text:
13/09/07 to 15/09/07 – We were going to Tahiti but the weather changed our minds.
Today we are going to sail for
however, it will not be an early start as we have to wait for the tide so that
we can get through the pass. My calculation after what occurred the day we came
in is that low tide is at 1000 hours therefore the pass will be ready three
hours later at 1300 hours.
We went around the yacht and got most things ready for sailing and then went ashore, check my calculations with the dive shop, the locals know when is safe to go in or out. Then we will go for a walk to the pass as we have not seen this end of the island as yet.
We checked with the dive shop we both have the same time so we will plan to break the mooring around 1230 hours and that will get us to the pass on the hour. We went for our walk and it was interesting to see the water turmoil as it escapes the atoll; dolphins were playing in the current. We walked to the end of the road and found an area where people can bring their boats alongside. There was a small barge coming in, it looks as though it may be used for moving vehicles from one part of the atoll to the other. I am not sure whether it would get much use, unless the ramps are just for loading goods that need to be transported.
(The sea rushing through the passage)
We walked back along the water front, it took us through some private properties, but the locals indicated that that was alright. It was very pretty looking across the water with the different shades of blue. We got back on board and started to get organised, close all hatches, lift the dingy, and get the
and main sheets
ready, although with the wind direction I think we will only be using the Genoa for a while. Just
as we about have everything done at
Leigh and Jenny returned from town and came over to say farewells again. Not
sure when we will catch up again it may well be next year before we see Leigh
and I am not sure if we will ever see Jenny as when she has finished crewing
for Leigh in November she may fly home to South Africa for a while or crew on
another yacht. She would like to crew again for Leigh next year. They are both
great people and have been wonderful company; I know it will not be the last we
see of Leigh. Genoa
Well it was 1230 hours and we moved off, just as we did the wind came up to around 18 knots and storms came over, good start. We motored through the pass, the wind was right on the nose so no use for sails, we went out to sea a couple of miles before turning west, as we did we let out the Genoa and cut the engine the wind was still around 18 knots and we are doing around 7.5 knots. We have about 15 Nms to go before we turn south between the two atolls. The next minute the clouds passed over and the sun was shining and there was no bloody wind. I started the engine and we motor sailed about 3 Nms then we got some wind so I cut the engine again, we were only going around 5 knots but we were not in any hurry, in fact we had decided to take the two days to get there about 185 Nms so we needed to kill some time so we arrived in daylight.
(sailing by the second passage)
(Sailing away from the passage)
As we came to the end of Rangiroa atoll there was a current flowing in between this atoll and the other, although we could not yet see the next atoll. This caused turmoil of waves, I entered them very gingerly looking at the depth sounder as we went, it was a bit of a ride through but we got through OK. I had noticed another yacht that had come out of Rangiroa about an hour behind us; He set his sail wing to wing so I thought he would catch up before long. Now sailing south still with only the
we were doing around 6 – 7 knots, I was going to set the mainsail but thought I
would wait until we got from between the atolls and see what seas and wind we
would get. We were getting anything from 15 to 22 knots where we were. It was
getting dark and I took a look to see where the other yacht was, it was still
about the same distance behind but had moved slightly over to our starboard
side probably in preparation to pass us later. I checked back a few times and
lost sight of it in the dark and could not see its navigation lights probably
too low for the distance between us. Genoa
Had the radio sched with Leigh at 1715 hours told him how we had been going, at that stage we were between the atolls and had not hit the real bad stuff. He said he and Jenny were fine and had a good day. We were not able to raise Timella or Why Knot.
As we approached the end of the atolls the wind and the waves picked up heavily and the waves started to hit us on the port beam, waves commenced to break over the side so we changed course heading a little more south-west, this put the wind and most of the waves near the port aft quarter, the other pattern of the waves was still hitting us on the port beam. It was rather a mixed sea, wind was anywhere between 22 and 30 knots, I decided to take three turns in on the
reef it slightly. The boat was very uncomfortable; we both had very little
sleep through the off watch times. I rechecked the engines oil levels etc.
before Nancy went to bed, in doing so I tripped over and banged my ankle of the
engine surround, then I hit my head on the other engine cover on the screw for
the latch letting some claret loose from
the head. Later during my watch I was sitting at the helm and as a wave hit I
grabbed the bimini support that also had our safety lifeline attached, sitting
on the lifeline was a hornet wasp, and he did not like me grabbing him so he
stung me. I thought thank god that's the third thing that has happened I should
be right now. Of course that was just after a few other words not fit to print when
I got stung. I stuck my finger in the freezer for a short time that took the
pain away. Oh the wasp, he committed suicide. Come morning we had moved away
from our planned course by 30 Nms to the west, this was adding distance to our
trip. I said to Genoa
that to go to Nancy Tahiti we need to beat into the
wind, something a catamaran does not do well and we don't like doing. We
continued on the same course to see if the weather would change.
Had the morning radio sched, could only raise Leigh, I told him if things do not get better we will change course for
He agreed. I asked him how he and Jenny were, he said they were fine but missed
a couple of mates at sundowners last night.
After as short while and the sun was up for a while there was no change in the weather, I gave George a break and took the auto pilot off and turned the helm to port, as soon as I got her on course for Tahiti the bows were digging into the waves and green water came over the top, which is to be expected, but when it started to come over the top of the bimini I said to Nancy bugger Tahiti I think we will go straight to Raiatea she agreed. We turned back on the original course, checked the chart for a course to
Raiatea which added another 30 degrees to starboard
putting wind and waves at 120 degrees (port aft). We were still getting tossed
around but not as bad, the winds stayed in the same range between 22 and 30
knots. We both grabbed sleep when we could, meals were simple, and something
out of a can, however,
always adds something to make it taste not like canned food. We made good miles
through the day so much so that during the evening watch I reefed the Nancy right down to a
third the way out and that's all the sail we had working. The only difference
it made was when we were on the back of the wave going up it slowed us down to
4 knots but on the level or going down the wave was the same speed as before
between 7 and 11 knots. It did have the desired affect of slowing us so we
arrived outside of Genoa Raiatea before first light
this morning. It is incredible seeing landfall at first light. This land is
quite spectacular, there are two islands Raiatea
and Tahaa that are encircled by coral reefs, the reefs have a number of passes
in them where boats and ships can access. The access is not tide dependent
boats can enter at any time this is due to the water flowing over the reefs
although the reefs buffer the rough seas. It is very beautiful place.
(Raiatea ahead, you can see by the amount of turns on the furler that we had a very small sail out)
(On both these pictures we are sailing outside the reef)
(Heading towards the passage through the reef)
(The reef is all around these two islands with just a few places that you can access)
(We are now through the passage in calm waters there are a number of these small islands along the reef)
One problem we have is that the anchorages are very deep in places they are deeper than the length of our anchor chain, another thing that I have to fix when I can buy more chain. It is listed that there are some moorings for visitors so we went searching, we found a place with moorings, picked up the first, and I told
to let it go it had a sign attached "Privie" French for private. After going in
and out of all the moored boats we found one, when picking it up Nancy dropped the boat
hook over the side, so she went swimming to get it back. Just about to say well
that's it and a dingy is approaching us, first thought no we cannot stay here.
It was a Frenchman from a catamaran just behind us, he said he was talking to
his friend in the boatyard and he said that this mooring is old and not secure,
he said there is another behind his cat, and the friend in the boatyard said we
could use it. The Frenchman, Joule helped us secure to the mooring. He Also
told us where some things were but added everything is closed Saturday and
Sunday. Being Saturday today for us, we have to wait a couple of days. We did
not really care, once we were secure I went to the fridge and grabbed a coldie,
Nancy had a
whiskey, we then had some lunch followed by a short sleep. Nancy
We also sat down and looked at the passage planner, we are seriously thinking of spending what time we need to here, I want to see if we can get the gearbox fixed, if we cannot we will leave in a few days for Bora Bora which you can actually see from here, a couple of days there then off to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, then Nuku'alofa Tonga then if there is enough time left go to Opua in NZ where we will leave the boat and fly to Oz for the wedding, if we do not have enough time to get to NZ we will fly from Tonga and return in November to make the dash to NZ. Naturally this is all dependant on wind and weather, but it will have to be one of these places that we leave the boat to come back to Oz. We need to get to NZ for the cyclone season. The question that remains unanswered is what do we do after NZ? Do we wait until April and head back to some more islands before coming back to Oz, or do we head back to Oz earlier? That will be answered after we get to NZ. My lady will have the biggest say in that one, the reason being is that she has done more than most that could be asked of anyone, sailing is great and we both love it, visiting beautiful places is wonderful. But there is a lot of hard work in between, four hours on fours off for days is OK but it is hard work, battling some of the seas is also hard and frightening at times.
has done wonders and I am very proud of her. I am very conscious of the fact
that at times she gets quite frightened and on those rough sea nights she hates
the shift when you
cannot see the sea to see what it is doing. It can't be too bad though I still get
a kiss and a cuddle at the change of watch. Nancy
16/09/07 – Raiatea
This morning we had a sleep in we got up at 0600 hours, it is usually at dawn around 0500 hours. But we were in bed very early last night and slept like a log. We did not rush about though, we had a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs on toast, did a little computer work, then had showers before going ashore. We went over to the dingy dock in CNI Carenage then went for a walk along the road towards where the supermarket is to have a look, half way there in the middle of the day we decided that we will dinghy over there tomorrow and walked back to the dinghy. We then went down to the marina in the next bay and had lunch at the bar and restaurant. After this we went for a trip in the dinghy towards town, a few miles away, however we turned back after the winds picked up and we realised that we will be drenched by the time we got there. We came back on board and relaxed.
