Sailaway Sarantium

No matter where I am in the world, departure day always brings a few nerves. It never seems to change. But as soon as the anchor is up, the sails are drawing, and the boat is underway, the stress fades and a smile takes its place.

Those pre-departure jitters serve a purpose, though. They make me slow down, double-check every system, and comb through the boat one last time to make sure nothing has been overlooked.

I’m now officially checked out of French Polynesia. Technically, once your clearance papers are stamped, you have 24 hours to leave the country. I’ve also heard that remaining in French Polynesian waters for a short time isn’t an issue, as long as you don’t go ashore—but I’m ready to point the bow west-south-west.

Over the past few days at the Bloody Mary’s moorage, I’ve met several fellow cruisers preparing for the same weather window. Sailors from Lithuania, Australia, Spain, and the United States are all setting off for the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tonga. Knowing there will be other boats making the passage at the same time is reassuring. Even though we will each be sailing our own course across a vast ocean, it’s comforting to know I won’t be completely alone out there.

Tomorrow, the lines come off, the anchor comes up, and another part of this chapter begins. This will be my longest SOLO sail ever!

….a lot of planning! Today after I said goodbye to my family, one of my first stops was the Gendarmerie, who handle customs and immigration here in French Polynesia. They keep a close eye on who is coming and going. I was told it takes about three days to process the paperwork and clear out of FP with a sailboat. Once those clearance papers are stamped, you have just 24 hours to leave the country.
I explained that my goal is to depart on Wednesday, July 15th, and thankfully they agreed that the timing should work perfectly.
On the home front, my clean laundry is finally making its way back to me on Monday—clean sheets and towels is a large victory when living at sea!
The rest of today has been spent tackling all those little jobs that somehow never end. I’ve fixed a handful of odds and ends, organized the boat some more, and pulled out all of my paper charts.
Yes… paper charts!
As much as I appreciate modern electronics, there’s something incredibly satisfying about plotting a course by hand. Spreading the charts across the table, drawing the route, measuring distances, and imagining the adventure ahead never gets old.

So, here’s the plan:

Bora Bora to Maupiti (FP) is 27 NMiles

Maupiti to Maupiha (FP) is 100 NMiles

Maupiha to Aitutaki (Cook Island) is 355 NMiles

Aitutaki to Beveridge reef (Cook Island) is 468 NMiles … the long one😬

Beveridge reef to Niue is 125 NMiles

Niue to Vava’u (Tonga) is 238 NMiles

I will have just short of a month to complete these legs, as I have a flight to catch on August 13th, to Italy for my daughter’s wedding!

Goodnight from Bora Bora!

Goodbyes are always bittersweet.

Having five people aboard made for one unforgettable adventure. We may all be wired a little differently, but there was plenty of room for everyone’s personalities, and somehow it all worked.
For once, I handed the planning over to my brother, Joakim. Considering I’m usually the one mapping out every anchorage, hike, sightseeing stop, and restaurant reservation, it was surprisingly nice to step back and let the crew take the helm on shore.
Apparently, before they even stepped aboard, Marianne and Kjersti had made a pact. They were determined to become seasoned sailors, learn everything they could about sailing, and absolutely not be assigned permanent galley duty. Marianne had every intention of becoming a capable co-captain, while the men would be making regular appearances in the galley.
About thirty minutes into our very first sail, I overheard some quiet muttering that perhaps this grand plan wasn’t going to unfold quite as expected!
In the end, everyone found their role. Each person pitched in, took responsibility, and helped keep the boat running smoothly. As for me, I was more than happy to remain the one fully in charge of the boat.

We ate incredibly well, we laughed, we cried, played countless card games, explored beautiful islands by bike and by foot, and, remarkably, no one had to walk the plank. We also had daily live music by our very own talented musician, Per Inge!

To my Norwegian crew—bon voyage! Thank you for bringing so much laughter, energy, and unforgettable memories to this little corner of the South Pacific. Fair winds until we meet again.

We arrived to Bora Bora, after a somewhat bouncy ride from Taha’a! The “entrance” (heading out) through the reef took us by surprise. Sarantium rode the incoming waves and dropped abruptly out into the South Pacific Ocean! Swell hit us on the port side mid ship at 8 seconds apart. On a positive note, at 7-8 knots we managed to shave an hour off our calculated crossing time. We sailed through only entrance into Bora Bora, and motor-sailed straight to the mooring field south of the main town.

