S/V Rutea Sails Around the World: Tahiti to Huahine

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tahiti to Huahine

Public Market in Papeete

It seems that if we spend more than a week in any one spot, we get antsy. So, after ten days in Papeete (seven of them being at the Yacht Club de Tahiti), we decided to cast off our mooring line and check out more of the Society Islands. The obvious choice would have been to sail over to Moorea, which is only fifteen nautical miles away but we’ve never been ones to make the obvious choice. Instead we headed to Huahine, about ninety-five miles northwest of Papeete.

The Lagoon at Huahine

Since we wanted a morning arrival, we left the yacht club at about 1500 on Sunday and after a very rolly sail, we entered the northern pass at about 0900 the following morning. Our friends, Beth and Norm, on Sarah Jean II, were anchored in the Baie D’Avea, on the southwest corner of the island. I had a problem with this as our chartplotter had red lines running through the bay, just like it does for every other hazard. We talked with them on the radio and they convinced us that it was protected and had good holding. We motored for about five miles, between the island and the coral reef that surrounds it, completely transfixed with the staggering beauty of the island. Dark, dark green foliage covered the steep slopes that rose from the water’s edge, with sheer cliffs and spiky crags that were often shrouded in clouds. The route was well-marked but still had us crossing some places where we had less than nine feet of water under our keel.

The bay turned out to be as close to ideal as we could hope for, with clear water and just a few boats. One of the boats was Mahina Tiare, the boat that’s owned by John Neal and Amanda Swan-Neal, who are world-famous cruisers and have written much on cruising. I went over and introduced myself but only stayed a minute as they were in the middle of a class. They offer berths on their boat for want-to-be cruisers. They were very gracious and gave me a grapefruit. That night we had dinner on board Sarah Jean II.

Bike Repair in Paradise

At dinner, Beth and Norm told us that one of the pensions on shore rented bicycles so in the morning we headed into shore and in minutes were wheeling our way on the empty asphalt pavement towards the southern end of the island. At first, it didn’t matter too much that none of the bicycles could shift gears as along the shore it was pretty flat and the riding was easy. As we got further around the island, the road turned inland and became steeper. To compound things, the bike I was riding had additional problems and it would feel like there were teeth missing on the sprockets. We wound up walking the bikes up the steeper grades. After twelve miles, we had completed our circumnavigation of Huahine Iti and completely soaked in sweat, returned the bikes.

Waiting for The Killer

We had been told that the restaurant at the pension served a fantastic sandwich they called The Killer. Ruthie and Corie split one and I ordered a whole: Almost two feet long, it’s a baguette stuffed with grilled fish and French Fries. You get your choice of sauce – Ruthie and Corie ordered the vanilla/coconut and I ordered the House Special. The only bad thing was that I ate all of it.

We’ll probably stay here until Friday and then return to Papeete – kind of a circuitous route, I know, but not nearly as circuitous as the route the package that Caity shipped to us. Here’s it’s route from the tracking page of the US Postal Service:


	Transferred Through, June 12, 2011, 4:17 pm, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
	Shipment Picked Up, June 12, 2011, 4:17 pm, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
	Customs Clearance Process Complete, June 12, 2011, 4:17 pm
	Departing Origin, June 12, 2011, 6:10 am, ALEXANDRIA, AUSTRALIA
	Transferred Through, June 11, 2011, 4:07 pm, MASCOT, AUSTRALIA
	Transferred Through, June 10, 2011, 10:12 am, HONOLULU, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 10, 2011, 10:01 am, HONOLULU, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 09, 2011, 5:16 pm, SAN DIEGO, UNITED STATES
	Shipment Picked Up, June 09, 2011, 11:44 am, HONOLULU, UNITED STATES
	Transferred Through, June 09, 2011, 8:00 am, LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
	Transferred Through, June 09, 2011, 7:46 am, HONOLULU, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 09, 2011, 5:29 am, LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
	Transferred Through, June 09, 2011, 3:07 am, LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 09, 2011, 2:13 am, OAKLAND, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 09, 2011, 1:07 am, OAKLAND, UNITED STATES
	Transferred Through, June 08, 2011, 10:48 pm, OAKLAND, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 08, 2011, 9:49 pm, ONTARIO, UNITED STATES
	Transferred Through, June 08, 2011, 8:59 pm, ONTARIO, UNITED STATES
	Departing Origin, June 08, 2011, 8:32 pm, SAN DIEGO, UNITED STATES
	Shipment Picked Up, June 08, 2011, 6:39 pm, SAN DIEGO, UNITED STATES
	Acceptance, June 07, 2011, 9:14 pm, SAN DIEGO, CA 92110
	Processed through Sort Facility, June 07, 2011, 8:37 pm, SAN DIEGO, CA 92137

We’re looking forward to the Tahiti-Moorea Rendezvous that takes place the last weekend in June. Jointly sponsored by the Tahitian government and Latitude 38 Magazine, it’s a three-day party for cruisers. Many of the people we’ve met along the way are planning on attending so we’re hoping to renew some of those friendships. Keep watching this space for more details.