When we were at the marina a lady from
came and spoke to us, she
was on a Moorings charter boat with another four lady friends. The youngest
would have to be in her mid sixties and the one who spoke to us, she would have
to be in her seventies and had a walking stick. They must have been sailing
most of their lives, they took the yacht out whilst we were there heading for
the top island and then out to America Bora Bora. Just
goes to show you're never too old.
We had the radio sched at 1715 hours, could not raise Leigh, we spoke with Timella and Why Knot, they were able to talk with Leigh and relayed for me. We are tucked away behind the island on the west side and Leigh is way over in the north east. Timella had left
Bora Bora at 0600 hours this
morning and under 15 to 18 knot winds was sailing at 4 to 6 knots, that's good
for his yacht. Why Knot left about four hours after and had already passed
Timella. Timella is not what you would call a fast yacht. Ross on Why Knot said
that he had some friends arriving here today, yacht named Fantasy I and if we
see it to say g'day. I started getting weather information for Timella and Why
Knot, on the evening sched I would get the position (Lat/Long) speed and
course, with this I would calculate where they should be at 0800 hours the
following morning when we do the radio sched. I would then by using four to
five weather websites get the weather in the location and what they were
heading into. I was up at 0500 hours each morning and that is when I would get
all the info in time for the sched.
When we went on deck Fantasy I was moored in front of us so we went over to say hello. Karl and Sandy, what a couple, lovely people. Karl is retired scientist and Sandy was a school teacher from South Australia. They were trying to get a few things fixed as they wanted to get going straight to Vanuatu to join the Port to Port Rally, Port Villa to Bundaberg, they want to get home before the cyclone season started. We went ashore to clear in with the gendarmes.
We did not arrive at the gendarme's office until just after midday, a youngish gendarme walked up to us and asked what we want in a French arrogant manner, we said we were there to clear in. He basically yelled we are closed from midday to 2pm, so we apologised and said we would return. The reason we were late is that it is 6 kms from the boat to the office which we did not realize. We went away and ended up purchasing a couple of bicycles because if we are staying here and we now can for the cyclone season we will need them to come and go.
On returning to the gendarme's office we went to the desk and there was an office between the room we are in and the room the officers are in, they look at us and basically ignore us then after a while the office that dressed us down earlier came to us. "What do you want?" he asked. I told him that we had arrived on a catamaran and was here to clear in. He asked, do you speak French, I apologised and said we did not. He then said I do not speak English where does that leave us? In my head I thought, well you are doing fine so far. I held the papers in front of me with that paper on top that I made up with all the information on it and he sat down and started entering the details on the computer. Then he asked, how long are you staying? I said that we want to stay to the 21 October leave the boat here and come back after three months away and stay until the cyclone season is finished. With this he spoke to his boss in French, his boss came out grabbing a book off a shelf and asked you Australian? I said yes, he then said you have to leave before the 17 October or you will be in trouble with the local police. I said fine we will book our flights for the 16 October. I wasn't going into any other details re our return the mood was not right for that, they signed our documents and we left.
(We have transport, Amandine advised us to lock them up, she said people won't steal them but they will borrow them)
A little different to the gendarmes at Hiva Oa. Nancy asked what do we do about our return I said we will sort it out when we get to Australia with their embassy . What a day, when we got back to the boat Karl and Sandy invited us over for sundowners and we had a nice night.
19/09/07 – Wednesday Morning
Well we have had an interesting couple of days. The night before last a Mayday message was broadcast from Marine Radio, this unfortunately was in French and we could not fully understand what was being said. The only thing that concerned me was the name of the boat. It sounded like Timella, Cameron's boat. We were aware that Cameron had had some trouble; he had blown out his mainsail and on the same night had been swamped by the sea causing his HF radio to fail in volume so he could not hear anyone but he could transmit. He at sched time gave his Lat/Long and stated that all on board was safe.
We stayed up late hoping for more information, but everything was in French, we did get the message that it was a ketch, same as Cameron's however they said the hull was black, Cameron's is dark blue. We turned in around , I was up very early the next morning, and the mayday message continued through the night and day. We did the 0800 hour sched and we were pleased to hear Cameron on the radio, he had been swamped a few times in the rough weather but he said everyone was safe; he still had no volume control on the radio so he could only transmit and not hear us. The mayday kept on going each hour, two aircraft, and two merchant ships continued search the area at the Lat/Long the mayday was reported.
Last night as we were about to go out for dinner the mayday message was transmitted by the authorities first in French and then in English. The yacht they were looking for was Timella Cameron's yacht. As soon as the transmission was complete I called Marine Radio (The authority), and confirmed that it was Timella that they were looking for. They confirmed this, and then I gave them the last position that I had on Timella and told them that they are safe and well. Marine Radio asked it I would talk with the National Rescue Centre, I said that I would, due to communication difficulties I rang them on the sat phone. I confirmed that Timella was safe and well although they had suffered heavy seas that had lost them their mainsail and full communications on HF radio. I also informed them that we would be on the radio sched at 0800 hours in the morning and they could join in and hear for themselves that Timella was safe. They told me that the Mayday was raised by a ham radio operator in
. This would have
been the radio operator that has provided Cameron with weather reports. The
only thing that I can imagine that on the radio sched he had heard that Cameron
had been swamped with water and did not hear that they were safe and well.
However, he should not have raised a Mayday unless the vessel had initiated it
in the first place. He could have registered a concern for safety without
raising a Mayday. The National Rescue Centre was relieved to hear that the
yacht and crew were safe and also very appreciative that I had contacted them.
The boss of the coordination centre came of the phone to thank methey had ships
and aircraft looking in the area that the incident was reported and they were
about to send more aircraft out tomorrow, Timella was 200 Nms further than the
search site. Hawaii
Probably the ironic side of this is that due to Cameron not being able to hear us on the radio and can only transmit, he is oblivious to the fact that there was a Mayday raised, and that he had two planes and two freight vessels looking for him. We were all relieved that everything was fine and we then went to dinner with new Aussie friends Karl and Sandy on "Fantasy 1" that originate in Adelaide. They sailed out of Oz 9 years ago and have been around the world. They are now heading back to Oz. I have been helping them set up their computer after the one that they were using got swamped with sea water through a hatch that had been left open. I have loaned them my GPS antenna as the computer will not recognize theirs. They will mail it to Angela's when they get back to Oz in around six weeks. As we are now staying here we will not need it until January.
This morning I finally got the gearbox out after having to bike it into town to buy another tool. I stripped it down and it looks like the only problem is the cone, a new cone and seals should fix the problem. Amandine in the CNI office is organizing the parts for me. She is also organizing a mechanic to reassemble the box for me as I do not have the tools or workshop to do it myself. Need gear pulleys and a press etc.
She also organised a fuel run for us today, sent one of the yard boys into town to pick up fuel for Fantasy 1 and ourselves.
Then I went for a swim and run a brush over the waterline and removed a little growth from the hull, then went to the supermarket that has a dinghy dock did a little shopping then went over to Fantasy 1 to set up the GPS on the computer and assist Sandy with CMap navigation and of course have a beer and a chat. We got back on board close to 2000 hours. It's a rough life this boating.
20/09/07 - Raiatea
Not much news today. Yesterday afternoon after shopping at the waterside supermarket and obtaining important items like beer, whiskey, red and white wine and food. I think I have them in the correct order regarding priorities. We went over to Fantasy 1 to help
understand CMap, which is incredible as I am only learning myself as I have
only had it just before leaving Sandy Hiva Oa. Blind
leading the blind so to speak. I set it up with my GPS receiver that I am
loaning them to get back to Oz.
(Bora Bora)
(Waves breaking on the reef)
(The island of Tahaa)
(Calm at dusk)
(Boats full)
(Sunset light)
I have to go over and set up their Wifi and Skype today, they want to take us out to dinner for the help we have provided. They are coming over here for sundowners tonight,
likes a Gin and Tonic, and Sandy
doesn't mind it either, so back to the supermarket today. Nancy
Radio sched this morning Timella is still safe and moving slowly, their radio was receiving this morning, but I could not hear or talk to them. Why Knot (Ross), spoke to them and informed them about the search that was being conducted, he said Cameron was shocked to hear about it he never at any stage gave any indication that he needed assistance. Why Knot and JJ Moon are close together and will be entering
Rarotonga around
today. Timella ETA
is Sunday afternoon.
Lunch time:
Karl came over this morning and said he was ready to be hoisted up the mast to install the spare halyard if I could haul him up. So I went over to Fantasy 1 to help. When I got there Sandy was in this bright orange bathing suit and she grabbed a short ladder and was about to climb of the boom, Karl looked at her and asked what she was doing, she said getting ready to grab the fishing line, Karl said that he hadn't got the halyard ready yet, so she said well what do I do and Karl said "if you stop f__king about". I burst out laughing, Sandy appears to be a prim and proper lady in her manners and Karl talks like that all the time. When all was ready I hauled Karl up the mast and lowered him when he was finished
climbed a ladder to fish the mouse out (fishing line with sinker weight) of the
mast, then attached the new halyard to it and fed it through. After having
coffee and bickies I went back to our boat and said to Sandy do you want to take the laundry in now,
she said yes but it is lunch time and everything will be closed. This is a
thing we are getting used to this that all the shops closed from through to 1400 or 1500 hours
the same as Bonaire. This has been right through since the Nancy Caribbean.
Restaurants and bars are open but they close at 1400 or 1500 hours through to
1800 hours.
