Well, that went quickly

We've passed the six-month milestone of living in Australia. I've been back in the full-time-working-world for almost five of those months. Wow, was fast!

On the bow of Totem - New Year's Day, Sydney, 2011. Thanks to Hyo for the picture!

What's the plan now? We never really know, but our intention is to stay here in Australia, refueling the cruising kitty for a spell, and then take off for continued adventures. That translates into at least a year and a half in Oz, but not more than three years (the point at which we have to undergo a costly boat importation, and pay big taxes. no thanks!). Totem is parked in a sweet little marina, bringing with it a neighborhood of fellow liveaboards and cruising folks.


Home Sweet Marina

Where will we go next? Considering we struggle to find an order of magnitude for the duration of our stay in Australia, you can bet we don't know the answer to that question either! Some extended exploring of Australia is in order (perhaps some by land yacht).We hear the Louisiades (Papua New Guinea) and Solomon Islands are spectacular, and will probably want to check out the islands in the western Pacific. Niall is infatuated with all things Italian lately, and bent on going to the Mediterranean. When your kid says he wants to explore historical sites in the Med, and you live like we do- it's impossible to resist. Maybe when we get around to heading towards the Indian Ocean, things will be calmer off the horn of Africa. Or maybe they won't, giving us an excellent excuse to visit relatives in South Africa instead.

Feelign pretty Aussie for now! Niall waves the flag - deck of M/V Further, Australia Day

Meanwhile, being parked here in Sydney is a pretty big change from our life of the last few years- there is no more easy picking up the anchor and moving to explore new places. We try not to get stir crazy. Helping  our marina neighbors as they get ready to go cruising is both a fun outlet and a way to keep the mutual-aid cruising creed alive. I try not to gush about how we live to co-workers who look at me strangely.

My favorite analogy for this parallel live came from Mairen, who has been tearing through the Harry Potter series. The sort of double life we live as "local cruisers" feels very much to me like we are members of the wizarding world trying to pass as muggles. Cruising, living afloat, being nomads- even if just at heart for now: it's like we're in on the plain-view secrets to an amazing way of life, but trying to fit in with normal people who can't quite fathom it. We've had to start wearing shoes regularly, and I will probably even succumb to socks soon (brrr!), but still feel part of a special tribe.

How passagemaking is like pregnancy

It's been so exciting to see friends we made cruising in the US and Mexico get ready for their own departures for the Pacific islands. Most have now departed, and we're reliving the passage vicariously as by following along a number of blogs.

I traded email with our friends on Ceilydh today. They're five days in from their departure from La Cruz, Mexico. Thinking about where they are in the journey, I couldn't help reliving the experiences from ours from last year. I remember this part of the passage really well...and it makes me smile!

This is going to sound nuts to some, but the phases of a big passage like this- about three weeks- is kind of like the major phases of pregnancy. Ceilydh is in the second trimester now. During the first trimester, you often feel a little icky, and you're settling- physically and emotionally- into a whole new life. By the third trimester, you're a little over the experience and kinda ready to be done. But the second trimester? It's spectacular. You're embracing the adventure, immersed in a whole new life. You're feeling good, and excited about every new thing that happens. It's truly like one natural high after another.

I generally loved being pregnant, but I never felt better (at ANY time in life, not just my pregnancies) than during the second trimester. And in the same crazy way, I deeply loved the middle chunk of the big passage... embraced it 150%, and wanted it to go on forever.

Here's a short list of some of friends who are blogging updates on their passage: check the rolls on their blogs, too, for even more of the 2011 fleet.

Ceilydh
Moondance
Evergreen
Whatcha Gonna Do
Don Quixote


Gorgeous rainbow, somewhere during our Pacific passage- April 2010

Provisioning: where does it all go?

I realized after a comment (thanks Travis & Maggie!) on an earlier post that in the series looking back at provisioning that I entirely ignored the big question of stowage. Trading email with Diane while she preps for Ceilydh's Pacific crossing kicked me into gear. Where do you put a few thousand pounds of food on an already packed-to-the-gunwales cruising boat? How do you make it last?


just a hint of the true provisioning chaos on Totem

Yeah. I know. Honestly, we didn't plan this very well. Mostly, we bought the food, then figured out where to put it. It was kind of stressful, and our boat was a mess. Not a lot of wisdom to share except that it's amazing how you CAN find the room! As we put things away, we made notations on our provisioning spreadsheet- it turned out to be really, really helpful later. Stowage locations for different items seem obvious at the time but get lost in the memory fog all too quickly.

