Author: sailawaysarantium

We found this anchorage by accident and the sun came out!

We rowed in to shore… yes the outboard engine on the dingy is not working… but that’s for later! We knew there were some high waterfalls inland, I was dying to find! We managed to avoid the surf and followed the river until we saw a house! Fruit trees outlined the river and path to the home and we were met by a man who showed us tje direction to the waterfalls and said ”come to our restaurant after your hike…”

We must have trekked for 3 hours through mud and rivers when we finally saw a very tall waterfall in the distance. Apparently, it’s the third tallest in the world! We swam and sat in awe of the waterfall before we trekked back!

When we walked past the family who lived in the bay, they all came to greet us and had made up a table for us. We were served tuna, banana fries, fruit salad and grapefruit! We were given 15 grapefruit, 20 green bananas, a ton of mangos and some limejuice!

Got back to the boat…

Since I need to plan ahead to accommodate visas, the short sailing season and the regular needs of the boat, such as servicing, maintaining and replacing parts (standing rigging, tanks, etc), I need to make some tentative plans for friends and family who wants to make the trek to meet up with me! Hauling up in Tahiti is expensive especially if one needs to do work on the boat, so I need to get to New Zealand or Australia by October-November. If not, I could extend my stay and haul out in Cook Islands!

So, here is the Tentative Schedule of 2026:

Tahiti on land until March

Sail around Tahiti (April-May)

The rest of Society Islands (May)

Roratonga (June)

Cook Islands (June)

Somoa (June-July)

Tonga/Tapu (August) last stop before NZ (October)

Or (I am undecided where to haul the boat out)

Fiji (July)

Vanuatu (August)

New Caladonia (late August)

To Australia by October

I am open to suggestions from people who has completed this route! 🥰

We sailed to Hiva Nuku and arrived in the dark. I certainly do not love arriving in the dark as navigating into a dark anchorage (no nav. Lights) and with a shit plotter (bcs I didn’t upgrade the navionics card..) is less exciting! I do have three iPads and phones with details, so all good… but at times you can get turned around, but I feel confident by now and I think ”I have it down”! And ”I got this” I keep telling myself.

But we’re here…😉 and so are the goats…

We are heading from Hiva Oa to one of the three northern ones! Hopefully Nuku Hiva!

It’s a lovely morning here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!! Goodmorning world😘

But there were no sign of people in the village, just 3 buildings and a ton of banana and grapefruit trees…

So I now get why sailors say ”sail to Fatu Iva first, then work your way north”…

For those who are doing the puddle jump in the near future, aim for Fatu Iva once you get into the ITCZ. Fatu Iva is a less inhabited island and I don’t think you can actually clear in there. However, many sailors go there first, relax and recover and then head to hiva Oa to check in. No one seems to care! This would have been a great option for us, as I now may not get there at all. Oh well, paradise seems to be all around me!

So…… We got up at 05.00 to head to Fatu Iva but once we cleared land, we hit big winds and big swell. ”Hmmm, this is not going to be a relaxing sail for the next 8 hours”. So we turned around and headed north instead! Since Fatu Iva is south east of us we would be bucking the wind and swell! Not for me today!

On another note, however, relates to checking in…. Checking into French Polynesia! Since I’m out of Mexico and checked into FP, I can now share this.

When I went to the port captains office in Guaymas, I was told that I should send in all my papers to their office via my marina where I was hauled up. I did write in my blog about my experiences going to Guaymas port authority trying to check out and it all seemed great. Well, what I didn’t share was that when I got back to my marina, and once I had sent my paperwork in, the owner of the marina contacted me, and said that the paperwork were incorrect, but never said what exactly I needed. In addition, they wanted 16 000 Mex Pesos which is 800 USA dollars … I knew this was total BS as another fellow sailor a week before checked out of Guaymas and it cost 400 Mexican Pesos. The owner of the marina was great and said that they are just trying to make money and I should just leave…So, I thought with my new Swedish passport (EU) with NO Mexican stamp in it I would be good to clear into French Polynesia. I also double checked with a few sailors who had recently checked into FP and they told me that the French government do not want to see Mexican paperwork. They do ask where you came from but don’t seem to care to see any paperwork. They are more interested in how many days you’re staying for and where you’re going after. I think it’s so they can trace you in case of emergency!

A few minutes after we dropped the anchor a Hallberg Rassy Ketch pulled in. And of course with a Swedish flag flying. This is the fourth Hallberg Rassy sailing vessel owned by Swedes I’ve ran into here in French Polynesia… 🤢

I quickly put my dinghy in and fired up the engine to head over to S/V Angelina and to say ”Hej Hej, vart är ni på väg?”

A bit later we got invited over for a visit. Turns out they, Eva o Mats have been cruising around the for the past 8 years and are heading same direction as I am… west and more west!

I have had incredible experiences sailing from bay to bay here on Tahuata Island. We have been playing with mantas, dolphins, turtlesand sharks! I think I have spent more time in the water than on the water.

I am setting the alarm for early morning wake up as we are heading to the next island south of here. It is 40 Nmiles from here. I am hoping for a beam reach but I think we will be on a close reach as once past this island we are in the trade winds again. If it is too strong, we will turn around and head to the northern islands instead! No point pushing it, and all the islands are amazing here.