Saturday 22/09/07 -
Hi all, last couple of days have gone rather quickly and we have not really done much. Yesterday
went into town with Nancy
off Fantasy 1, I planned to do a few water runs, however young Amandine in the
office called me on the radio to go over and see her about the parts for the
gearbox. Apparently they cannot supply two 'o' rings, would probably be able to
use the old ones. The parts will arrive on the next plane in and she has
organised someone to complete the job for me as I do not have bearing and gear
pulleys, that will be done Monday. She asked if we would still be hauling out
as the gearbox will be fixed, I told her yes we had already made up our minds
and booked our flights. Sandy
It will be great to return to Oz and see family and friends but it is going to be hard not sailing, with all the ups and downs we both love the adventure of the sea time. We will fly back here in January and do some work on the boat whilst she is out of the water, give her another coat of anti-foul. We will not be able to sail until April May when the cyclone season is over.
Back to what else happened yesterday, Karl came over he was trying to tighten the gland seal on the propeller shaft and needed a third hand, he asked me if I could spare 20 minutes, I told him I could but I have a dilemma at the moment I cannot find one of my VISA debit cards, I said give me a minute to check. After just about phoning to say it was lost I thought about the last time I used it at the waterfront supermarket, I shot across there in the dinghy and as I was approaching the shop the young lady at the checkout gave big smiles waving my VISA card. I thanked her very much and went back and helped Karl. Karl had to lay in an awkward position holding the spanner with a bar and my job was to hit it with the hammer. Karl asked, "you know what to do"? I said, "yes, when you nod your head I hit it", he gave me that funny look and smiled.
That job was done then I started the water run filling up four 20 litre containers bringing them back on board and fill the tanks, I did one tank and it was getting too bloody hot to do anymore, the water flows slowly through the hose and sitting in the dinghy in the sun filling the containers gets rather warm. We went in the dinghy to pick up the laundry, they did a fantastic job. By mid afternoon it became very hot and I went for a swim off the back of the boat and had half hour snooze.
(Sandy doing her final shopping before leaving)
Last night we went out for dinner with Karl and Sandy, they shouted for the help I had given them, I told them its part of the deal I have had help from others that did not need help from me so by helping someone else is a pay back. Cruising is one area in the world that still has that care for strangers doing the same thing, everyone helps each other when there is a need. We had a good night with a couple of bottles of red and a good feed.
This morning I was up early as usual, Karl was getting ready to sail doing a last minute water run to top up his tanks, they are going straight through to
They came over and said their goodbyes, I purchased their Polynesian Francs off
them for US$ so they would not be stuck with them. They went back to their
yacht and hauled the dinghy aboard. We were waiting to wave them goodbye, then
a radio call from them, they had the ropes tangled on the mooring. I went over
in the dinghy, what had happened was that we have had total calm weather and
the yachts have been turning from one way to another and the ropes had bound
themselves tight around the mooring. I gradually untangled them and got them
free. Karl said thanks and said that I would probably be glad to see them
leave. That is not true. I thoroughly enjoyed Karl and Vanuatu 's company, they are genuine good
people. Sandy
(Assisting Karl with the mooring)
(Just about done)
(Fantasy 1 heads out to the passage and off to Vanuatu)
The rest of the day I have been rather lazy, I did one more water run, had a haircut from the on board hairdresser, had a swim to get rid of the loose hair and then had a coldie or two.
Still had radio scheds and everyone is fine, Timella is still 100 Nms from port and the water is like glass and no wind so they are motoring at the moment. Leigh is anchored off Blue Lagoon at Rangiroa, yes it is the place they made the movie of the same name with Brooke Shields.
26/09/07 – Raiatea
We run out of gas last night just as I was about to make a coffee for us both, so no coffee and no cup of tea this morning. So first job was to get the three gas bottles out of the gas locker dinghy in and get them filled, the next job was to see the lovely Amandine and find out what happened to the mechanic that was supposed to meet me yesterday afternoon.
I dropped the gas bottles in and they said they would be ready this afternoon and as I was walking to the CNI office Amandine was on the road talking to two gents, when I approached she introduced me to Joseph the mechanic, he asked if I had the gearbox out, I said yes, I can get it for you now. Which I did and he has promised it will be back by next Wednesday. Amandine is a dynamo, she organises everything for CNI and its customers, nothing is too much trouble and any request is dealt with immediately.
The big problem is there is only one mechanic on the island and that is Joseph, Amandine said to me that I should come and work I would make lots of money there is too much work for one mechanic. This is true for most of the islands. I think the only reason Joseph is looking after me is that one Amandine is on his back and two she told him that I could do the job myself if he let me use his workshop. Anyway at least it is getting fixed. The only rush to fix it now is so that I will have two engines to manoeuvre when I have to go into the marina area to get hauled out. But again Amandine says that if it is not fixed by that time she will organise the boys in the yard to move me in place using dinghies.
After the gas and the gearbox was organised I went back on board and we got ready to go into town on our pushbikes. We organised our flights from here to
( Papeete Tahiti), on the 15 October, we have to stay overnight
there as our flight to Oz via NZ leaves at 0700 on the 16 October 07.
That being organised we carried on into town to the fuel station to fill up two small containers of petrol for the generator and then cycled back towards the boat but detoured into Apooiti Marina for lunch. Then we cycled back unloaded the fuel. It was hot no wind and we decided to do what they do in these islands have siesta time. I flaked under a fan in the saloon.
At 1500 hours I went in to get the gas bottles and bought them back on board then I took the dinghy over to the waterfront supermarket to buy some more coldies, some bugger had drank the ones I had, making up for those dry nights at sea no doubt.
(How small boats are garaged)
(These huts are like holiday huts for locals they spend Sundays out there relaxing and fishing)
When I came back I spent quite a bit of time trying to find out weather information for Fantasy 1 and Why Knot. Fantasy 1 said they had very little wind and were motor sailing on the sched this morning and asked if I could get them a full weather report. Whilst doing that I heard Why Knot on the sched this evening and I gave them an update. Why Knot left
this morning for ,
they are heading to NZ for the hurricane season. Timella was organizing the
haul out today and are probably out on the hard by now. Tonga
Our dear friend Eileen in Dubbo paid my HF radio license for me so hopefully now I am operating legally, thanks a bunch Eileen. It is not easy trying to transfer money from here or the places we have been of visa versa as Leigh will tell you. He has been waiting for money to arrive since the day we got into
Hiva Oa.
27/09/07 – Raiatea continued.
Today I spent the time tracing some shore power wiring for 220v that the previous owner had installed, (Alana Rose is basically 12 volt or 110 volts). My plan was to use the wiring he had installed for shore power for the battery charger and in addition to plug my 110v generator into without running temporary cables that we have over the last few months. It worked like a charm, I found the cable that he had run to the hot water service in the port engine bay that had been disconnected. I pulled that through to where the normal shore power leads were and fitted the French Polynesian type three point plug, using the colour codes I used in
that I found on the net. I then disconnected a disused power board that was
installed by the owner and installed the power point in its place and connected
the other end of the cable. Tested it all with the trusty multi-tester and
everything looked fine. Put the power on nothing went bang and it is all
working fine and looks rather tidy. The crazy part about it is that the only
part of the boat that needs 110v is the air-conditioning units that we can only
use if we are in a marina, everything else works on 12 volts. Now that I have
replaced the battery charger that will run on any voltage from 110 to 250 volts
and any cycle from 4 to 400 there is no problem. Most of the gear that we have
laptops, cameras, telephones will charge up on 110 – 240 volts, most electrical
items such as these are made for international conditions. Grenada
Next thing I did was to make up a lead that attaches the generator to the system and also made up a 50m extension cord for when we go on the hard to keep the batteries charged whilst we are away in Oz.
This is going to be the daunting part, we are both looking forward to travelling home and seeing family and friends, but we are not sure what we will do with ourselves for three months living on land.
has even said that all the scary times
at sea she is going to miss not being out there. Back to the sign in Nancy Bonaire, "vows made in storms are soon forgotten in calm
waters". It is very true. We both cannot wait to do the next leg of the trip
and basically we are going to have to wait six months before we start that next
I am so very pleased that
feels that way, as you know I said if we had done the runner for NZ before the
cyclone season it would mainly depend on her whether we went and did more of
the islands or return to Oz for the quieter coastal cruising. Well she is very
keen to do the rest of the voyage and see the islands as we go. I think she has
the cruising bug even though at times she says she does not like the heavy
seas. Nancy
The next thing we did was to cycle into town to the bank to get some money to pay the mechanic in case he brings the gearbox back tomorrow pick up some more petrol for the generator. By the time we got back our cloths were drenched in sweat so stripped down and dived into the sea off the back of the boat, rinsed off with fresh water on the transom shower, then we declared it as beer o'clock, well it was 5 o'clock some where. We were only 30 minutes early.
02/10/07 Raiatea
It is a very quiet time at the moment, we are just waiting for the time for haul-out onto the hard and then stripping the boat down of its sails and bimini and anything else strong winds may cause problems. Then we will give the boat a good clean, remove any water within the bilges and dry every compartment to reduce the risk of mould build up whilst the boat is locked up. So we will have a few very busy days ahead of us.
Today we are waiting for the mechanic to come back for the gearbox and see what he has to say. Yesterday he was on
where he actually lives. Tahaa is the island closest to Tahaa Island Raiatea
only a couple of miles north.
It is hard when he is the only mechanic for both islands. I want him to fix it before we go on the hard because I want to run it to make sure it is alright so if it is not I can bring the gearbox back to Oz for repair.