A few things worked really well for us in helping things last. Reading up on how to to extend the life of fresh whole foods kept at ambient temperature brought a  few fundamentals:

• Keep a zone of separation from one type of produce to another. No touching, and in some cases (like citrus), not even nearby!
• Keep them out of direct light, in the dark if possible
• Try to have everything as well ventilated as possible
• Mellow temps = mellow veggies: if that locker gets heated up by the sun, it's not going to keep your tomatoes well.
• wrapping individual items for some types went a long way to extending their useful life

Listed below are our long-haul "freshies" stored aboard, and how we kept them from spoiling.

Onions: wrapped individually in paper towels. It felt really wasteful (we normally use dish towels, not paper towels!) but they did get re-used eventually, and the wrapping was KEY to keeping onions (and many other veggies) from turning. After sawing the paper towel roll in half, I tore sheets in half again to find a good wrapping size. They seemed to last forever, but the thing is- you can get onions almost everywhere in the Pacific, so there’s no reason to get tons except for convenience and cost efficiency.


Cabbages: we were able to get cabbages with all the big outer leaves intact, as harvested. One of the only things we washed before stowing, they got a soak in a very mild bleach solution to kill any critters tucked intothe deep leaf crevices. I left all the outer leaves on- they dried and yellowed but it kept the inner leaves well. A 15 minute “bath” in a mild bleach solution, then another to rinse, then dried upside down in the shade of the cockpit. They lasted a very long time. Cabbage sautéed with cider vinegar has become a favorite dish of the kids!


Bins with cabbages and chemoya (top) and onions (bottom) under the bench in Totem's main cabin

Tomatoes: purchased in stages of ripeness, tomatoes were also wrapped individually in paper and carefully packed in a bin. The greenest tomatoes went on the bottom and the ripest stayed on top. We kept tomatoes for nearly a month this way.


Potatoes: wrapped in paper, kept separately from other produce in their own bin. These also lasted approximately forever in a relatively dark / relatively cool spot. I seem to remember we had plenty of potato and potato-like veggies available in the islands, though, so… great for the passage, but in the scheme of things, not a real priority for provisioning.


Limones: oh we miss the Mexican limon! These lasted really well, individually wrapped in wee little squares of aluminum foil. Yes, foil. A tip from another cruiser- the wrap made a big difference… unwrapped / poorly wrapped did not keep nearly as well.


Eggs: contrary to popular practice in the USA, there is no refrigeration required. We kept them for a long time... longer than I should probably admit... I think it was probably pushing two months, in fact. They were stored in the flat trays we purchased them in, and turned when I remembered. It wasn't very often, to be honest.

Oranges/grapefruit: these citrus fruits were stored away from everything else, a strategy to keep one from spoiling another. They were also in ventilated bins put in a locker (dark / ventilated) in the girls’ cabin. We didn't wrap them, and they may have lasted better if wrapped. We washed these in a diluted bleach bath. I’m not sure if it helped. We found that we loved the sweet Mexican grapefruits and didn't get through the oranges as easily. There is an abundance of fruit in the Marquesas, so if that's your destination- don't go too crazy!



sorting citrus in the cockpit, somewhere in the Pacific ocean

South Pacific anchoring: dealing with bommies

We wondered a lot about anchoring among coral reefs before taking off from Mexico... and we've heard the question a few times since going through the experience ourselves. Jamie put together this response. 

South Pacific anchorages add a new dimension to parking the boat. Coral heads snag anchors, tangle and abrade anchor chain, and chew up nylon rode. This is not helpful to the common illusion of what South Pacific cruising is supposed to be like; nor is it good for living coral, in my view the most spectacular of all living things.

Perfect example of an anchorage with a minefield of coral heads

First, it’s important for the uninitiated South Pacific cruiser to understand the difference between boobies and bommies. The former refers to what you saw at Isla Isabella and hope to see in French Polynesia. The later is the common reference to coral heads (derived the Australian Aboriginal word bomboras, loosely meaning isolated reef). So while the meanings of both words share a certain aesthetic beauty, bommies differ in that they can wreck your boat.

Among bommies, the “floating chain” anchoring technique is not new. It’s also not well known or practiced. It does reduce coral damage caused by anchor gear; and minimizes anchor chain on coral macramé events. The basic concept is to attach floats, usually boat fenders, to anchor chain thereby keeping sections of the chain above bommies.

A rough idea from the deck of how the float system we use works.

