From the soaring peaks of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, we travelled 465 miles to the barely-above sea level Tuamotu Archipelago. Of the seventy-eight islands that make up this archipelago, all but two are coral atolls. The Tuamotos are renowned for excellent diving, and we agree: the diving there is out of this world.

One of the challenges of cruising these islands is the high-current passes, of four-to-eight knots, that must be negotiated in order to enter the atoll. You want to enter near slack water, but since slack water occurs at similar times across the group, this can make timing a run between islands a little difficult. Another challenge is that large coral heads are spread like land mines through the largely navigable, but generally uncharted atolls. The anchor chain (you need to be all chain here) can wrap around the coral heads as the boat moves about and be hard to disentangle. We favored the windwards side of the atolls, where the bottom has more sand and fewer coral heads, so we're less likely to wrap the anchor chain. But the downside was that the windward side generally was further from the dive sites at the entry, and the atolls generally weren't charted between the entry and the windward side, so we had to run across carefully. So long as we weren't running directly into the sun, we were able to easily see most hazards well in advance.

The effort to visit the Tuamotus most defintely was worth it. Besides the excellent diving, we loved exploring the atolls and especially walking out to the edge of the fringing reef and watching the waves pounding over. And we generally had most anchorages to ourselves, compared to the far more busy Marquesas Islands.

One of the top dive sites was Anse Amyot--click here for our blog entry. And our log for the trip follows, or click on the image at left for a live map-based version. On the live-map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://www.mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.

5/2/2013: Lunch Lunch on the flybridge en route to the Tuamotu Archipelago. The winds are below ten and the waves below five, both with us, as is the current. Conditions are wonderfully comfortable and smooth, and should remain this way for the 465-mile run.

5/3/2013: Rain Judging by the color of the sky just after sunrise, we were in for a deluge. But only a little rain actually fell on us.

5/3/2013: Tepoto First sighting of land in the Tuamotus: Tepato, a small island less than a mile across within the Iles de Desappointement group. The Tuamotus Archipelago consists of 78 islands, all but two being coral atolls. The islands are known for amazing diving with excellent visibility and abundant fish, creature and coral life. But the cost of entry is navigating high-current passes into the atolls, plus the risk of wrapping the chain around coral heads at anchor. Our charts don't show any detail on Tepato, and the group name doesn't encourage exploration. There did appear to be a radio tower and a few buildings ashore, so perhaps it is inhabited.

5/4/2013: Sunrise We'll be arriving at Raroia late this morning. We initially were planning to make landfall at Makemo, about fifty miles further, over three nights. But we were making such good time that we'd have to slow down in order to arrive during daylight. So we decided to stop earlier at Raroia instead since the timing for entering the pass works out well. SV Soggy Paws Tuamotus Compendium includes a Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) report that Raroia is one of the best pass dives in the Tuamotus, with 50-150 sharks on every dive as well as 4-foot groupers, tuna, large parrotfish and many smaller species. And excellent diving on the walls outside the pass as well. Conditions on the run have been wonderful: winds below fifteen the whole way, with the waves rarely higher than three feet. We could do this for weeks.

5/4/2013: Muffins Freshly-baked chocolate chip muffins for breakfast.

5/4/2013: Takume The outline of Takume, an atoll 5.5 miles northeast of Raroia, showing up clearly on the radar as the elongated oval between 4 and 5 o'clock. The other targets are rain systems.

5/4/2013: Raroia entry Dirona has landed at Taroia and its pretty amazing. We came in at 11:30 which was predicted to have 2.3 kts incoming current. We got uncomfortable on the way in with the current feeling like way more than 2.5 kts, so we turned the boat 180 degrees and headed back out. On the way back out against the current, it felt much more in control and we felt it probably was around 2.5 knots. With that data point, we went back in and it was super easy.

5/4/2013: Crossing the atoll Once inside, the only part of the atoll charted is the channel along the western edge to a small village, but the better anchorages are along the east shore through uncharted waters. We started towards the village, but the water clarity was amazing and we felt like we were pretty safe spotting coral heads, so we turned back from the village and went across to the east side of the atoll. The depths were 100-150 feet the entire way and crossing the atoll was pretty easy overall.

5/4/2013: Channel to village To better see coral heads and other underwater hazards, we navigated into Raroia from the flybridge helm. The entry channel and the route to the village were well-marked and the charts accurate.

5/4/2013: Bow watch Bow watch as we cross the uncharted atoll. We've done a lot of bow watches in cruising northern B.C. waters: we've been to many places that weren't charted at all, with high- current, shallow entries and the cruel rock outcroppings of the Pacific Northwest. So this felt pretty familiar, except of course that the water is 88F, we can see the bottom in 70 feet, and we're looking out for coral heads instead of rocks.

5/4/2013: Looking for coral James at the flybridge looking for coral heads while Jennifer is at the bow. We found the coral pretty easy to see from several hundred feet away, and picking a safe route overall was not difficult.

5/4/2013: Hinano time! We're now in an amazing anchorage off a palm tree-covered island with the surf rolling in on both ends of it.

5/4/2013: Exploring ashore Looking west across the atoll from the islets at our anchorage.

5/4/2013: Coconuts Opening one of the three coconuts we brought back from the islet.