The problem we have found in our travels is everything is island time, which is good in one way as long as you do not have a deadline to meet. It has taken me a while to realise that I do not have to rush anymore, I don't have to be back somewhere to start work. The only pressure we have at the moment is getting the gearbox fixed properly before we fly out.
As much as we are looking forward to come back to Oz and see the family and friends it is hard leaving our yacht, it has become our home, and it is like anyone else leaving their home for three months. The other thing is that we are both enjoying the lifestyle. It is true what they say that within the boating family that it is one of the few places left where everyone helps each other, they look out for each other and majority are very friendly, some of the French are not so friendly it is more of a minority are friendly in their case. Don't get me wrong the ones that are friendly are very friendly and nice people, but you tend to get probably the local French that are not so friendly. The exception would have been
Hiva Oa; I think
that would be one of the friendliest places we have been. Most of the indigenes
people here are friendly although some of the middle aged to older men are not.
I think this would relate to early times when the French fought the locals and
killed many. This island is where the NZ Maori originated from; they fled here
and went to NZ. So they do have a reason to dislike Europeans.
We will have quite a lot of time here before we sail again, we will not be able to head off until mid April when the cyclone season starts to end and the trade winds come back to carry us in the right direction. We will get back here in January and hopefully with some gear I bring back from Oz will be able to set up preventers and sheets the way we want them. There will also be a bit of maintenance to do or should I say a fair bit.
Leigh on Mi Querida should be here in a few days, we have not been able to talk to him on the radio since he arrived in
Tahiti, we sent him and email and got one in return.
Jenny had struck another problem regarding her visa, because of being a South
African she applied in
for the visa for Panama French Polynesia because it
takes so long to come through. When she got to Hiva Oa
she still did not have it, it finally came through just before they left Hiva Oa. Now they are clearing in at Tahiti
the officials have stated that Jenny is running out of time (three months),
because they have taken the date from her original application in . So now
Jenny has decided to fly home to Panama . It is not easy being
a South African when travelling around the world. South Africa
Had the radio sched with Fantasy 1, Karl and Sandi this morning and gave them their weather report, they are doing quite well with the winds they are getting. Then had the sched with Why Knot, Ross is also doing quite well and should be in
in the morning. Ross will be
heading to NZ for the cyclone season and returning north to Tonga next
year, we hope to catch up with them then. I have told Ross about the weather
that is surrounding NZ at the moment that is not pleasant. I will email the
websites that I have to him as I will not be giving weather reports after the 8
October when we have been hauled out. It would be nice to catch up with Ross
after talking to him on the radio for sometime and we have never met. Vanuatu
It is now mid morning and no sign of the mechanic as yet, the problem is we cannot go anywhere nor do anything until he shows up. Island time, great.
Well it is now evening; I spoke with the mechanic this morning he was supposed to meet me at 1600 hours but got called away. I should be seeing him in the morning. Again the main problem is that we were stuck waiting for him and could not do anything else.
We went out to Snack Mimosa for dinner tonight, good home style cooking plenty on the plate and would be the cheapest in town. They are only a minute walk from the boatyard is about 6 kms out of town. Nancy had prawns Chinese style with rice I had a large steak veggies and chips, two glasses of red for Nancy and I had two Hinano beers (500ml stubbies), total cost $45 AUS, we had hamburger and fries with same amount of drinks at the restaurant near the marina $70 AUS. It is a very expensive place here in
French Polynesia, apparently the French own a lot of the
companies here, but they do not exactly own the land. So they pay high wages
and that naturally because most things have to be imported puts the cost of
living up.
Amandine is building a house with her fiancé, it will cost them 18,000,000 francs, this in AUS is $240,500, but this is a kit home that they are building. A kit home put on your land in
be somewhat less I would imagine. It gives you an idea of prices here. A
standard can or stubby in a hotel costs about $7 Aus a glass of beer that is
the same size, (local beer), is around $5:50 Aus. You don't see many drunks here. Australia
Well we will have to see what tomorrow brings, hopefully the mechanic.
04/10/07 More gearbox fun.
After finally catching up with Joseph the mechanic yesterday afternoon, he said that I was using the wrong oil and that is the problem. It is very hard discussing things with the language barrier but Amandine has helped greatly. He wanted to see the gearbox operational so I put the thing back in for him to come this morning.
In the meantime I rang dear friend Rick to get info regarding oils to be used in these gearboxes. I had previously search the next and that had said use whatever you use in the engine. Rick rang back and said that the Mobil hotline said that I could use straight 30 or 40 SAE. I was using 40 SAE. Then Rick rang back to tell me he had been in touch with his gearbox mechanic and he said he uses transmission fluid or straight 30 oil. Joseph here said that 30 oil should be the highest you should use.
So this morning I had the gearbox all back in and the 40 SAE oil drained out, Joseph came with some oil 10 W, prior to putting that in he adjusted the cable carrier as it was coming into contact with the gear lever. I don't think it was interfering with the operation of the lever it had been there all the time. He filled the gearbox up with the oil he had bought and then we started the engine put it in gear the shaft turned but slower than it should, hold the shaft and it would stop. So much for the oil being wrong, it was still behaving the same.
Joseph was a little surprised, I was just hoping he was right and we would have everything back to normal. He removed the control section of the gearbox and I noticed that the lever was in different to the parts picture, not saying the parts picture is correct all it is doing is showing the parts. Anyway Joseph put it in the way the drawing had it tried it again still the same. After a couple of hours we still could not find what the problem was. The control section came out again and Joseph had his fingers inside on the gear assembly and turned the propeller shaft and nothing in the gearbox moved. It was the clutch coupling that joins the gearbox output shaft to the propeller shaft where the fault appeared to be. We stripped it down to find that the teeth on the clutch pads were no longer there. These clutch coupling are designed to protect the gearbox if the propeller strikes something. We don't really know if we have hit anything in the water with the prop, we don't think we have as one would think it would be rather noisy when doing so. But being a charter boat previously it could have been done then and only partly damaged the coupling, then with us trailing that shaft for the last 5000 plus miles because we could not lock the shaft due to the gearbox failure could have done the rest of the damage. I had notice as the trip went on that we were getting increased vibration from that shaft and that's why I thought I would have to replace the whole gearbox. When the problem first happened I had contacted Rick in Australia and he spoke with the engineers at Yanmar and they actually diagnosed that it was this part that we had changed, when I contacted them about these clutch plates in the coupling they had never heard of them.
So the situation is now that I have asked dear Amandine to order me some new parts, there goes the other arm and leg, its already cost me the others. But we are close to fixing now. As I said before the definition of cruising is fixing your yacht in exotic locations.
Other happenings is the radio sched with Why Knot, which now I believe is "Y Not" by the email I received from Ross this afternoon, sorry about that Ross. Anyway the radio sched this morning with Ross was unreadable, he arrived in
afternoon and that was a last radio sched for this event as Ross will stay in Tonga until the
day we fly out. I emailed all the websites I was gathering the weather from for
him to study before his run to NZ. The isobars have been getting a little close
together down that way with gale warnings being given. Ross was very
appreciative for the weather reports that I provided during the trip. It is
good to give that help I know if I get the weather reports from any source
whilst at sea it helps an awful lot. Plus it takes me about 20 minutes to
research the different sites, I will put them on the bottom of this section in
case anyone is interested. Tonga
Did have the radio sched with Fantasy 1, gave Sandi and Karl the weather update, they should continue to get wind to scoot them along if they stay between 15s and 20s anything outside of that and they will be in calm waters. The signal was rather scratchy so I have given them the 72 hour outlook in case I cannot speak to them tomorrow.
Select custom location, then put cursor over map and left click, you can zoom in for closer accuracy.
Select pacific marine for text report
click on chart to increase size.
text report
Current info, click on map area for your area.
Sea temp chart click on chart for desired area for text report. (Good for around NZ)
06/10/07 Still in Raiatea
Yesterday we went into town on our bikes had to do a little shopping, get some fuel for the generator and generally have a walk around. We parked our bikes, there are strict rules about bikes on walk areas and had a walk around the shops.
ended up in a dress
shop, well the shop sold anything from washing machines to dresses but we never
got passed the dresses. She was looking for something to wear to Lindy and
Steve's wedding and the other events that we are going to. Anyway she found
three dresses and fortunately they were on special. Nancy
The town was rather busy being Friday here people from the other island Tahaa come over on the ferry to shop.
When we left town we picked up the fuel on the way out (2x8 litre containers), my basket on the bike was loaded, I had the fuel, bag of bananas, other vegetables and a bag of spuds. When we got back I checked on the parts that I ordered and they will be here on Monday. When we got back on board the fridge/freezer had tripped off on the main switchboard. I checked everything and made the switch again and the compressor was working, but it looks like the unit needs re-gassing. Terrific, Friday afternoon, no one works on Saturday or Sunday here so it will be Monday before I can get it done. I am going into town to see if I can raise someone this morning. I suppose with all the bashing we had during the journey so far could have had an affect on the lines and connections. At least it did not happen at sea on a long haul.
Bit later…..
Well we went into town on our bikes got rained on a couple of times found someone to recharge the fridge/freezer with gas and check for leaks but that will not be until Monday or Tuesday. Fortunately we have been using all the gear in the freezer so that we can have it empty when we leave. We had a walk around in town and then headed back having lunch at the marina before we returned to the boat.
The weather is still quite hot here but the wind has been very strong the last couple of days, gives you a good work out cycling against it going to town and you get the occasional downpour of rain.
08/10/2007Two engines but warm beer.
