marine services sent three new Victron AGM Deep Cycle batteries on the cargo ship COBIA III, which arrived 4 days later together with a ton of Fruit and Veggies. Double Score! While waiting for the batteries, I changed the oil, fuel filters, dropped laundry off, filled propane tanks and began filling the water tanks with water from the desalination system in town. I soooo want a water maker…

Transporting batteries from COBIA III was entertaining, but with some proper “deadlift-form” I managed to lower them into the dinghy and lifting them onto the boat. It took some thinking and visualizing how to lift the old batteries out on my own, but at the end I mangaged to install the new ones. I still have to figure out why the old ones overheated. I have a feeling that my alternator regulator, ARCO ZUES, was poorly caliberated. It is a good reminder to always make sure to keep a close eye on items that were set up by others and really understanding your equipment on the boat. But at the time of installment of the alternator, I left this up to the installer as I was overwhelmed with getting soooo much on the boat ready for departure. LIVE AND LEARN!

With this done, I am now getting the boat ready for sailing. A friend, Tatjana, is arriving from S.D. to join me for three weeks. Our plan is to sail from Fakarava to Rangiroa via a few atolls. I am excited to have company!

It has not just been about work… Every morning I walk, gather coconuts, swim, have lunch with folks from other boats, share stories and de-clutter Sarantium. Every day I go in to fetch water, I meet people from all over the world; Belgium, Toronto, CA., and a ton of Danes.

My Day…. above!

Warning: This post is boring!

So I have had a slow drip from the stuffing box for some time now, which I have known. Part of the reason for neglecting this was because I didn’t know where to even begin.

For those who don’t know what a stuffing box, it is the is a mechanical seal assembly used to prevent water from leaking around a rotating shaft, such as a boat propeller shaft. Some water needs to be present to cool the shaft, provide lubrication of packing material and keep it from overheating. It works by compressing packing material around the shaft using an adjustable nut, allowing the shaft to move while creating a tight seal.

The slow drip turned into a fast drip once back in the water and I knew it was time to do something about it, as my bilge was fuller than normal this morning. With the encouragement from my good friend over the phone, I started to hammer away to loosen up the locking nut and packing nut. Since the stuffing box is in an awkward tight place behind the engine I also checked off my yoga for the day. After a few hours of loosening the locking nut and tightening the packing nut, I managed to stop the leak. Tomorrow, I will run the boat in gear to make sure I haven’t tightened it too much and as a result overheat.

As soon as I think there is nothing more to learn, Sarantium throws me another opportunity to learn!

The lower nut is the packing nut and the one directly above is the locking nut, which does exactly that; blocks/locks the packing nut from moving back.

Folks have asked for a to-do list or a recap, of how I prepared the boat for six months on the hard, here in French Polynesia… so here is how I “winterized” or rather “summerized” Sarantium.

Bedding and clothing

I packed away all bedding and “vacuumed packed” as much as I could in plastic bags. I stood all cushions up to minimize mold on flat cloth surfaces. I wiped down all surfaces with vinegar and some areas with bleach.

Food

I threw out everything that was opened and double bagged all dried food, such as flour, rice, nuts, oats and pasta.

Toilet and Holding Tank

I flushed the toilets and holding tank prior to getting hauled out. I flushed it ten times because I knew I would be replaced the waste pump once I was back. I made sure I had zero water in the toilets as it attracts insects. Same for the bilge.

Hatches and Portholes

I greased all rubber seals around windows with cylicon spray. And wiped glass with vinegar. I also added hatch covers to protect from sun.

Batteries, Solar and Power

I decided to leave the Solar Panels hooked up, even though some would recommend to detach them from batteries. I was worried about coming back to dead batteries. I turned everything off on the panel. I left the bilge pump on in case of a leak during the cyclone season. Upon arrival, batteries were full and I could start using the batteries again. To be expected there was some water in the bilge and I am guessing that the bilge pump had done its’ job during th six months I was gone.

Sails

Sails were taken down and packed away. Among many other items, new ones arrived to Apataki while I was away. I placed a fairly big order with Island Packet Yacht Parts and Mack Sails in Florida during the autumn of 2025. The shipment from Florida was smooth and at a reasonable cost. I had to pay a small customs fee since I have a temporary visa for FP and a EU passport.

MAST and Rigging.

I packed away all the ropes, halyards and sheets and wrapped the winches and bottom of mast to protect from sun, with a tarp. I also wrapped the furlors in plastic but the wind and the sun threaded these and I came back to plastic strings. I also wrapped my hydro vane and removed the Hydro Vane Rudder.

The owners of the boatyard do not want to any tarps on the decks as the winds during cyclone season are so strong that it will rip off tarps and end up all over the yard.

THROUGH HULL SEACOCKS

I greased all seacocks and made sure they all opened and shut easily, prior to leaving.

In case of a flood, it is recommended that the two lowest through hull fittings are open, for drainage. I decided to leave one in the bow and one mid ship open. I added material to work as a strainer to try and keep mice, rats and other critters from climbing aboard. I have not seen any evidence of mice being onboard. I only found a couple of geckos and some ants. Quite a few boats in the yard have had rats living in their boats while owners were away. I am grateful that I had such a clean boat when returning.

Propane

This goes without saying, I turned this off.

FLOORBOARDS and all cabinets doors

All were left open for good ventilation.

FOUR CEMENT Blocks

… to fasten boat to the ground in the case of … use your imagination here. I paid extra for this but I thought, this would be more valuable than an expensive insurance policy.

At the end, I decided to NOT pay the boat yard to check on the boat, as I had heard of people doing this and noone ever checked on the boat. I also, witnessed this myself when I was there for the three weeks before flying home. I also didn’t want anyone in my boat opening hatches (this is a service you can pay for) to ventilate, and then forgetting to close up before the big squall.

I am thankful I spent the extra time to “summerize” the boat and as a result I came back to a mold free and odour free home! AND A BIG THANKS TO THE DAILY FRESH WATER SHOWERS that the cyclone season brought. The decks and topsides were the cleanest I have EVER seen.

Spic and Span

The Lift on the trailer was modified and the broken cylinders was fixed temporarily to splash two sailing vessels on Monday morning. My launch was smooth at a raising tide. Alfred pushed the trailer and Sarantium into the water and Tony removed webbing and I floated off the cradles. Tony then spun Sarantium around with his bare hands. I put the transmission in forward gear and motored out to anchor…

Two days later, I am preparing to leave Apataki! I have been weather routing and timing it with slack tides both for here and for entering Fakarava. It will be tough to make the slack on a day sail as I a will be on an upwind sail for part of the route. Therefore, a night sail is the best in regards to timing the passes. The plan for now is that I leave on the 10 am slack from Apataki and sail the 68 Nmiles to Fakarava and enter first light into Fakarava the following morning. All in all, it looks like a nice sail in 10-14 knots of East Wind. I am excited to to sail again!

It feels so good to be back to my boat after 6 months of being away! From seeing family and friends, mountain biking in New Zealand, skiing and ice plunging in Tromsö, walking my dog and cycle touring in the UK and much more, I have arrived back to Apataki with 62 kg of boatparts. The boatyard is empty but that’s about to change as people are starting to arrive to prepare for the sailing season. Lots of people have asked me if the boat was in good condition when I arrived. I was pleasantly surprised to find the boat without mould, odd smells and being dry. No major clean up was needed and I could get to work right away.
After replacing the inverter, the waste pump, the traveller, the head sails and odds and ends, I’ve booked to haul Sarantium back in the water. If all goes well, I will again be floating in the turquoise water in French Polynesia. 🥰