5/5/2013: Coconuts and coffee Coconut meat and coffee at sunrise. The coconut is delicious--we'll need to get more as we're going through it so fast.

5/5/2013: Squall We ran the dinghy west across the lagoon to dive the channel area. Partway across a squall came up that reduced visibility to thick fog-like conditions. The atoll is large enough that we couldn't see either side anymore and had to navigate by compass.

5/5/2013: Diving Using the dinghy's depth sounder, we located a wall north and outside of the channel that plummeted from 50 to over 200 feet. We anchored the dinghy in about 35 feet and got ready to dive. We'd gotten a little cold coming across in the squall, and the 88 degree water felt wonderful--like a warm bath. The next surprise was the visibility and the coral life--both were simply astounding.

5/5/2013: Coral Coral blanketed the bottom and was incredibly healthy and diverse.

5/5/2013: Reef Shark White-tip reef shark swimming under the dinghy over that amazing coral reef.

5/5/2013: Anemonefish Anemonefish swimming in the upper right of the first anemone that we've seen since the Pacific Northwest.

5/5/2013: Butterfly fish Threadfin butterfly fish. We'd returned back out for a second dive, and again a squall came up again as we crossed and we needed the compass. This time the wind had picked up enough from the west enough and generating big enough waves that we didn't feel safe anchoring the dinghy on the outside of the entry channel. So we tried just inside on the north side. The sea life and visibility wasn't nearly as good as on the outside, but we still had an excellent dive.

5/5/2013: Lemon Shark Sicklefin lemon shark. These sharks, unlike the white- and black-tipped reef sharks, are considered dangerous and need space.

5/5/2013: Damselfish Yellow-tailed dasycluss damselfishes, grouped around several coral heads.

5/5/2013: Emporor anglefish We saw one Emporer Angelfish on the first dive and a few more on the second dive. Years ago, when we maintained a 600-gallon saltwater system in our house, a large Emporer Angelfish was our favorite fish in the tank.

5/6/2013: Sunrise .

5/6/2013: Waves The winds blew steady 20-25 knots from the west across the atoll last night and continued today. Fair-sized waves were rolling onto the beach behind us. And heavy rains fell--a good day to get some boat chores done.

5/6/2013: Dinghy dance The dinghy, tethered to our stern, danced around a bit as the waves passed through.

5/6/2013: Sunset By evening, the winds had shifted to the south and mostly died out, in time for this beautiful sunset.

5/7/2013: White tern We went out for a dinghy tour this morning to visit a few of the islets along the east side of the atoll. White terns hovered close above us at this small islet just north of our anchorage.

5/7/2013: Kon Tiki monument Thor Hyerdal's raft Kon Tiki went aground at Raroria en route from Easter Island. The Kon Tiki museum in Oslo donated this memorial on the islet near where the raft grounded.

5/7/2013: Hermit crabs Colorful hermit crabs.

5/7/2013: Coconuts Earlier we'd gathered three coconuts and they were delicious. But we have some learning to do, as the next batch of fifteen we got all were rotten.

5/7/2013: Wall dive Diving along the wall outside the channel. With the wind from the east and relatively calm seas on the atoll's outer western shore, we went back to the same place we dove the first time here. The coral reef, sea life and visibility once again were astonishing.

5/7/2013: Jacks Hundreds of Jacks swam through us just off the wall.

5/7/2013: Butterfly fish A pair of Ornate Butterflyfish.

5/7/2013: Leaving Raroia Our next stop was Tahania, about a 20-hour run from Raroia. In order to arrive there near slack current, we'd either have to leave Raroia in the dark tonight or wait until late tomorrow afternoon to leave. We figured we would gain a day and crept out around 6:30pm following our chartplotter snail-trail from the way in. We never got more than 20 yards from the old path and had a clear view on the way in, so we knew there were no obstacles within hundreds of yards of our old path. We exited the atoll on a fairly fast-moving outgoing current and it went well, with our track closely following the center of the channel line.

5/8/2013: Roll Winds were predicted to be 15-20 knots, but were 25-30 most of the way, with large, tightly-packed waves on the beam. We frequently rolled to 20 degrees.

5/8/2013: Blueberry muffins We baked muffins when conditions had calmed enough in the lee of some smaller atolls en route.

5/8/2013: Crossing Tahania We crossed Tahania between 3:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon. All the coral heads were visible a long way off and we easily avoided them except for one where we got closer than we liked before we turning off. On that one, we didn't see it until 100 to 150 yards away, which is 1/4 or 1/5 of what the rest were. Possibly it was further below the surface and therefore not a hazard.

5/8/2013: Tahania anchorage We have a great spot here: we are tucked behind a sandbar, which completely kills the waves around us, but other than the underwater fringing reef, we are completely out in the open. It's pretty wild. And only tiny patches of coral are around us. This is why we favor the windwards side of the atolls: the bottom has more sand and less coral heads, so we're less likely to wrap the anchor chain. But the downside is that its further from the dive sites at the entry. The anchor came straight up at Raroia without issue, but having dove the western inside of Raroia, it looked like getting hung up in coral was just about assured.

5/9/2013: Sandbars The picturesque sandbars that appeared around Dirona at low tide immediately attracted us.

5/9/2013: Small dinghy We'd taken the large dinghy out to the sandbars, but switched over to the small tender for crossing the shallows to reach the fringing reef.