Technique notes from Totem:

1. We measure anchoring depth as being from the bottom to the bow roller.
2. Scope: commonly 4:1 but varies widely based on local variables.
3. Floats (boat fenders are perfect): we used fender measuring approx 8” x 30”. Occasionally we used larger fenders (12” x 32”) in deep anchorages or around very tall bommies.
4. Attaching fenders to chain:  use about 2’-ish of line between chain and float. Tie to chain with a rolling hitch or clove hitch AND with an extra half hitch to “lock” it, as current/chain/boat movements keep the fenders working.
5. Safety: mind the finger/toes/etc once the float is tied and more chain is let out! Make sure the float will not foul on the way over the side.
6. Anchor drop: pick a clear spot to drop anchor (very challenging sometimes). The anchor drags before setting (varies with type), so account for drag distance as well.
7. 1st float: about 1.5 x anchoring depth
8. Additional floats: Very loosely, spacing equals 1 x anchoring depth. Amount varies with how much or little you want to control anchor chain droop between floats.
9. Setting the anchor and use of snubber is no different than without floats.
10. Communication:  Is a must, especially when windy/choppy. When attaching the first float it is incumbent on the person at the wheel/engine controls to keep the boat from sliding backwards much – or you’ll find the unset anchor will end up on or to close to a bommies.
11. Hauling anchor: The cautions mentioned above are especially true when raising the anchor in rough conditions – fingers/toes/boat position. It’s also a good idea to take advantage of the clear water and get a good picture of the section of chain that is on the bottom because floats don’t eliminate minor bommie wrapping. Slowly motor forward in the direction of the chain to reduce the chance of destroying coral and to reduce the chance of pulling the anchor back into coral, causing bigger problems.

The catenary question: catenary we all know is the curve in the chain rode between the two fixed ends. More curve means better holding because of a dominate shear force (horizontal on the anchor) instead of peel force (lifting anchor from bottom); and because the curve acts as a shock absorber (in conjunction with the snubber) so that a pitching bow doesn't jerk the anchor out. Floats do affect the catenary. In the first case, the first float lifts the chain and thereby makes the pull on the anchor more vertical – less good. In our experience on Totem, this never once caused us to drag; although different anchors may yield different results (we have a 33kg Rocna). In the second case, the shock absorber affect is not affected by the floats because they do not cause the chain to be straight between the 2 fixed ends.

The opposite is true if you don’t use the float method. Because the chain will wrap around a bommie (more or less dramatically) the anchor pull angle parallels the bottom so holding is very good. The problem is that the effective scope is reduced to the distance from bommie to bow roller; thus reducing chain weight and catenary, reducing the shock absorber affect. In a bouncy anchorage this can cause shock loading that stresses the chain, bow roller and/or snubber. Also, chain wrapped on bommies wears through galvanizing very quickly, can cause loading perpendicular to the chain link (much weaker), and causes loud scraping sounds as the boat moves around.

So in terms of holding power, anchoring both with and without floats poses  issues to be aware of around bommies. The real benefit of the float method is that you are much less likely to delay your departure from an anchorage due to a need to untangle chain. This process can literally take hours or be demanding in rough conditions.  And you cause less damage, or no damage, to the living coral that we all want to see.

Places Totem used the float method:

Marquesas - Tahuata (Hanamoenoa Bay), Ua Huka (Haavei Bay), Nuka Hiva (Anaho Bay, Controller Bay)

Tuamotus – Makemo (all anchorages) Fakarava (all anchorages)

Societies – Moorea (Opunohu Bay), Huahine (all anchorages), Tahaa (Baie Hurepiti)

Cook Islands – Suwarrow (Anchorage Island)

Tonga – Vav’au group (Hunga, Kenutu, Vakaaeitu)

Fiji – Yasawa and Mamanuca groups

Vanuatu – NW side of Lelepa Island

New Caledonia – N side of Lifou Island in the Loyalty group

Provisions in French Polynesia

Paths across the Pacific vary, but almost everyone goes to French Polynesia. Based on our experience, here's what to expect in FP. Generally speaking, what's available varies by island group.

Marquesas:
As the first landfall after weeks at sea, it's impossible to resist the lure of fresh produce. Like everything in FP, though, it will cost you! For the first (and hopefully last) time in my life, I spent $12 on a single smallish melon. It was juicy, delicious, and honey-sweet, but I hope I never pay that much for a single piece of fruit again!