Well it was a lazy day waiting for the parts to arrive, could not go anywhere as I wanted to get the parts in as soon as they arrived. Another reason is that the wind was blowing that hard and rain was coming in regularly I wasn't going to push that bloody bike anywhere.
We had a visit from Customs this morning, I was having a shower and
yelled out there are some officials
looking for something just gone into the yard on a dinghy, they look like
Gendarmes. After I had finished the shower they were visiting a yacht a couple
of moorings from us. After that they came to see us, I invited them aboard and
they asked to see our papers and passports. We sat down in the saloon and went
through all the details, they were very nice, and they were quite surprised
that customs had not approached us in Nancy Hiva Oa.
We had nothing to declare which makes life easy. We told them that we were
being hauled out and they informed us that the yacht is allowed to stay in French Polynesia for twelve months if we wish and the
time we are on the hard is not counted so the time on the hard can be added to
the twelve months. Not that we will be staying that long. They left and went
visiting other yachts close by.
The parts arrived at 1430 hours so I went to get them from Amandine who organised her boss to pick them up from the airport for me. Whilst I went to pick them up I dropped
in to go to the supermarket on her bike. Now I know what you're thinking, but the
supermarket is protected from the wind so it was an easy ride Nancy may say different. I went back on board
and started fitting the coupling clutch assembly, no sooner I got started Nancy
called up on the VHF handheld, see I told you it was an easy ride. I climbed
back out of the engine bay and went and picked her up, came back again
completed the fitting of the parts. Started the engine put her in gear and we
had movement, tried it in the astern position and we had movement. I cleaned
everything up put everything away reassemble the engine covers with a few
little repairs added then jumped in the sea to cool off and clean up. Nancy
In celebration went to the fridge which I have turned off until it is re-gassed pulled out a Kimberley cool beer and downed it, it wasn't the best temperature but I had another and I might even have another after I finish this. I said to Nancy we might have a red wine with dinner tonight. Bugger the warm beer.
We were originally supposed to be hauled out today (Monday 8 Oct), however, the yard is getting a new tractor and it arrives in the morning, there are two catamarans to go back in the water and ours to come out so Amandine said she would prefer to do them all in one day, so they will put the other two in the water and then haul us out. This way the gear is set up once for cats rather than chopping and changing rigs. We are not that concerned as long as we are out by next Monday when we fly out of Raiatea.
Well that was our day and with two engines working again I didn't mind the Kimberley cool beer.
09/10/2007Mi Querida
arrives at
This morning just before we were having breakfast there was a radio call on VHF 16. "Mi Querida to Airport Control", requesting passage in front of the airstrip. Airport control did not answer; we have noticed they very rarely do. Leigh had arrived at
Raiatea. I called him up after his
third call and told him that they may not answer his call and that there is a
mooring spare on our port side when he gets here.
(We did not see this sign when we arrived)
Nancy and I had breakfast as we new it would take him a little time to get here. As soon as he was near I hopped in the dinghy to assist him at the mooring. It was the one that Fantasy 1 got tangled in, it does not have a good length of rope that reaches out of the water, and the loop is below the surface. It has been a mongrel of a night and morning weather wise. The wind is up to 25 knots and it is raining on and off. I knew I was going to get wet one way or another and it was going to be difficult for me in the dinghy and Leigh's yacht to hold near the mooring buoy in these conditions. I hauled the buoy into the dinghy on the starboard side so I could face the yacht as it approached me as I knew Leigh operates the lines over his starboard side and therefore my dinghy would not be in his way. The problem was that the wind and waves was trying to push me in front of the yacht so I had to keep kicking the gear to the astern position to stay in position. As the stern of the dinghy was facing the oncoming wind and waves water was continually spilling into the back of the boat and giving me a wet backside. Doing this and holding on to the mooring buoy in the boat and at the same time trying to catch the mooring line from Jenny and feeding it through the eye was fun. The first attempt failed as I did get the mooring line threaded but the wind blew Mi Querida back and I could not feed the line back to them quick enough. We succeeded on the second attempt.
Leigh and Jenny had had a rough night with the weather a sea conditions. Leigh said that at one stage a wave hit so hard it broke the boom preventer, he harnessed up and went to recover it, he said as the boat rocked the broken preventer swung towards him and he grabbed it as he did another wave came and he was still holding tight the preventer when the boom swung and took him over the side, he went into the sea up to his waist when the harness held him so he was able to grab the rails and pull himself back on board. This gave him two burn type bruises where the harness had grabbed him. Later he said it was that rough that they decided to have some soup for tea. He perched himself snug near the chart table and put his soup on the table when another wave hit spilling the soup over his right thigh. This morning he is wearing a few very nasty burn blisters. He said the first thing he thought of was to get it cool so he grabbed the container that had the rest of the soup ditched that in the sink turned the tap on filled the container and poured it over the burn area. Unfortunately just before this Jenny had used the tap in the hot water position so Leigh got the remnants of hot water in the container instead of cold. After that he grabbed cold cans of beer and rolled the cold cans over the burn area and continued to do that through the night.
He said they were both a little sea sick out there last night, it was pretty rough. They came over for coffee after they had tided up the boat after spilled soup and noodles going everywhere.
yacht also arrived with Leigh, he had met them in New Zealand Tahiti,
and it is quite some yacht 65 ft aluminium probably worth quite a tidy sum.
We are still waiting for the fridge man to turn up, to be honest I don't blame him for not coming in this weather, he has to have a dinghy ride out to our cat and part of the work is through an open hatch at the stern. I have just found out he will be here this afternoon, probably on his way home as he lives out this way.
Also we probably will not be hauled out until Friday now it is cutting it fine we fly out on Monday morning.
10/10/2007 Met some Kiwi's
Yesterday did not start out well still no refrigeration man so again I went in to see Amandine and asked if she could contact the company again, she did and this time got on to Chris himself, he said he would be here by 1100 hours. I went in to pick him up in the dinghy he apologised for being late he had been very busy and the weather also held jobs up.
He checked the system out and gave me the news that I didn't want to hear but had suspected the compressor had packed it in. I said I will not do anything until we get back from Oz. He said buy it in Oz as it will be cheaper. Another item to add to the shopping list.
In the mean time we have purchased some ice and using the fridge/freeze as an esky, got to keep the beer cold.
We had a good break in the weather so I started stripping the boat of it sails, removed the Genoa first and rolled it up and stored it the starboard aft cabin, then did the mainsail then the sail bag. The poor boat looks rather bare. Before we leave on Monday morning I will remove the bimini and store that below also. We are removing everything we can that cause problems during strong winds.
Then we had an invite for dinner on board "Evolution" owned by two kiwis, it is aluminium 65' monohull. I would say it is worth over $1m bracket. It is well finished and as Doug the owner said that he feels the original chap that had it built had owned previous boats and had this perfect boat in mind and got a very good architect to put it on paper and had it built. All lines/sheets can be handled from the cockpit and there are no visible lines on the upper deck they are beneath the upper deck and there are plates that can be moved to access the lines at critical points. They had to go to
Alaska to pick the boat
up. They have a couple of Americans as crew, Cooper and Harold, two very nice
blokes. Cooper is a young 26 year old that absolutely loves sailing, he also
cooks a mean pizza. He served up five pizzas last night with intervals that was
complimented with a number of bottles of red wine. We were all chatting away
when I looked at my watch it was ,
I said if you guys want to set sail tomorrow we best leave and let you get to
bed. We dropped Leigh and Jenny at their boat and went back on ours and crashed
till the usual time of 0500 hours.
This morning Cooper and Harold came over to get some weather reports from me and check some of the sites I use for weather information. I told them that the weather between here and NZ is not good but they still sailed.
After this we cycled into town and showed Leigh and Jenny where everything was did a little shopping then head back and had a good swim to cool off. We have Leigh and Jenny coming over for dinner tonight so we will probably have a few good laughs.
The hauling out yard is very busy getting everything put on the new tractor so we hope to be hauling out tomorrow, if it does not happen tomorrow we are going have to get Leigh to do the haul out for us as we fly out first thing Monday morning and the yard does not work weekends. There are two catamarans waiting to go in the water, they are doing a runner for NZ. So the plan is to put them in then haul us out tomorrow.
Back to the Land of Oz
The last four days in
Raiatea was rain and strong winds
which did not make it easy for packing up the boat. It was fortunate that we
picked the window of opportunity when there was a break in the weather to get
the sails and sail bag down and put away because when the rain returned it did
not stop. Leigh being Leigh invited us for dinner our last two nights so that
we could concentrate on getting things put away and not having to worry about
cooking on board.
Saturday (13 Oct), we cleaned the boat; I made sure that all bilges were dry to prevent any condensation which would reduce the risk of mould whilst the boat was locked up for three months. I filled the water tanks to increase the weight of the boat.
commented about making the boat lighter. I said that I want it as heavy as we
can for any strong winds that may occur whilst on the hard. Nancy
Saturday night we went over to Leigh's boat and he and Jenny had cooked us a very nice dinner, we were fortunate there was a short break in the heavy rain whilst we went out in the dinghy, we weren't so lucky when we came back to the boat. We went to bed pretty well straight away and we just dropped off to sleep when the VHF radio came to life, a person was calling to see if someone could assist him, a person with a French accent answered the call. The boat in trouble had run aground in the bad weather not far from where we were and was asking for someone to contact SunSail Charter to inform them that they need assistance. The person that answered went quiet and the Sunsail boat continued to call for assistance. I got out of bed and answered the call; the caller explained his situation and location and asked if I could contact Sunsail. I left
by the radio and I
went out in the mongrel weather to see if I could find someone that could make
a phone call to Sunsail. The house above the chandlery had lights on so I went
up and knocked on the front door. Jacque one of the owners happened to be there
and he phoned the manager of Sunsail and got me to explain to her what the
problem was. They said they will get in contact with the boat that was in
trouble "Amistique". I returned to our boat and called "Amistique" and said
that Sunsail will be in contact with them and I would stand by the radio until
they did. Nancy
It was sometime later that Sunsail came on the radio calling Amistique, Amistique answered but Sunsail could not hear them, so I then became the relay for the transfer of information between the two parties. I had a feeling that the bloke on Amistique was an Aussie because after I saw a boat heading his way to rescue them I gave him a call to tell him that the boat is underway and he should be seeing it very soon as I knew that when help is needed you can relax a little when you know that assistance is close by. He replied thanks very much mate. It was that mate word that made the Aussie connection.