5/9/2013: At the reef The fringing reef, where Jennifer is walking, is a foot or so above the water level in the atoll, where the dinghy is secured. To Jennifer's right, the current is flowing across the reef and into the atoll.

5/9/2013: Waves Large waves crashed over the outer edge of the reef, supplying the water that drained into the atoll.

5/9/2013: On the reef Walking along the 400-500' wide fringing reef. Waves are hitting the outer shore at the right of the pictures.

5/9/2013: Tropical island Ashore on a beautiful islet near the reef. We have the place all to ourselves.

5/10/2013: Red snapper We ran the dinghy across Tahania atoll and found a wall to dive just outside and south of the entrance. As with Raroia, the visibility and sea life were superb. Here, snappers would swim straight at us with apparently no fear or concern. This one followed Jennifer for a few minutes.

5/10/2013: Slingjaw wrasse One of several distinctive Slingjaw Wrasse we saw at this dive site.

5/10/2013: Orange-finned anemonefish We saw a few more anemones and anemonefish on this dive, but hard coral still dominates by far.

5/10/2013: Pyramid butterflyfish .

5/10/2013: The wall Looking up the wall to Jennifer swimming above. At around 95 feet was an abrupt thermocline, where the water temperature dropped from 88F to around 80F. Today we tried our 3mm neoprene suits instead of the lycra skins, as we'd been getting a little cold. While it seems silly to be getting cold in 88F water, after a couple of hours of diving, we start to get chilled. We much preferred the 3mm suits, and will wear them going forward.

5/10/2013: Between-dive snack Our anchorage was about 7 miles from the atoll entrance, so we brought four tanks with us to save time and dinghy fuel. We've done so much dinghy exploring at Tahuata, Fatu Hiva and Raroria that we're down to only 10 gallons of the 29 we bought at Hiva Oa. While this still is quite a bit, we still have a lot more exploring to do before we can next get fuel.

5/10/2013: Second dive We toured around to the other side of the channel to find another dive site, but none appealed as much as the first site. So we returned for a second dive.

5/10/2013: Racoon butterflyfish Racoon Butterflyfish above a Moorish Idol.

5/11/2013: Morning hug Spitfire getting his morning hug. Just about every morning, Spitfire jumps up into James's lap and, in a very human-like gesture, wraps his paws around his neck until they are touching and holds on tight.

5/11/2013: Lifting the small dinghy We'd built a bridle for the small dinghy to lift it onto the boat deck. Generally though, we find it easier to stow the motor in the lazarette and the dinghy in the cockpit for short runs. For longer runs, we deflate the dinghy and stow it in the lazarette, and mount the motor on the boat deck.

5/11/2013: Chain and coral The anchor chain is visible about 25 feet down, bending to the left around a small piece of coral. We were lightly wrappped around a few this time. We could see into the water well, and found it easy to disentangle the chain using the Yacht Controller remote helm from the bow.

5/11/2013: Anchor and coral We'd move to another anchorage a little further south for a change of venue. We weren't happy with our first set and on raising the anchor to reset discovered why. A large piece of coral was wedged in the fluke.

5/11/2013: Abandon ship! Jennifer abondoning ship and swimming to shore. One of the appeals of this anchorage was its closeness to the fringing reef and several nearby sandbars and islets.

5/11/2013: Towing the tender Walking the small tender over the shallows to the fringing reef. The ride is a bit wet, and the seating area small, but we're very happy with the smaller dinghy. It allows us access to many places we just couldn't get to in the larger one. And, at just over 60 lbs, with one hand from each of us we can carry it anywhere. In fact, we sometimes use that trick to carry it over stretches of land to access water on the other side.

5/11/2013: At the edge Enjoying a Hinano (local beer) while sitting in the shallows at the edge of the fringing reef, with the waves rolling in beyond.

5/11/2013: Foundation A small broken-up concrete foundation was ashore at one of the nearby islets. We couldn't discern its purpose.

5/12/2013: Coral head One of several large coral heads we passed as we returned back out through the uncharted portion of Tahania. We could see hazards such as these a long way off.

5/12/2013: Relaxing run Sunny and wonderfully calm conditions on our day run to Fakarava.

5/12/2013: Dive resort Several dive resorts and operations are on the atoll--drift diving the entry channels is particularly popular in Fakarava. This one is right on the channel with a view to the swift-flowing current.

5/12/2013: Imagine D 130-foot superyacht Imagine D. Fakarava is much more popular than the last two atolls we visited. We're now anchored among about ten other boats with more visible across the channel. We saw only one or two other boats the entire time at Raroria and Tahania.

5/12/2013: Sunset .

5/13/2013: Humphead Wrasse We ran the dinghy outside the pass to dive the south wall. This three-foot Humphead Wrasse is one of several we saw in the area. They can grow up to 7.5 feet long.

5/13/2013: Yellowback Butterflyfish .

5/13/2013: Reticulated Butterflyfish We're constantly seeing new species of Butterflyfish on every dive.

5/13/2013: Drift dive Drift-diving the atoll entry channels is popular. The way to do it without live-boating is to, get this, tether yourself to your tender and drift with the current at 75-100' below the surface with the tender following along above. At 750lbs, our larger tender would have been a handful to control from below, so we used the smaller dingy instead. It specializes in beach landings and is super-easy for two people to carry around. It's ridiculously small, but did hold all our gear.