Yes, this is a grocery store. Small shops, known as magazins, are the typical source for groceries

The fruit in the Marquesas is beyond glorious, and I probably didn't need to satisfy my fresh-fruit craving at such a price- laden trees seem to be everywhere. Mangoes, pamplemousse, bananas, and more. It all belongs to someone, and it's important to ask permission before helping yourself... but it's almost always permitted with a broad smile. For the first time, we experienced the nectar that is a tree ripened pamplemousse. It was beyond spectacular. We've had them since, but never quite as sweet as the beauties from the Marquesas.

Tuamotus:
These dry atolls grow precious little of their own produce; almost everything is flown in from Tahiti. Goods are expensive to start with in Tahiti, and don't get any cheaper being put in short hop flights to these islands. The only "deals" were subsidized goods, but other than the $.50 baguettes, they were not a bargain. On the other hand, bring as much fruit as you can carry from the Marquesas. The kids we met in the Tuamotus thought our fresh papaya was a huge treat- as it probably was.

Tahiti / Society Islands:
Anything you could want, from middle eastern dates to French lentils, can be had (for a price) in Tahiti. This was the only stop in the south Pacific where supermarkets resembled their US counterparts. Frankly, it was kind of weird reverse culture shock and took some adjusting: I hadn't been in an aisle dedicated to cold cereal in a VERY long time! Stock up at the Carrefour in Tahiti, supplement with produce from the marche municipal (public market) in downtown Papeete, and try to get out with a few francs.

There are a common denominators between islands, too:

Baguettes:

Bless the french, for they have brought baguettes to the far corners of the world. One of the cheapest things you can buy (around $.50 for a meter-long loaf) and available almost everywhere there are people in French Polynesia.

Lunch at anchor in Huahine: fresh baguettes smeared with brie. I personally gained about 10 pounds of fresh baguettes smeared with brie during our 3-month stay.

Subsidized foods:

In addition to baguettes, a variety of staple foods are subsidized in FP. Subsidized prices are still almost always more (sometimes two or three times more) than prices in Mexico, but a bargain compared to everything but gifted or foraged fruit and fish. We discovered the trick for identifying the lower cost goods was the color of the price tag. It seemed to vary somewhat by location, but red or day-glo orange generally denoted a subsidized product. Scanning an aisle, you can hone in on the color to speed up shopping. 

Subsidized items include powdered milk, flour, sugar, cooking oil, canned butter, chicken, lamb necks (?!), pork & beans, and canned beef.

Variety canned vegetables.

We bought a lot of canned or tetra pack vegetables to get us through the stretches between opportunities to buy vegetables in the islands. Yeah, it sounds pretty gross, but it's better than no veggies when you can't find fresh! They've been helpful meal fillers, although surely not very nutritious. The problem for provisioning was that the variety in Mexico was very, very limited. Once again, I think we can thank the French: there was a interesting selection of relatively palatable canned veggies available: beets, caponata, and endive. 

Canned spinach, Brussels sprouts, and beets on the shelf in French Polynesia.

Things to buy in FP:

Canned butter was readily available in French Polynesia, but difficult to find everywhere else (until New Caledonia, where it cost 30% more). I. Love. Butter. Having canned butter, instead of butter that has to be kept refrigerated- or turned into ghee- is reeeeaaaallly handy on a cruising boat in the tropics. 

We also found that Tahiti had best selection of cured meat in the Pacific. We had dry salamis purchased here that were with us until New Caledonia, four months later. Don't forget quarantine in your ports of call, though: most ports in the Cook Islands were confiscating all non-New Zealand meat products in 2010. In Suwarrow, we were merely encouraged to destroy the meat by burning it... slowly, over a barbecue, among friends.

Provisions worth their weight in gold

We have the luxury to eat for pleasure as much as for sustenance. So yeah, we could have filled the boat with nothing but rice and beans- as it seems I may have attempted to do- and survived just fine (and quite cheaply) for our seven and a half months of Pacific island hopping. It wouldn't have been much fun, though. Here are some things we chose to bring on board for the Pacific voyage that worked really well for us:

* Cured meats. As mentioned... we make lousy vegetarians. But we don't have a freezer, just a works-fine-most-of-the-time refrigerator; we simply can't keep fresh meat very long. To feed our protein cravings, and avoid cracking into the, ew, canned stuff- we ended up with a considerable volume of cured meat on board. We broke into the last of our Mexican smoked ham in Vanuatu, so as far as I'm concerned, we nailed the quantity on this on perfectly. It was worth every penny of the markup at Carnes del Mundo in Bucerias for quality, vacuum sealed stuff.