Vaitape is a sleepy little town. Since Heiva has its’ annual festival, dancers, drummers, athletes and tourists fill the streets and nightly performances fill the air with music and songs.

We spent the day hiking across hills and over the local mountain to find one of the few public beaches!

Last Night… why not treat ourselves to this….❓

Today, I say goodbye…

To Huehini we sail!

Huahine turned out to be one of my favourite islands so far. We dropped anchor on a beautiful sandbar, with a charming village, “not so short” dinghy ride away. It had everything a cruising sailor could ask for—bike rentals, fantastic restaurants, museums, food markets, public showers, cultural events, and stunning beaches.

Rather than spend the day relaxing at anchor, we decided to rent bikes and explore as much of the island as possible. Every turn seemed to reveal something new, from lush scenery and quiet roads to friendly locals and hidden gems. Huahine has a laid-back charm! On our way around the island, we stumbled upon a snack bar, where women and men were gathered around the table playing ukulele and singing. Stepping into this place was like stepping into someone’s home. The Polynesian culture and its’ warm people are easy to fall in love with. I could have easily stayed here for a week or two!

Of all the islands we’ve visited, Huahine stands out as a place that truly has it all—and then some.

Our next destination in the Leeward Islands was Taha’a. We dropped anchor just off the sandbar near the entrance alongside six other sailboats. With numerous coral bommies scattered across the seabed, I decided to float the anchor chain to reduce the risk of it dragging across and damaging the already fragile coral. In these pristine anchorages, I try to leave as little impact as possible.
The underwater world did not disappoint. While diving and snorkeling, we were treated to countless encounters with blacktip reef sharks, graceful stingrays, playful dolphins, a striking green moray eel, boxfish, and an abundance of colourful reef life. Always, something new to discover.
Today, we’ll pull anchor and continue exploring the maze of motus surrounding the Society Islands, searching for new snorkeling spots and opportunities for drift dives through the crystal-clear channels.
Then, on Monday, we set our course for our final destination in French Polynesia—Bora Bora. My Norwegian crew will be heading home, and I’ll begin preparing the boat for the next small chapter: the offshore passage to Tonga, SOLO…

What a treat it has been to be tied up at the dock. I’ve gone through the boat from stern to bow—decluttering, organizing, and cleaning every corner. With company on the way, it was time to pull out all the bedding and give everything a thorough inspection. No matter how hard you try, every boat develops its own distinct aroma after months at sea, so everything went through the wash again and all the beds were made up fresh.

Sitting back afterward and seeing the transformation from a cluttered cruising boat to clean surfaces and organized spaces was incredibly satisfying. With the work finally done, it seemed only fitting to reward myself with a piña colada at the restaurant just one minute from the boat.

Most of the cruisers here in the marina are French, though there are also a few Swedish, German, American, and New Zealand boats mixed in. It’s always interesting to see where everyone has come from and where they’re headed next. Most never leave here.. I definitely would like to come back here after the refit in Whangarei this fall!

Unfortunately, my family from Norway won’t be arriving quite as planned. Their trip has been delayed by 24 hours after a bird strike on their aircraft in Los Angeles. Not the start they were hoping for, but thankfully it was only a delay and they’ll be here soon enough.

A few days earlier than expected, I received a call from Marina Taina with good news—they had a berth available for me. There was just one problem: I had already installed the new alternator, but without the correct belt it wasn’t operational yet.

That meant undoing a couple of days of work, removing the new alternator and reinstalling the old one so I could motor the boat to the marina.

As departure time approached, I found myself feeling a little nervous. Marina Taina requires boats to back into their slips and perform a Mediterranean-style mooring, or “Med Tie”—something I had never done before. The maneuver involves reversing into a narrow space between other boats while securing lines to concrete mooring blocks. Without bow thrusters, it’s not exactly the easiest task.

Fortunately, with crew aboard the marina service boat and helping hands from my friend Uwe, and another cruiser on the dock ready to catch my stern lines, everything came together. Despite it being my first attempt, I managed to get the boat safely into the slip without any drama. It was another new skill added to the growing list of lessons that seem to come with life afloat!

For the first time in months, I’m tied up somewhere that feels almost “luxurious”. Fresh drinking water is available right on the dock, there’s a fuel dock nearby, a laundromat, recycling and waste facilities, two restaurants, and even a shopping mall within walking distance.
After months of carefully managing every drop of water, planning fuel usage, hand-washing clothes when necessary, and making do with whatever facilities happened to be available in the Tuamotus, these simple conveniences feel like absolute luxuries.