5/13/2013: Diving tethered Jennifer on the drift dive watching a reef shark while holding the dinghy tether. The 100' anchor rode from the larger dinghy is our tether. We clipped it on to her BC, but she mostly held it in her hand with all the line out. We could hardly feel it tugging above and we could just force it anywhere independent of the current it happened to be experiencing.

5/13/2013: Lots of sharks One of the draws of this dive is the reef sharks that hang around in the channel. We drifted through groups of 30-50 sharks each.

5/13/2013: Dive group This is a popular dive site. One dinghy of diving boaters preceded us to the channel, and several dive boats followed.

5/13/2013: Dinghy and shark The dinghy visible at the surface (upper left) as we drift below through the sharks.

5/14/2013: Kit surfer Kite surfer from one of the boats in our anchorage.

5/14/2013: Nice stern The stern of superyacht Imagine D folds out to make a convenient platform for transfers between yacht and tender.

5/14/2013: At anchor Dirona at anchor at a lovely private cove about halfway along the east shore of Fakarava. The cove has good wave protection from all but the west, which is fine with winds predicted from the east to southeast.

5/14/2013: Road Just in from shore was a road that likely runs the length of the east shore, from the village of Rotoava at the north end of the island to the dive resort we passed entering the atoll.

5/14/2013: Fringing reef We worked through the scrub a short distance from the raod to reach the fringing reef where waves crashed into the shore. The water here was colder than on the other reefs, as it didn't reach the atoll, but washed back into the ocean.

5/14/2013: Raft This well-made raft was washed up on the fringing reef. The supports were made from bamboo, so it likely came from Asia somewhere. The raft had large plastic floation tubes and a bridle as if to be lowered from a ship.

5/15/2013: Sunrise .

5/15/2013: Rotoava anchorage Spitfire checking out the scene at the anchorage off the village of Rotoava. Over a dozen boats were anchored there, including three large yachts. Spitfire doesn't like crowds, and even with several hundred feet of separation between us and the next boat, he always seems concerned that we're a "little close".

5/15/2013: Rotoava dock The dinghy tied off inside the cement dock at Rotoava

5/15/2013: Anchored boats View to the anchorage from Rotoava. Dirona is the third white speck from the right.

5/15/2013: Plue des baguettes A load of a dozen baguettes from the bakery at Rotoava, plus a few more provisions.

5/15/2013: Bleach bath Washing the lettuce in a bleach-and-water bath to kill off any unwelcome critters. We then give it a freshwater rinse and dry it off in a salad spinner.

5/15/2013: Gloria Maris Nordhavn 86 Gloria Maris at anchor nearby. Including us, this is the fourth Nordhavn we've seen in French Polynesia so far.

5/15/2013: Dorothea III Superyacht Dorothea III at anchor on the other side of us from Gloria Maris. Both vessels had large tenders that they towed behind.

5/15/2013: Cobia III The supply ship Cobia III arriving at Rotoava. The ship arrives weekly, bringing fuel and provisions. No fuel station is in Rotoava, so purchase are made directly from the ship and dispensed from 200L drums.

5/17/2013: Church We went ashore for another walk throught the village. The first time into town, we'd mostly just loaded up on baguettes and returned back to the boat.

5/17/2013: Top Dive Top Dive is one of several dive shops on Fakarava. Their facility looked well-run.

5/17/2013: Black pearls A black pearl necklace for Jennifer from one of the pearl jewelery stores in Rotoava. The Tuamotus and the Gambier Islands to the southeast are renowned world-wide for their black pearls. Pearl production has been a real boost to the local economy--pearl farms are throughout the area. Besides the coral heads, they can be another hazard to navigation inside the atolls.

5/17/2013: Diving We ran the dinghy the six miles from the anchorage at Rotoava to dive the wall outside the northern pass into Fakarava. We brought all four scuba tanks to save time, and gasoline. The diving, as at all the atolls so far, was excellent.

5/17/2013: Cornetfish These long, slender fish can grow to five feet. We frequently see them while diving here, either alone or in schools.

5/17/2013: Dive group We saw two other groups during our dive--one almost ran into us on our safety stop. A little crowded, but an indication that we picked a good site at least.

5/17/2013: Saddled Butterflyfish The Butterflyfish of the day.

5/17/2013: Unicornfish Easy to tell how these fish got their name. This one is a Whitemargin Unicorn fish about three feet long.

5/18/2013: Pass Garue About to head through Pass Garue. We're close to slack, so don't expect conditions to be difficult. But as a precaution, we always close all the pilothouse and the salon door before going through any rapids. We've read of tugboats that have capsized in rapids, where the boat rolled over enough to take on water through an open door and the situation quickly escalated out of control, sinking the boat in conditions that really weren't boat-threatening.

5/18/2013: Anse Amyot On a mooring at Anse Amyot. This is a busy place--about ten boats were there when we arrived. Only two mooring were left and the other was picked up before we'd finished mooring to ours. We've picked up plenty of mooring buoys in the Pacific Northwest in our previous boat, but this was the first time in the Nordhavn. We'd have felt more secure on our 154-lb Rocna anchor and 7/16" chain, but swing room was pretty restricted. The moorings apparently are 3/8" chain wrapped around a large coralhead with a 3/4" line to the surface. This is reasonable for a boat of our weight, but on the recommendation of the host, and the boat downwind from us :), we also dropped our anchor beside the mooring as a precaution in case it parted.