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About Rutea

Rutea was built in 1984 by Conyplex in Mendemblik, Holland. A small brass plaque says that she's hull Number 9 but on the Conyplex website www.contestyachts.com there's no mention of them building that many. She's designed by Dick Zaal, who designed most of Conyplex's earlier boats. The brochure says that she's 48' overall with a 14'6" beam and she draws 6'. Her cast iron bolted-on fin keel weighs 12,000 pounds and she is supposed to displace slightly over 37,000 pounds but she's never been one to watch her weight and, ahem, she's gained more than a few pounds since we bought her in 1996. Her ketch rig sports Profurl furlers for the jib/genoa and the staysail. The main has a very tall aspect as does the mizzen. All of her winches are made by Enkes although I did add a Harken self-tailing for the main halyard. She uses an unusual reel winch that's equipped with Spectra rope for furling the genoa. There's a running backstay on the mizzen mast and there are no forward lowers on the main mast. The head stay is Dyform.

I replaced the original Volvo MD40A six-cylinder diesel with a Beta Marine 90 and I've been very happy with it although it puts out nowhere near 90 HP - probably 70 is more like it. Regardless, it's adequate and very economical on fuel. I also replaced the original Westerbeke 6kw genset with a single-cylinder Kubota diesel that drives a 150-amp alternator. Since we switched over to 12-volt refrigeration, we no longer have any 110-volt appliances on board, other than the water heater. Since the new Beta Marine engine has two big alternators (one is 100 amps and the other 175), we have our Victron inverter/charger power the water heater when we're under power (we don't have engine coolant circulate through the water heater).

Rutea's layout down below is different from many boats of her size. Aft of her water-tight forward bulkhead is a 'wet' head, complete with two sinks. Aft of that are two cabins, both with bunk beds on either side of the boat and each has a door to the forward head. This was perfect when we cruised with our family as our 3 children had their own quarters. The main saloon occupies the area aft of the forward cabins and her dinette and settees are large enough to seat 10 people (we've had many a memorable meal here!). Under the cabin sole are two 90-gallon stainless steel fuel tanks. Under the settee seats on either side is a 120-gallon water tank, also made of stainless steel. On the starboard side, aft of the dinette is the foward-facing nav station and on the port side is the galley where we have a 7 cubic foot refrigerator and a 5 cubic foot freezer. Aft of the nav station, on the starboard side is my work shop. This was originally designed to be another stateroom but the original owner had Conyplex convert it into a work shop, complete with a heavy-duty work bench and a massive 6" vise. I sometimes spend days at a time in there. Many a visiting cruiser has eyed with envy, drooled with desire and blatantly coveted my work shop! I have access to the engines from there. On the port side, aft of the galley, is another 'wet' head. Aft of that is the aft cabin, which has a settee as well as a full double-size berth. Aft of the aft cabin or 'owner's stateroom' as it's called on many boats, is her spacious lazarette, which is where the water heater and diesel-fired boiler are located. Bolted to the back of the aft deck and overhanging the transom are her Simpson davits (I sometimes tell people that the boat was built around those davits - they're very substantial with a capacity of 250 Kgs). Resting on top of the davits are Ruthie's roto-molded kayak and above that are two 215-watt solar panels. Hanging off the davits is our Aqua Pro dinghy and it's 15-horsepower Honda outboard.

On deck, starting at the bow, is Rutea's primary anchor, a Bruce 30 kilogram that's connected to the 350' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain with a Wasi Powerball. The anchor and chain are deployed and retrieved by a Lofrans Progress II windlass. In the anchor locker lives another Bruce 20kg anchor that's connected to 50' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain and 150' of 1" MegaBraid rope. Also in the anchor locker, amongst many other things, is the 18' Para-Tech sea anchor with it's dedicated 100' of 1" single-braid rope. Moving aft is Rutea's main mast, which has double spreaders, four Enkes winches and one Harken self-tailing winch. The mast is made by Selden as are the two heavy spinnaker poles. The tracks for the staysail and the genoa are stainless steel. In the cockpit are five more Enke winches and a Harken mechanical backstay adjuster. The mizzen mast is also quite substantial and has three Enkes winches on it. The turning blocks are stainless steel. The steering system on Rutea is the Whitlock Mamba system using a torque tube and a push-pull rod. The compass in the binnacle is made by Sestrel.

Even though we try to keep up on Rutea's appearance, she's still starting to show her age. I replaced her portlights (all twelve of them) and Ruthie has taken over the job of varnishing her brightwork. In 2000 we removed her teak decks and replaced it with painted fiberglass. Much less maintenance! She's what I call a 200-foot boat: She looks great from 200 feet!

Regardless, the best part of Rutea is the way she handles. While she's not the fastest filly in the fleet, she can cover a respectable amount of distance in a day. Her sail plan allows her to be easily balanced to the point where the autopilot has very little correcting to do. Her sails are all made by North except her spinnakers are Dutch-made.

Rutea’s electronics package includes radar, chartplotter, AIS, sounder and sailing instruments - all made by Garmin. Her radios are all old but they work well. Her Icom M802 SSB has been modified to use ham frequencies.