* Dried eggs. I know- sounds nasty, right? And frankly, for eating straight up- scrambled eggs or whatever- they are nasty. But I love to bake, and a lot baked goods have eggs in them. Fresh eggs were often hard to find, and expensive when we could find them. This canister worked out to pennies per egg, and helped keep us in scones and cinnamon rolls. It was perfectly acceptable for french toast or pancakes as well. One canister, equivalent to about 96 eggs, was the perfect amount.


Carrot cake bakes on deck in the solar oven. Thank you, dried eggs.

* Specialty foods. Things we love that we might not find (or once again, might have found in Tahiti and paid a small ransom to acquire). Grains besides long grain white rice (I love quinoa, bulghur, and wheat berries; brown rice is a basic staple). Treats to go with a sundowner: good green olives, baby corn (Diane, you were SO RIGHT about those!), and smoked oysters. Favorite sauces or condiments that could be hard to find, from pesto to hot chile sauce or a good curry paste.

In some cases, we didn't realize how much we would miss certain items until they were gone or unavailable. We were lucky enough to have friends and family visiting on several occasions, in both Mexico and Bora Bora; they all came well equipped with both wish list items and other things they thought we'd like! Jocelyn and Willie made sure we had some key spices and grains that I couldn't find in Mexico... Claire and Elliot kept us in chocolate chips (Jamie is eternally grateful) and quinoa (quinoa porridge... breakfast of cruising champions!).

Next...looking sample costs and, availability

Provisioning lookback: over-buying

When we arrived in Australia, we faced by far the strictest quarantine encountered so far. So besides just keeping us all fed and happy for the past half year, perfect planning also means that ideally, we consumed all of the provisions which could be confiscated before we reach Australia.

It didn't quite work out that way. I can't stand waste, and it pained me to see the bag with at least 20 kilos of consumable food taken off our boat after we reached Australia. Here's what we over-purchased:

* canned meat. We bought cans of chunk chicken and beef, and a few of ham. To be honest, I still can't believe we even consume this stuff... talk about falling far from our life on shore, where we knew the knew by name the farmers who raised most of the meat we ate! Even before the question of canned meat came up for the Pacific crossing, during our year and a half in Mexico I looked hard at being de-facto vegetarians as an alternative to healthy, sustainably raised meat. We really didn't know much about about how the meat we eat there was consumed, so it seemed like a good options- and a good way to prep for the Pacific islands. Besides, I was a vegetarian for a few years before I met Jamie... it couldn't be that hard, right? But we found, as we waited out the hurricane season in the Sea of Cortez last summer, that we make very, very bad vegetarians. Of course, our Sea of Cortez failure was probably also because of the dearth of vegetables... it turns out that if you want to be vegetarian, having fresh vegetables available to purchase is pretty important! Even when we were catching plenty of fish, it didn't squelch the desire for serious protein fix now and then. The day we cracked into the emergency Spam- literally, ditch kit food- for a "ham" and cheese omelet one morning, I knew we were doomed as veggies. Besides, the reality of being vegetarian in the Pacific islands means eating a pretty limited diet. How do you like cassava? White rice? Good. You'll be fine. The rest of us, well...


Swimming back to the boat with fish on spear - Suwarrow. When the alternative is canned meat, we basically became pesce vegetarians for much of our time in the Pacific islands anyway.

* dried beans. I avoid cans if I can, and dried beans- while they take a wee bit more effort- are both tastier and healthier. We eat a lot of beans, but I probably didn't need to buy enough to get us through Armageddon. Even though we consume at least a couple of pounds per week, I'm frankly embarrassed to admit how much was still on board when we made landfall in Australia. We had a lot of rice & beans, chili, and bean salads in our last weeks before Australia, with recipe help from The Keel and Galley Swap among others (thanks guys!). Everything left was confiscated by quarantine in Oz. It just feels criminal to throw away perfectly good food.

* rice. This kind of shocked me, because we eat tons of rice, but I actually bought too much. The weevils helped me out as several kilos had to be chucked overboard in Fiji, but we still arrived in Australia with about 6 kilos left on board. Still, it was worth it. Long grain white rice was been readily available in the Pacific islands, and generally reasonably priced, but brown rice and sushi rice were very difficult to find (and brown sushi rice? fugeddaboutit! Tracey... I dream about short grain brown rice... *sigh*). The lovely quarantine official allowed us to keep it all, too- thanks, Officer Mortimer!


Whatever you do, bring plenty of sushi rice! Hyo (s/v IO) showing off our tuna and dorado sushi fiesta on Oso Blanco, in Anaho Bay, Marquesas


Next... things I'm really glad we brought!