5/18/2013: Dogs Spitfire was quite concerned about some dogs barking ashore.

5/18/2013: Sunset Sunset looking out through the anchorage to the entrance.

5/19/2013: Splash! Jennifer, in full dive gear, dropping backwards into the water from the dinghy.

5/19/2013: Descending Ready to dive.

5/19/2013: Resetting the anchor James holds the anchor rode while Jennifer resets the anchor. We always dive down to check the anchor set on each dive, and frequently adjust it to a more secure set.

5/19/2013: Self portrait James underwater with fish swimming above.

5/19/2013: Shark This Blacktip Reef shark swam quite close to Jennifer before it seemed to notice she was there, and darted away. The reef sharks generally avoid humans and don't pose much of a threat.

5/19/2013: Seascape The diving at Anse Amyot was fabulous by every measure: excellent visibility, varied and unusual sea life, and a complex seascape. See our "Diving Anse Amyot" blog entry for details.

5/21/2013: Sunrise Sunrise over the anchorage at Anse Amyot as we depart for Apataki. Only two boats remained after we left.

5/21/2013: Niutahi Transiting Passe Pakaka into Apataki Atoll with the village of Niutahi coming up on the right.

5/21/2013: Passe Pakaka We've found all the channels into the atolls to be well-marked, often with range markers, and the C-Map charts have been very accurate.

5/21/2013: Panga A panga leaving the Niutahi boat basin. The village was much larger than we were expecting, with a huge satellite dish mounted near the water and much new construction taking place.

5/21/2013: Across Apataki Winds were steady 20-30 from the ESE, so we tucked against the southeast shore for wave protection. Scattered corals were on the bottom, but we had no trouble raising the anchor later. We were quite close to the fringing reef, and could hear the waves crashing against it.

5/21/2013: Lunch under the roo In Hawaii, we realized the cockpit eyebrow bimini wasn't sufficient for tropical cruising--we needed a way to shade the whole cockpit when the sun is low in the sky. Starr, moored near us at the Waikiki Yacht Club, had a Coolaroo Square Shade Sail for their cockpit, so we decided to try one as a temporary solution. The "roo", as we call it, has worked out super well. We string it between the boat deck rails and the swim step staples and can deploy and pack it away in minutes. It takes the cockpit from intolerably hot in direct sun to quite comfortable.

5/21/2013: Dinghy secure The small dinghy tied off to a hole in a piece of coral on the fringing reef and pulling back in the current. The waves crashing over the reef and running into the lagoon created a suprisingly strong current that was difficult to walk against at times.

5/21/2013: High and dry The small dinghy, and Jennifer, perched on a coral bar near the ocean's edge.

5/21/2013: Tide pool The tide pools here don't have nearly the life of those in the Pacific Northwest, but we did find a few creatures.

5/21/2013: Volcanic fossil This looks like a coral that was overtaken by volcanic flow.

5/21/2013: Wet seat Waves from the fringing reef reach our seat nearby.

5/21/2013: Debris Ocean debris washed up on a coral bar. We found all kinds of stuff, including a plastic spatula.

5/22/2013: Kringele Kringele, a delicious Norwegian breakfast that's surprisingly easy to make. Recipe courtesy of the Hacking Family, who are circumnavigating in a catamaran.

5/22/2013: Olive oil Replenishing the galley olive oil jar from bulk stores. We go through a lot of olive oil--over 2 L since leaving Hawaii 10 weeks ago.

5/22/2013: Replaced components Today we mostly did boat projects. Some of the compents we replaced, from left to right, are: worn hydrualic raw water pump cover, leaking O-ring at the hydraulic system dual pressure valve, worn hydraulic raw water pump impeller, cracked main bilge pump bellows retainer.

5/22/2013: Spares We have an extensive supply of spare parts stowed throughout the boat--these ones are just for the hydraulic system. So far we've had pretty much everything we need, but we are building up a shopping list.

5/23/2013: Rainbow Rainbow over the anchorage after a squall. We later left the anchorage in search of a change of scenery and something perhaps closer to the entrance for leaving tomorrow. But pearl farms occupied the shores north and south of the village, and wave protection was poor, so we returned to a spot near where we'd been before.

5/23/2013: Furnace switch Once a month or so, we like to run the diesel furnace so condensation doesn't build up in the boiler. But with ambient temperaturs in the mid-80s, none of the thermostats, even at the highest setting, can turn the furnace on. So we installed a switch to force the boiler on for service tasks.

5/24/2013: Exiting Apataki Graph of main engine RPM as we transited Passe Pakaka. The current was ebbing with us perhaps 3-4 knots, with eddies and whirlpools where the channel bent. And to make things more interesting, several locals were paddling across in outrigger canoes where the current was lighter, and a large landing craft was entering the channel directly in front of us. In the graph, you can see the engine RPM changing as we work to maintain course in the strong current.