Sunday I pulled the motor off the dinghy and locked that away and then lifted the dinghy out of the water and lashed it down on the trampolines. I did not want to put it on the davits because it would cause problems in windy conditions. We continued packing things away and cleaning. I had to cycle up to the airport and just confirm our flights for Monday on the way back it poured rain just as I was passing Apooiti Marina, I knew there was a dry place there, the bar, but unfortunately they close between 1430 and 1800 hours. So I just sheltered there until the rain dropped off, I called around to the Catamaran that had been in trouble Amistique to see if they were alright, their gear was there but there was no one on board so I went back to the boat. Sunday night Leigh rowed in to pick us up for dinner, when we got on board his yacht the rain poured down and did not stop all through the night, so when we had finished dinner Leigh took us back to our boat we were all like drowned rats.
Monday morning we got up and the rain was tapering off a little, I looked over at the dinghy dock and the dinghies there were full of water, one dinghy was below the waterline and the outboard motor was drowned. I was very pleased that I had pulled my dinghy out the day before.
We had to do the final stuff, I pulled the bimini cover down and packed that away, gave the push bikes a clean ready to lock those in the saloon before we left and then went and packed my bag ready to leave. Once done it was shower and dress time, I put on a pair of long pants a shirt and shoes. The shoes were killing me, it is the first time I have had shoes on in more than five months.
Once dressed I went to see the lovely Amandine to give her a set of keys for the boat and ask if I could bring the bags to the office until the taxi came. She was again apologising for not being able to haul the boat before we left and she promised to send photos and make sure I was happy with what they have done.
After getting the bags to the office it was time to leave, Amandine gave us both a hug before leaving and she said she had a special thing that would wish us luck and we basically hooked our little fingers on our right hands similar to a hand shake. Amandine said this is her special way of wishing us luck with our journey and being with our families when we get home.
As we were about to leave it poured of rain although the taxi driver tried to cover us with an umbrella it did not save us much we were soaked to the skin. We got to the airport and it still rained. Planes were late due to the weather so we were a little late in leaving.
We arrived at Papeete, Tahiti, it was still pouring of rain there so I said to Nancy we may as well go straight to the resort, it will not be any fun going into town in this, Nancy agreed. We got to the resort and it was very nice, we were on the sixth floor overlooking the pool and the bay although it was raining it was still a good view. Once settled in the room we went to the restaurant for lunch, had a nice lunch and a couple of red wines then returned to the room for a relax. Nice big king size bed and we turned a TV on for the first time in nearly six months and watched a movie.
Later we had a shower and changed for dinner, we went down to the bar for a few drinks first before sitting for dinner, the meals were very nice and the prices were the same as what one would pay at any restaurant within the
. Had a nice
bottle of red with the dinner and just relaxed. Once back in the room we had a
coffee and got everything ready for morning and had an early night. French Polynesian
At 0400 hours the alarm went off and we got up had some fruit and fruit juice that they had brought up for us the night before, had a shower, dressed and made our way to reception and got our taxi to the airport, it was a long day, we left at 0710 hours Tuesday 16 October, Tahiti time (-10 hours from GMT/UTC), then landed in NZ at 1210 hours Wednesday 17 October, NZ time (+7 hours from GMT/UTC), this being around a 6 hour flight. We then left NZ around 1400 hours NZ time and landed in Brisbane at 1600 hours (+10 hours from GMT/UTC) being another 6 hour flight. Melinda and grandson Samuel was at the airport to meet us and to take us home to their place. After Steve got home from work we had a nice dinner a couple of drinks and we crashed in bed. I awoke this morning at 0400 hours to the calls of kookaburras, I laid there listening for awhile when nature called itself, and I had to get up.
Now in Australia for three months before returning to Raiatea on 13 January 2008.


text:
J O Hambro Capital Management's John Wood, manager of the £1.8bn JOHCM UK Opportunities fund, is retiring from the firm in September.
Wood's co-managers Rachel Reutter and Michael Ulrich will assume control of the fund and the segregated portfolios with support from analyst Todd King. Wood will oversee the transition until September.
Reutter and Ulrich have been co-managers since 2012 and 2015 respectively, and will maintain the same investment philosophy and strategy the fund has used since it launched in 2005; investing in long-term growth stocks with strong franchises and robust balance sheets with attractive valuations.
Ken Lambden, JOHCM Group CEO, says: "John has generated excellent returns for our clients over the past 11 years. He has always invested with conviction and been prepared to swim against the tide. We thank him for his tremendous contribution.
"John has built a strong team around him. Rachel and Michael are highly capable, experienced investors, and we are confident in their abilities to continue the good work that John led."
Wood adds: "After 26 years in a demanding industry, I am looking forward to a fresh chapter in my life. I am grateful for the support given to me by clients over the years, but I will leave JOHCM knowing that the portfolio is in safe hands with Rachel and Michael at the helm."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Airport Parking San Jose: Off-Site, Public Transportation and Other Ideas
Whenever you take an airplane and park, there is often a nagging thought about what will happen to your car when you're gone. If you're in San Jose, what are some of the parking options? First of all, don't rule out public transportation because you can leave your car for a week at certain Light Rail Stops. Read more »


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How will Frac Sand companies be impacted by oil/gas well completion activity now and through 2017?
Report Available: December 15, 2016
Blueshift's initial research reveals that oil/gas well completion activity is increasing in some of the domestic plays. Some frac sand mining companies have experienced increased demand and even seen a trend of escalating prices. However, year-to-year proppant consumption is still off 20%, making it unclear whether the spike in demand and pricing is a sign of a turnaround or not.
- FMSA, SLCA and HCLP all experienced increased frac sand sales in Q3, leading the companies to add capacity.
- Some analysts predict frac sand usage will be the fastest-growing sub-segment of the oil field services market. High intensity well completions using increased sand volumes are expected to drive usage beyond 2014 levels with less than half the rig count by 2018. One report expects the amount of sand used per horizontal well will increase from 8 million pounds today to 11 million pounds in 2017, climbing even higher in 2018.
- Rig counts experienced their largest gain in 2.5 years, according to BHI. Rig count was up 20 units to 588 during the week ending Nov. 18. This represents a double-digit increase in the number of active rigs in five of the last eight weeks, adding 184 units since the recent drilling rebound began after May 27. Well drilling is the precursor to well completion where proppants (frac sand) are used. It remains to be seen if this rig count increase results in increased well completion activity, as wells are often drilled and capped to preserve a lease.
- Completion Intensity, as reported by the Well Site Market Report, shows Composite Lateral Length (in major shale plays) rose 17% to 8,607 feet year to year, while Proppant per Well increased 36% to 11.04 million lbs. This is reflected in a 17% gain to 1,283 lbs. in Proppant Per Lateral Foot. However, a 41% year-to-year decrease in the total number of completions translates into a 20% decline to 8.12 million tons in industry proppant consumption. Consumption bottomed at 6 million tons in the first quarter of 2016.
- Blueshift's recent primary field interviews in the Permian Basin found that hope for an improvement in fourth-quarter pressure pumping demand faded when the oil pricing started wobbling. However, some sources reported using "brown" sand mined locally in wells they were completing in greater quantities than previously reported.
Where do sand mining companies and users think the frac sand market is going in 2017? Is the recent increase in demand for frac sand sustainable through 2017? What sand grades will be in the highest demand in 2017? What is the status of frac sand inventories? What are frac sand pricing trends and what is expected regarding pricing in 2017? What are the frac sand shipping logistic issues facing the industry in 2017? How will the use of ceramic proppants trend in 2017? To answer these and other questions, Blueshift will gather data and issue a market research report from independent sources in the following areas: E&P companies, Fraccing service companies, Rail & logistic companies and Industry specialists.
Companies: CARBO Ceramics Inc. (CRR), Emerge Energy Services LP (EMES), Fairmount Santrol Holdings Inc. (FMSA), Hi-Crush Partners LP (HCLP), U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (SLCA)
Research Begins: Nov. 28, 2016


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Marketing can keep track of the early accomplishment or failure of methods all through the analytics attribute in MarcomCentral by seeing what possessions are getting probably the most and minimum amount engagement with conclude buyers throughout the globe.
In April 2017, a class-movement lawsuit was submitted in direction of Zeltiq Aesthetics for allegedly deceptively marketing the CoolSculpting System (a "non-surgical Extra Body fat reduction treatment" that allegedly "employs managed cooling to get rid of undesirable Surplus Fats cells") as keeping "cleared" within the FDA to make consumers think that the treatment choices have passed in the demanding approval technique after they have not.
