| Kiapa's wanderings (2001 - 2004 and 2007 - 2010) |
2001 -- After a leisurely cruise down the California coast, Kiapa joined the Baja Haha rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. With planned stops at Turtle Bay & Bahia Santa Maria + a flier out to Guadalupe Island, the rally was a great intro to Mexico and cruising. We enjoyed La Paz, Mazatlan, Banderas Bay, and Zijuatanejo.
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| Apr to Jun '02 -- The real sailing begins with a "cosmic" 3000 mile run from Mexico to Hilo... perhaps the best downwind run in the world. This was followed by a 2500 mile "firehose" reach/beat to Papeete!
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Jul to Sept '02 -- The Societies were superb. The Heiva festival was a highlight. We made stops in Tahiti, Moorea, the Tuamotus, Huahine, and Bora Bora
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| Sept '02 -- Suwarrow National Park in the northern Cook Islands was a cruiser's paradise. Adventures with Papa Joane and the crews of Enchante, Cherokee Rose, & Scott Free were unforgetable.
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Oct '02 -- Landfall in Vava'u Tonga was welcome as supplies were virtually gone. A couple weeks in the Ha'apai group was icing. Enroute to NZ, the short stop at Minerva Reef offered spectacular dives & reef walks.
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| Nov '02 to May '03 -- A great welcome to New Zealand in Opua. Enjoyed copious quantities of rugby. Made Gulf Harbor our base, and Great Barrier Island our home. The "cup" result was disappointing, but the event was not to be missed.
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Jun to Nov '03 -- Had a quick passage up to Fiji. Enjoyed the 'west' with family, before heading east to Vanua Levu. Our month in the Lau group was right up there with the best of the best. Limped into Gulf Harbor with drive train issues after nice passage back to NZ.
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| May to Sept '04 -- Very very rough trip from NZ to Tonga (whew!). Enjoyed a month in Tonga with lots of diving before setting off for Samoa, the most genuine Polynesian country. Apia made a great base, with a few nice cruises to Savai and the Upolu coast. The Teuila festival was a hoot!
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Oct '04 -- Had relatively benign 1200 mile beat up to Tabueran (Fanning Island) in the Kiribati. At 4N, Tabueran is just south of the average ITCZ. The shallow lagoon is beautiful and the pass is a great playground. The last 1000 miles to Hawaii was a beat, with T-storms chasing us north out of the ITCZ. Landfall back at Ko Olina, HI.
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| FEB to JUN '08 -- We scraped ice off the decks on the Columbia River in February, while rigging the boat and debugging systems. In early March, we finally broke free of the Schooner Creek Boatwork docks. After a lovely motorboat ride down the river to Astoria, we dashed north -- between ferocious gales -- to the straits of Juan de Fuca. All in all, a very successful 1st ocean passage...
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APRIL thru JUN '08 -- We enjoyed part-time cruising in Puget Sound from Gig Harbor to the San Juan's, with a special time had on Lake Washington. Finally, in June, we were able to get clear of "things" to push north....
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| JULY & AUG '08 -- While plans took us as far as the Alaskan border, reality left us happily in Desolation Sound. We loved the warm days and the swimming (72F water in Prideaux Haven). After D.S., we headed north thru Dent Rapids, watching the water temp fall to 53F, the air temp fall to 53F, and the wind rise to 35K on the nose in Johnstone Straits. We (loosely) turned around and worked our way back to Prideaux Haven for a swim. Wimps!!!
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SEPT/OCT '07 thru JAN '08 -- With brief stops in Astoria to wait out NW'erly gales, San Francisco for engine work, and Ventura for a quick haulout, we were ready for Baja-Haha in late October... but for a family accident that forced us to apply the brakes. We had a nice, albeit short re-entry into Mexico... and enjoyed some of the food, music, & culture with a few cruisers in Ensenada before turning back north to CA.
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| FEB '08 until... Returned to SoCal in February. Enjoyed the Long Beach-Newport-Catalina triangle during the winter months, before moving out to "Two Harbors" in late April.
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From November '08 until June '09... we enjoyed the hospitality of CruisePort marina in Ensenada. We became regulars on "la ligna" bus. While in Santa Barbara in June, we saw an unseasonal southerly developing... and had a beautiful light air sail UP the coast of central California. We enjoyed a month on S.F. bay and a superb trip to the delta. We sailed back to Ensenda in November, just before the winter storm door opened. Had great help from Hal & Trey on the sleighride south. This time, we were able to squeeze into the lovely & deluxe Marina Coral.
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| The most action-packed year since 2001... with more than 8000 sailing miles. The first half of year was spent in the aquarium-like Sea of Cortes. We had the sea and its anchorages virtually to ourselves for all of February and much of March. The wildlife was incredible, with an abundance of dolphins, whales, and mobula rays. In April, we found a bit more comraderie in the anchorages... along with longer days and warmer water.
The 2nd half of the year was kicked-off with a relatively boistrous 3000NM sail from Cabo to Hilo. We had hoped for a leisurely cruise thru the islands... but the trades were howling in May, making most of our target anchorages untenable. We enjoyed a long stay in Honolulu, with a beautiful berth at the Kewalo Basin marina (refreshingly under new management). July took us home to Kauai. Red tape in the anchorage limited our Nawiliwili stay to a few nights... but got us to Hanalei that much sooner. Ahhhhh, Paradise re-visited!
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