5/24/2013: Sunrise Sunrise as we exit Passe Pakaka en route to Tahiti. The channel range markers are visible at the lower the right, almost lined up. Range markers are two posts or marks of different heights, typically lighted for night navigation, that are used to ensure correct positioning when transiting a channel. When the two line up, you are exactly on course. If the closer one is to the left of the farther one, you are too far too the right and vice versa.

The Tuamotus Archipelago consists of seventy-eight islands, and all but two are coral atolls. The islands are known for amazing diving with excellent visibility and abundant fish, creature and coral life. We've spent two weeks here now, diving at four different atolls: Raroia, Tahanea, Fakarava and Toau. While the diving in the South Pacific is world-renowned, if the diving in the Tuamotus is not the best, we have an unbelievable trip ahead of us.

Diving isn't the focus of this trip, but it was so good at Anse Amyot on Toau that we didn't do much else. We did four dives one day and two the next, for a total of over six hours underwater in two days. We easily could have spent weeks there. The visibility in the Tuamotus is exceptionally good, and Anse Amyot was a standout for the area. In the photo on the left below, we're more than 100 feet deep and can still see the dinghy directly above Jennifer just off the top of the wall, anchored in twenty feet.

We had several sealife sightings that were rare for us. We've not seen many turtles since leaving Palmyra--the one below left swam so fast straight at Jennifer she nearly had to move out of its way. On the right is an uncommon Golden variation of the Trumpetfish. We'd not seen one before, and saw a couple at Anse Amyot.

Below left are three Clearfin Lionfish. These particular Lionfish typically are solitary, so it was unusual to see three together.  And we saw many 8-10" Emporor Angelfish, swimming relatively close together. The ones we've seen so far have been smaller, and solitary. 

And we saw two Sea Star types that we'd not seen before on this trip.  At bottom left is a Crown-Of-Thorns Sea Star, and at right is a Blue Sea Star.

Besides the excellent visibility and interesting sea life, another aspect of diving at Anse Amyot that really appealed to us was the underwater seascape. The reef walls here were parcticularly steep, almost undercutting in some places. And the wall wasn't as regular as most of the other atolls we'd dove: canyons cut into the wall and shoulders extended off. In the photos below, we're diving a shoulder at around 140 feet. On it was one of the largest anemones we've seen thus far at about three feet across, with a 5-6" anenomefish.

In several places, particularly south of the entrance channel, wide channels cut into the reef wall at around 30-40 feet deep, with caves and grottos along each side all full of sea life.

The Marquesas Islands first showed up in version four of our planned itinerary across the South Pacific. We weren’t even going there initially, not because it wasn’t appealing, but because the islands were a long run east from Hawaii. And we decided to make it even more challenging by going to Palmyra Atoll and Fanning Island first. Running from Fanning Island signed us up for strong counter currents and winds the whole way to the Marquesas. But having done it, the rewards are substantial. The Marquesas are impressive and we almost can’t believe they weren't on our itinerary from the beginning.

We arrived at Nuku Hiva in the northern Marquesas the morning of April 15th and spent the next two weeks island-hopping to the southern extreme at Fatu Hiva. The scenery, impressive in Nuku Hiva, became even more dramatic as we worked south: sheer mountain cliffs with almost impossible formations, mountain ridges so narrow that holes have formed from one side to the other, and incredible views into the anchorages below for those willing to climb. Fatu Hiva, pictured above, was our last stop in the islands and typifies Marquesan geology. We particularly enjoyed the diving there as well. We love exploring, and usually move frequently, but ended up staying at Fatu Hiva for five nights. If the rest of the South Pacific weren’t waiting, we’d probably still be there.

Highlights from the trip follow, or click on the image at left for a live map-based version of the complete trip log. On the live-map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://www.mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.

4/15/2013: Cliffs The steep slopes of Nuku Hiva.

4/15/2013: At anchor At anchor in Baie de Taiohae with our quarantine flag flying as we head in to clear through.

4/15/2013: Bonjour View to our first French Polynesian anchorage. Dirona is just visible in the background directly to our right.

4/15/2013: Hinano Local Tahitian beer Hinano on the veranda at Pension Moana Nui. We had a delicious pizza there the following night.

4/17/2013: Fueling We took on 1,170 gallons of diesel at the fuel dock, but wanted 1,364. They were short on fuel, so we couldn't quite fill. The fuel dock has a cement wall and the surge was substantial, so a side-tie risks damaging the boat. Instead, boats needing small amounts of fuel often ferry them by dinghy in jerry cans. Those needing larger amounts typically med-moor to the wall, where the boat is anchored and backed into the dock and tied standing a few feet off the wall. We've got a 75-foot line from each stern corner to a bollard ashore, and a large Aere inflatable fender protecting the swim platform. The fuel hose runs from the dock, over the swim platform and into the cockpit on the far side of the fender.

4/18/2013: Anse Hakatea At anchor in Anse Hakatea, Baie do Taioa. The bay also is known as Daniel's Bay after a longtime Marquesan resident. Three sailboats were at anchor there when we arrived, and two more came later. We anchored outside them all with plenty of swing room. Swell was a little higher were we were, but it was fine with the flopper-stopper.

4/19/2013: Along the path The valley we're heading to is directly behind that tall palm. Once we'd left this tended path, the trail through the forest was still quite easy to follow.

4/19/2013: At the falls Rain hadn't fallen for a while, so the falls weren't flowing much, but the valley was spectacular with steep shores enclosing a tranquil pool. James is standing just to the left of the pool.