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- 461 Visitors


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Tuscany is quintessential Italy: a dreamscape of rolling hills topped with willowy cypress trees, shimmering olive groves and rows of tangled vines, peppered with picture-perfect medieval hilltop towns. The ideal landscape to paint. Our Tuscany painting courses are ideal for beginners and experts as we have a relaxed itinerary that allows for a great deal of experimentation and development at all levels. Our venue is situated in wonderful gardens with a swimming pool surrounded by rich, relaxing and evocative natural scenery. Ancient olive groves and green meadows make for an ambient mix of shadows and quiet places: the perfect place to relax and inspire the body and mind, as well as the creative juices! You can also explore the higgledy-piggledy charms of San Gimignano, the low-key walled elegance of Lucca or meander Florence's winding streets.
Penelope Anstice
April, May, September and October
Penelope Anstice is an established artist and experienced teacher who trained in both Florence and Edinburgh. Having lived in Italy, Penelope's work really captures the magic of the Italian Landscape.
Our holidays with Penelope will be suitable for anyone wishing to begin painting with watercolour or to develop their basic skills. She will cover all of the important elements of painting with watercolour. You will also try other combined media such as acrylic, pastel, gouache and pencil.
"My aim when teaching is to show people as much technique as possible so that they can take from this and use it in their own painting. With solid knowledge of technique behind them, students can begin to find the confidence to put their own stamp on their work. In watercolour in particular it is essential to know the basic techniques, it is a highly delicate and technical medium if it is to be used effectively and a harder medium than oil. I do quite a lot of demonstrating to show different methods, this is the easiest way for students to understand the process in practise.
"I concentrate on the fundamental and key elements of painting, namely composition, drawing, colour mixing, tonal contrast and different ways to make marks. I do not leave the students just to 'express themselves in paint'; without the necessary basics this can lead to frustration and despondency. Self expression is something an individual develops over time as their confidence and understanding grows and they are able to move away from the purely representative. All artists will develop their own 'language' after the initial groundwork is in place to give it support."
Jenny Smith
June - Drawing class
July - Painting class
Jenny Smith is a professional artist with a first class Degree in Drawing and Painting and a Masters in Print making. Jenny has won many awards for her work including the Royal Scottish Academy Award for Painting. She is an enthusiastic tutor with 20 years experience in teaching art.
Jenny will provide an Introduction to Drawing for the complete beginner or those who would like to refresh their skills. She will start by looking at the basic elements of drawing through fun and informative exercises using avariety of materials and the landscape as inspiration. You will use a variety of mediums including pencil, charcoal, and pen and ink.
Jenny will explore the expressive potential particular to watercolour, looking at ways of creating layers of luminous colour and texture using innovative techniques. Suitable for those with some experience or the complete beginner. Could be taken as a follow-on from the Introduction to Drawing course as a way to progress into painting.
Jane Mitchell
April, May and June - Watercolour painting and drawing techniques
Jane Mitchell lives and works in Edinburgh and is based in a studio in Leith. She has won many awards and has been involved in several exhibitions, with work held in corporate and private collections. Jane is also a part-time tutor with the Open College of the Arts, teaching drawing and painting and organising workshops and exhibition visits for students, who range from beginners to final year degree level.
Jane is an experienced teacher from beginners right up to degree level, so her courses will be suitable for anyone. She will explore the use of different media and develop skills in perspective and composition working with the stunning Tuscan landscapes. There will also be sketch book work to make the most of excursions.
"My aim as a tutor is to provide a quality of teaching suitable for all levels, to help the beginner to gain confidence and to challenge the more experienced. We will start off with group lessons which will then lead on to individual tuition, responding to the needs of all in the group, encouraging and teaching each student on an individual level and helping the group to learn from each other.
"We will cover basic drawing and watercolour techniques, covering all of the necessary elements. I encourage students to develop a feeling for the materials and to enjoy the process. We will use a variety of materials to explore the use of colour, tone and composition and produce drawings and paintings with atmosphere and depth. This beautiful location is ideal for a landscape course and it is important to learn how to select a viewpoint and capture the unique qualities of the countryside. We will also look at how artists gather information in sketchbooks while out and about, in order to use drawings to develop paintings back in the studio."
Catherine Sargeant
Catherine Sargeant trained at Edinburgh College of Art and is an experienced teacher and award winning, internationally exhibiting artist. Catherine is frequently drawn back to Italy, finding the culture, history, beauty and rhythm of the landscape a constant source of inspiration.
Catherine will cover the basic watercolour and acrylic techniques, paint application, tone, colour combinations and landscape composition. She will teach group lessons and individual tuition, with a critique and end of week exhibition. There will be opportunities to sketch at various locations and these sketches can be used for more ambitious works as your ability and confidence progress.
Group sizes are usually about eight people and generally half are single travellers. Whether you're used to travelling alone or simply taking some time out for yourself, the relaxed, friendly atmosphere at all our venues is geared towards allowing you to be part of the group when it suits and striking out on your own when you want to.
This holiday is not just a typical touristic experience as it involves travelling with a purpose and the opportunity to see the genuine and local face of Italy. Our local Italian hosts have lived abroad and know exactly what to do to avoid making our guests feel like tourists. They will always be by your side and organise trips to sites of artistic interest.
The ages of our guests vary. We understand that it is important to be with like minded people, so we always do our best to match ages for each group. Our guests are from all over the world - mostly from Australia, UK, USA, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.
And most importantly for solo travellers - there is NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT!
Day One (Saturday)
Depending on your arrival time, there will be a transfer from Pisa Airport to the villa. Enjoy welcome drinks on the terrace followed by dinner prepared by our local chef.
Day Two (Sunday)
After breakfast you will have your first painting session, with an introduction to watercolour looking at basic techniques, different kinds of paper, brushes, etc, followed by lunch. The afternoon is yours to continue painting, relax by the pool or walk through the olive groves. Dinner is prepared for you at the villa.
Day Three (Monday)
Demonstration of landscape painting after breakfast, looking at different ways to apply watercolour and mixing media like pastel and coloured pencil. Following lunch there will be an outing to use the techniques. Then a critique of the work so far, followed by dinner prepared by the chef.
Day Four (Tuesday)
Today after breakfast you will visit a place of artistic interest (Florence, Siena or San Gimignano). Enjoy a day sightseeing or shopping at leisure. There will be an opportunity for sketching on location. Lunch will be at a local "trattoria." Return to the villa late in the afternoon for a discussion of your work and a look at some examples of traditional and contemporary watercolour painting. Dinner is served at the villa.
Day Five (Wednesday)
After breakfast there will be a lesson in the elements of composition and colour and then lunch. The afternoon is yours to continue painting or relax by the pool. Dinner tonight is at the villa.
Day Six (Thursday)
A chance today to try a larger and more ambitious work using the sketches and ideas accumulated so far. Following lunch, there will be an afternoon visit to Arezzo with an opportunity to sketch. Dinner in an excellent local restaurant.
Day Seven (Friday)
A leisurely morning to spend developing your work at the villa. For the rest of your last day you are free to paint or relax by the pool. Dinner at the villa with a group show of your paintings.
Day Eight (Saturday)
After breakfast, our transfer will collect you and take you back to Pisa Airport for your flight home or onward.
Please note that this itinerary is subject to change, depending on the weather and allowing for the Italian ways!
Currently there are no dates available for this tour. Please email us if you would like to be kept informed about new departures.
You will be staying at one of our five Tuscan villas, tucked away in the countryside on its own private estate, set within peaceful grounds and surrounded by beautiful views. The luxurious bedrooms, all decorated in a modern style, have ensuite bathrooms.
Villa Ricrio
Villa Ricrio is tastefully furnished in the old Tuscan style. The bedrooms are located downstairs and upstairs. It's a distinguished mansion with a private swimming pool. Immersed in the green of the Tuscan lanscape, Villa Ricrio is not far from Volterra, San Gimignano and Catagneto Carducci, and is also near beautiful sea resorts like Marina di Bibbona, Catiglioncello and the Baratti's Gulf.
Villa La Frasca
La Frasca is set on the impressive private estate of Varramista, between Pisa and Florence in the heart of Tuscany. The estate is a 400 hectare park with its own vineyards and olive groves, and is surrounded by woodlands and green undulating hills. La Frasca is a spacious and elegant villa, decorated in soft Tuscan colours combining a mixture of old wooden beams and other traditional features, with every modern comfort. The large gardens overlooking the 16 hectares of vineyards is the perfect place for dining al fresco. La Frasca has a large and beautiful private pool.
Villa Arezzo
Villa Arezzo is a beautifully restored luxury farmhouse set among fifty hectares of olive groces, vineyards and woodlands, located between the Arezzo and Siena provinces. Excellent craftsmanship went into the renovation, taking care to maintain its unique old-world charm. The pool area, furnished with a gazebo, make this villa an ideal place to come and relax in the Tuscan countryside. Relax by the pool and enjoy the view overlooking the rolling Chianti hills.
Villa Lecceta
Villa Lecceta is set on the impressive private estate of Varramista, between Pisa and Florence in the heart of Tuscany. The estate is a 400 hectare park with its own vineyards and olive groves and is surrounded by woodlands and green undulating hills. Bedrooms are elegantly furnished, with modern comforts. Lecceta is situated on a rolling hill overlooking neat rows of vineyards. It has a private pool and is the perfect place for enjoying the sunshine and dining "al fresco."
Villa Monsonaccio
Villa Monsonaccio is set on the impressive private estate of Varramista, between Pisa and Florence in the heart of Tuscany. The estate is a 400 hectare park with its own vineyards and olive groves and is surrounded by woodlands and green undulating hills. Bedrooms are elegantly decorated, with modern comforts. A lovely swimming pool and courtyards are the perfect place to enjoying the sunshine.