Simplicity has brought about amazing personal growth and taught me what is truly important in life. Living with less has helped me appreciate the essentials and find contentment in the everyday. Having said that, convenience feels pretty good today!

Four loads of Laundry first…

Of course, I wasn’t at the marina just to enjoy the comforts of civilization. In addition to waiting for my family to arrive from Norway, I had a long list of jobs to tackle, and one of the biggest was provisioning for the journey ahead.
With New Zealand still months away and no certainty about where the next well-stocked grocery store might be, it made sense to do the bulk of the shopping here in Papeete. The goal was to stock the boat with enough canned goods, dry foods, and essentials to last the next four to five months.
It’s a strange feeling filling shopping carts with months’ worth of food. Every item has to earn its place onboard, balancing storage space, shelf life and weight. It’ll be a heavy boat for the next 3 weeks with four extra people on board, full tank of diesel and water and four months of food!

Now Breakfast! And a Kaffe Latte …

And tonight….clean sheets😉

After spending hours coordinating with Arco Zeus to purchase and ship a new alternator, it became clear that working through one of their distributors would be the faster route. The team at Yacht Riggers in Florida stepped in and made the entire process effortless, handling the purchase and shipping quickly and efficiently. What had been a frustrating task was resolved with professionalism and speed.

The Arco Zeus alternator arrived in just four days, which meant it was time to roll up my sleeves and tackle the replacement of the “old” one. Truth be told, the old alternator wasn’t really that old, so rather than consigning it to the scrap pile, it’ll be stowed away as a spare—because you never know when a perfectly good backup might save the day!

Once again, I found myself tackling a job I’d never done before. Replacing an alternator was completely new territory, but that seems to be the theme of this voyage—every project is a learning experience. With unwavering support and advice from Kevin, now back in N.A., I carefully disconnected the wiring and began removing the old alternator, one step at a time.

My hope was that the new alternator would simply slide into place where the old one came out. Of course, boat projects never seem to work that way. The power stud on the new alternator was positioned slightly differently, which meant I had to pivot the alternator away from the engine. That small adjustment created a bigger problem—the existing belt was now too short. What I thought would be a few hours of work quickly stretched into several days, thanks to the weekend and the inevitable wait for shops to reopen.

Looks like it is time for some fun…

La Orana!

Waiting for company from Tromsø, Norway in Papeete has its’ perks! Life slows when you spend time in a small space, bobbing for weeks. I’ve had time to explore Tahiti with folks from my homeland, old friends from La Paz, Mexico and sailors from the Sunshine Coast of BC. The sailing world is small! We seem to run into each other every so often and then make plans to share a rental car, chase waterfalls and hiking trails. We chat about crossings, boat parts, cool places we have been to and where we want to explore next!

I’ve been journaling, reading and fixing odds and ends!

Parts, for the (almost installed) watermaker, is in the mail and should arrive the end of this week! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some incredibly warm and generous locals. I found, “Poly Insustries” a machine shop down at the big international port here in Papeete. I brought them a leaking high pressure valve, in hopes they could help. They took a look, asked me some questions and said they would see what they could do. They called me the next day and I jumped on the bus across town to pick it up. To my surprise, they didn’t want any money for it, and said “just happy to help”!

I find people here incredibly friendly and helpful, especially if you say a few words, Hello (La Orana) and thank you (Mauruuru), in Tahitian! I’ve had free rides on buses, when my bus card on my phone didn’t work! The bus driver one day, had her two young children on the bus with her; her one-year-old in a car seat, strapped in, sleeping and her pre-schooler sitting beside and reading a book! Women do what needs to be done!

My new alternator (and regulator, pulley, shunt) is arriving tomorrow. It continues to amaze me, how efficient the customs and authorities are to clear incoming shipments to cruisers. The difficulty is dealing with courier companies in the USA to actually ship it. I found that DHL is the most reliable and quickest whereas, UPS down right refuses to send anything to Tahiti. Once, shipment arrives here in French Polynesia, the Customs office moves packages quickly to pick-up locations. This is of course, as long as you have the correct paperwork, such as boat registration document, clearance papers, and of course a passport. Most of my shipments have come from Florida and on average, it’s taken 3-4 business days to arrive.

I’m a bit nervous about the installment of the alternator, but been told “it’s not that difficult” 😳 We will see!!

Two more weeks and there will be five of us, sailing around on Sarantium, in the South Pacific!

Mauruuru!

….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!