4/19/2013: Baie Hooumi We left Anse Hakatea after returning back from our hike and anchored all alone at Baie Hooumi in the late afternoon. We anchorage felt secure and snug, with steep shores on either side. Some swell did reach us, but we were fine with the flopper-stopper out. We're able to deploy and retract it within ten minutes, so it's not a bother.

4/20/2013: Baie D'Anaho Serrated cliffs along the south shore of Baie D'Anaho, on the north shore of Nuku Hiva. We also has this beautiful and tranquil anchorage all too ourselves. The waters were calm too--the first at Nuku Hiva where we've not even considered the flopper-stopper. A few houses ringed the shore and it night local music drifted across the water.

4/21/2013: Ua Pou A view to the distinctive spires on Ua Pou. The scenery in the Marquesas is spectacular, and keeps getting better at each island. We were lucky to see the spire tops so clearly--apparently clouds often hide them.

4/21/2013: Baie d'Hakahau We were able to find a space with just enough swing room between the three transient boats anchored behind the breakwater. Then we followed the road up to a cross on a hilltop east of the harbor.

4/22/2013: Gray Matter Approaching Baie Hanamoenoa, where our good friends Christine Guo and Mark Mohler are anchored aboard Nordhavn 62 Gray Matter. We last saw them in San Francisco, where they'd arranged a slip for us at their marina in Redwood City. And now, both boats having travelled over 5,000 miles since then, we're finally back together again.

4/23/2013: Baie Hanatefau Both boats made the "big" run to Baie Hanatefau the next morning. The anchorage was beautiful, with torquoise waters and steep slopes. We initially had the basin all to ourselves, but half a dozen other boats eventually stopped there too. The small village of Hapatoni is in the background at the south end of the bay.

4/26/2013: Sunset Enjoying the sunset from the bow.

4/27/2013: Sunrise Sunrise through a hole in the cliffs, en route to Fatu Hiva.

4/27/2013: Tahuata cliffs Dramatic cliffs at the south end of Tahuata

4/27/2013: Baie Hanavave Soaring cliffs and dramatic formations flank the valley that heads Baie Hanavave at Fatu Hiva. We've been in some pretty beautiful anchorages on this trip, but this one without question is the most impressive.

4/28/2013: View A road connects Hanavave and the larger village of Omoa to the south, climbing steeply to a 2,000-meter pass. We followed the road up to the pass for sweeping views into the anchorage, the village, and the valley beyond. Dirona is anchored at the far left of the picture.

4/29/2013: Falls Lunch in front of the pool at the base of the falls. Jennifer was going to have a swim, but got over it after we saw an 18-inch eel hunting there.

4/29/2013: Scenery After the hike, we toured the shoreline around the anchorage. Steep, vegetation-covered hills soar above us around at every corner. This is easily the most beautiful place we've ever been.

4/29/2013: Cave Some of the caves were large enough to fit the dinghy well inside.

4/29/2013: Arch This arch Jennifer is sitting at runs about 40 feet clear through the cliff.

4/30/2013: Welcome Welcome sign on the way into the village. Fatu Hiva is the only populated island in the Marquesas without an airport, so everything arrives by boat.

4/30/2013: Octopus On the first dive, we saw many octopus tucked into the rocks, the first we've seen on this trip. The octopus appeared reasonably large, although not nearly as big as the ones we've seen in the Pacific Northwest. We believe this is a Day Octopus, which grows to about 2.5 feet. They changed colors patterns frequently as we watched, going from dark brown to almost white in some transitions.

4/30/2013: Moray eel One of several Moray Eels, possibly a Stout Moray. We saw many eels on this dive, but none were bright yellow like this one.

4/30/2013: Lionfish One of two Spotfin Lionfish hiding under a rock overhang.

5/1/2013: Moorish Idols Two Moorish Idols swimming above our dinghy anchor. We did two more wall dives today--and the underwater scenery and sealife was even better than yesterday. Massive schools of thousands of fish frequently surrounded us, and we saw all kinds of Triggerfish, Butterflyfish and Angelfish.

5/1/2013: A nudi! This 1-inch creature likely is a Nippled Pleurobranch rather than a Nudibranch, but close enough. Both are of the subclass Opisthobranchia whose species often are so wildly colored they look fake. Over 3,000 Nudibranch species live throughout the world's oceans--their fantastic forms and psychedelic colors make them among our favorite sea creatures. Our boat name is derived from Dirona Albolineata, or the Alabaster Nudibranch, an invertebrate indigenous to the Puget Sound that we often saw when scuba diving there.

5/1/2013: Eels A small (left) and a large Moray eel peering out from the rocks.

5/1/2013: School Swimming through a school of thousands of Fusilier-like fish.

Click on the image at left for more photos and the complete map-based trip log.

We arrived in Baie de Taihoae on Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, 31 days and 2,550 nm after leaving Honolulu (trip log map). We had stopped at Palmyra Atoll and Fanning Islands for 11 days, for a total of 20 days at sea. We left Honolulu with 2,350 gallons of diesel and consumed 1,964 gallons en route, 1,864 to the main engine and about 100 to the generator.