"I arrived in trepidation, new to painting holidays, watercolours and Tuscany. I left relaxed, with a well-used palette,a paintbook of memories, a full stomach and a smile on my face. Thank you." John Hammond, BBC Weather Presenter
"Initially I thought it was quite expensive, but having travelled on my own after the course, I have a better appreciation of what things cost in Italy, and think it is value for money." Estelle
"Painting was brilliant, as Hugh was a great tutor and gave me lots of tips to improve my skills. The landscapes were very inspiring. Food and wine was excellent. Sunshine is a fantastic chef. The holiday was great because everything is included." Yvonne
"Catherine, our painting teacher was marvellous. I learned so much from her. Marco and Claudio were stupendous chefs, I enjoyed the food very much." Helen
"The villa was amazing and my room was gobsmackingly stunning! As well as that, Hugh gave me confidence in the fact I can actually paint in my own style." Carrie
"A truly memorable few days with such good company, we all gelled so well, although my painting requires much more practice but dear Hugh was so supportive and molto talented." John
on this tour, or if you have more general questions about tours to this area or this style of tour, send us an email. Of course, you can also call our travel specialists on 02 9449 8598 to book a trip or ask a question.
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Molly Fortune, executive director of the Newberry Opera House (NOH) was recently appointed to serve as President on the board of the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT).
Fortune, who is currently the vice-president will begin her term as president starting July 1, 2020.
LHAT encompasses historic theatres all over the United States, Canada as well as theatres in the United Kingdom. The group has approximately 1,000 members. Fortune has been a member of the group for about 20 years.
Together, the board has developed a scholarship program as well as a peer advisory review. All of the Broadway houses are members of LHAT, Fortune said all the way down to the small city of Atkinson, KS.
"I serve on a board with the guys that run Hamilton to the theatre that has 115 seats that's making one million dollars a year," Fortune said.
When a theatre calls, whether the call is to Fortune or another board member, they know who they need to speak with to help their theatre, she said.
"For example, a theatre may call to request you speak with their City Council prior to a building being demolished to explain the benefits of that particular space for economic development," Fortune said.
Fortune obtained her master's degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Historic Preservation with an emphasis in Policy and Conservation, where she graduated first in her class. Using this degree, Fortune said she has set up different types of policy and governmental laws as well as handled material conservation including how to deal with mold on bricks, different types of fabrics, etc. for other organizations.
After working for the federal government for many years as their historic architect, Fortune obtained a position at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA when her husband's job located their family there. The Fox Theatre is the only theatre in the country, Fortune said with a full-time restoration department.
"They did building maintenance, HVAC and roof repairs down to lighting and restoration of historic furniture. Everything was restored." Fortune said of the theatre.
Moving up in the theatre, Fortune began working within all operations and eventually worked into starting a program at the theatre about how to help historic theatres become economic drivers.
After inventorying all of Georgia, Fortune found that the state had 352 historic theatres and how they could be transformed for economic development for the towns they were located in.
"You have a historic theatre, which gets people downtown, eventually people begin to relocate downtown, and it then trickles down to the retailers' aspect," Fortune said.
Using her background and knowledge gained from telling the story of how historic theatres could impact a community, Fortune said LHAT scooped her up and wanted her to be a primary player.
While in Georgia, Fortune was their state representative on the board and is now the representative for South Carolina. Each year, the group puts together a resource manual on policy changes as well as any changes related to materials that theatres may be using and how to handle these materials.
Economic surveys are also done of the field, Fortune said so on a business side, theatres can see where they stand amongst the nation.
Fortune's place on the board she said feels gives the City of Newberry a whole lot of legitimacy. However, she reminds the community that Newberry was already on the map prior to her arriving at the Opera House.
"It shows that this community has legitimacy for economic development and international recognition to have someone participating in their community on the board," Fortune said.
Because of her place in the league, Fortune said she also feels that it puts Newberry at an advantage for better customer service.
"We [the league] know the trends before a lot of people," Fortune said. "Being in this league we'll know the trends as they happen from patron safety to ticketing and all of the wonderful things to make for better customer service to our patrons and visitors."


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Hunter tells Prince about his date with 'a girl' to Beeston, while Neeta lies to get out of going to Liverpool with Mac. Having been let loose, Hunter and Neeta take Mac's car on a countryside date. Are they about to get rumbled?
Meanwhile, Luke turns up at Mandy's begging for them to get back together – what will Mandy say?
Also, Tegan visits Ste in hospital and he gives her a letter for Ryan.
And Holly's furious when she discovers someone's been blabbing!


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Editorial Director of Future Science Group, Laura Dormer, tells us how she started her career in publishing and reflects on some of the changes that have occured in the industry.
Browsing: Careers
Janet Daly, an Associate Professor in Emergent Viruses at the University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, tells us what advice she'd give her former self if she was back at the start of her research career.
Louise Corscadden, a second year PhD student, gives us her top ten tips for surviving the first year of a PhD – from getting over the fear public speaking to asking for help.
Glenn Tillotson tells us about the interesting and rewarding opportunities young scientists could have in the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting how his own perceptions have changed over time.
Read this conference report from delegate and early career scientist, Lauren Ruddock, on a genuinely interesting day at a wonderful venue with interesting and open-minded people.
Some of the delegates from the Society for Applied Microbiology's Early Career Scientist Research Symposium share the advice they'd give other early career researchers.
For International Women's Day, we spoke to Sharon Lewin about her typical day, who inspires her and her great deal of international travel!
In a special feature for International Women's Day, we speak to Dr Bobbi Pritt about her responsibilities, her typical day and the time she received a jar of living fleas in her lab!
The Microbe Directory is a collective research effort aiming to profile over 7,000 microbes in order to provide further information for any researchers carrying out metagenomic analyses. We spoke to two of the Project Leaders, Heba Shaaban and David Westfall about the project, how it's being used in research and how you can get involved.
In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers validated a novel screening approach to identify host-directed compounds that reduce the replication of intracellular pathogens, Julie Kaiser explains.


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Our partners at Designtechnica review for you a pebble – oh, sorry the PEBL from Motorola.
"For a product as utilitarian as a cell phone, care should always be taken when inserting a gimmick that could limit functionality. To be sure, the smooth rubberized PEBL feels like no other handset -- the TV commercial in which the phone is meta-morphed from meteorite to river-worn rock, captures the feel of the phone. And once mastered the PEBL's geek-cool sliding cover that pops up when slid down and disengaged from its magnetic hold is kind of addictive.
But all this cell style belies the bland cell phone underneath -- plain old GPRS, not EDGE, network compatibility; VGA instead of mega pixel digital camera with no flash; a narrow monochrome instead of square color exterior display. The PEBL performed well, but so do many other far less expensive, admittedly less attractive T-Mobile models. "
Read the full Motorola PEBL Review.
More Mobile Phone Reviews.


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Nova Metrix is a buyout platform in Battery's Industrial Technology portfolio, LLC, focused on materials testing instrumentation in the construction, geotechnical and geophysical markets.
Current acquisitions include Durham Geo, Roctest, SensorNet and Sherborne Sensors.
Stage: Private Equity
Sector: Industrial Technology
Year Invested: September 2009
Location: Stone Mountain, GA
Jesse Feldman • Dave Tabors


text: cheek by jowl Jan. 12, 2011 How Similar Is Off the Map to Grey's Anatomy? By Willa Paskin Off the Map, ABC's latest soapy doctor show, premieres tonight. Executive producer Shonda Rhimes has sworn up and down that the new show is not Grey's Anatomy in the jungle, but have no fear! Off the Map is totally Grey's in the jungle (or, if you prefer, Doctors Without Shirts). Consider the similarities. Grey's Anatomy Off the Map Basic Premise Young doctors who don't know anything start over in a rainy place. Young doctors who don't know anything start over in a place near the beach. Main Character Brunette with a secret (mother with Alzheimer's) and sexual chemistry with her nicely coiffed boss. Brunette with a secret (dead fiancé) and sexual chemistry with her nicely muscled boss. Supporting Cast Prickly African-American doctor; African-American doctor with a drinking problem; Stern, all-knowing teacher-doctor; Prickly, perfectionist Asian junior doctor; Nice blond junior doctor; Sweet, boyish junior doctor; Jerky wannabe plastic surgeon. Prickly African-American doctor with a drinking problem; Less stern, all-knowing teacher-nurse; prickly, perfectionist blond junior doctor; Sweet boy; jerky wannabe plastic surgeon. Love Triangle Main character, her boss, his secret ex-wife. Main character's boss, his secret dead wife, his ex-girlfriend, (and eventually, we predict, the main character). Tragic Backstories Estranged parents, crazy parents, dead parents, teen pregnancy, adultery, alcoholism. Estranged parents, dead partners, dead patients, alcoholism. Hard-to-Master Language Surgical speak. Spanish. Quirky Mode of Transportation Ferry boats. Zip lines. Selectivity of Program "Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line." "Out of hundreds of doctors, I chose you three." Invaluable Resource First-class research hospital The "tropical rain forest, where medicine was born." Tags: cheek by jowl grey's anatomy off the map tv How Similar Is Off the Map to Grey's Anatomy?


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rickf wrote:Matt, do you remember the year we were talking next to the Huey at Aberdeen and the guy leaned on it and knocked off one of the rockets? I think that was you I was talking to that year when that happened.
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