Conditions were mostly in our favor on the 950-mile run from Hawaii to Palmyra, but were against us on the 1,394-mile run from Fanning Island to Nuku Hiva. On that last leg, the wind blew steadily on the bow 15-25 knots, typically around 17 knots, with an opposing current of 1.0 to 2.3 knots, mostly in the 1.7-knot range. Overall, our average speed for the entire run was 5.61 nm/hour with a fuel economy of 4.13 gph or 1.36 nm/gal.

To clear into the country, we had worked with an agent, CMA CGM Papeete. This helped in several ways. First, non-EU citizens must either post a bond equivalent to return airfare home, or purchase a refundable ticket in order to enter the country by boat. CMA CGM provided a bond exemption so long as we had proof of health insurance and that the insurance would cover the costs of flying us back home in an emergency (our Divers Alert Network travel insurance was sufficient). Second, diesel fuel can be purchased duty free, but the exemption must be processed in Papeete. CMA CGM's local agent got us cleared through the day we arrived and we received our fuel exemption the day after. Third, we needed to pre-order with the local fuel dock in Taiohae for large quantaties of diesel, as they only have a 13,200 gallon capacity and we'd use 10% of their fuel. And finally, while Jennifer can speak a bit of French, having someone to help with translation was useful as well. Coralie Mante of CMA CGM Papeete was very responsive and helpful in preparing for entry, and Kevin of Yacht Services Nuku Hiva was fast, efficient, and friendly in processing us on arrival.

We took on 1,170 gallons of diesel at the fuel dock, but could have taken 1,364. They were short on fuel, so we couldn't quite fill. Tying up to the fuel dock was interesting. The fuel dock has a cement wall and the surge was substantial, so a side-tie risks damaging the boat. Instead, boats needing small amounts of fuel often ferry them by dinghy in jerry cans. Those needing larger amounts typically med-moor to the wall, where the boat is anchored and backed into the dock and tied standing a few feet off the wall. In the picture below, we've got a 75-foot line from each stern corner to a bollard ashore, and a large Aere inflatable fender protecting the swim platform. The fuel hose runs from the dock, over the swim platform and into the cockpit.

From Palmyra Atoll, we travelled 200 miles southeast to Fanning Island, another atoll in the Northern Line Group of the Line Islands. Fanning Island is part of the Republic of Kiribati, so this would be our first exit from the U.S. into another country since leaving Seattle last September, over 4,000 miles ago.

The entry channel has plenty of depth, but current there can run at 4-5 knots. We'd arrived about an hour before low water slack on a 1.7-foot exchange and conditions looked good to enter. The current still was ebbing a bit, but we had no trouble passing through.

Most of the atoll is shallow with coral heads throughout. We anchored just south of the channel off the main village, flying a yellow quarantine flag until we'd cleared into the country. We'd attempted to make radio contact several times before entering, as the Kiribati administration requested, but it turns out the village radio was not working. Shortly after we'd anchored, however, a skiff came out from the village with officials representing customs and quarantine, and the police chief representing immigration.

They reviewed our papers and requested a brief inspection of the vessel. Generally the process went smoothly and efficiently. Spitfire wandered out on deck during our meeting, and his paperwork was in order as well. Once we'd cleared into the country, we swapped the quarantine flag for the Kiribati courtesy flag.

The Fanning Island population is about 2,000, and fishing is a major activity. No matter what time of day or night, someone always seemed to be out fishing, either from shore or by boat.

A road reportedly rings much of the island, so we brought the bikes ashore to check it out. In the picture below left, we've landed at the pier you can see in the background of the topmost picture of Dirona at anchor. The picture below right is the road heading north towards the channel. The main settlement and administrative buildings are to the left of that photo. Generally the village was clean and tidy, and appeared well-run.

The road was wide enough for a truck until we got to the southeast end, then it became more of a footpath, but still quite rideable, with stone bridges across small channels.

We'd apparently set off during rush hour: the road was quite busy--we passed several trucks and many groups walking or bicicyling. Bicycles are a particularly common mode of transportation here. We also saw the occasional motorcycle and moped. The people were very friendly, pretty much everyone smiled widely and said hello as we passed.

Most of the buildings were built in a traditional style, with thatched roofs. In front of those in the picture below left, a large pit has been dug with plants growing inside. This was fairly common. We also saw at least a half-dozen larger gathering places like the one below right.

Other sights along the way: bananas and a sleeping pig.

From 2000-2008, Fanning Island was a weekly stop for the Honolulu-based Norwegian Cruise Lines ships to work around Jones Act restrictions that a commercial ship built outside the US cannot travel directly between two US ports. We saw several signs and other vestiges of their presence there. In earlier history, Fanning Island also was the terminus of the British Pacific telephone cable from Barkley Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Now we've been at both ends. From Fanning, the cable system linked to Australia via the South Pacific.

We eventually reached a point near the southeast tip where the bridge across a channel was gone, and turned back. We might have carried the bikes across, but the day was becoming hot and we we felt we'd gone far enough already. We stopped on the way back for lunch overlooking the lagoon.

We did a dive the next morning. We anchored the dinghy in about 25 feet just south of the entrance channel outside the atoll and dove south to 60-feet. The quantity and variety of sea life was amazing: 3' Giant Trevally and Double Header Wrasses, the biggest we've seen; schools of Barracuda that circled us completely; many varietes of Butterflyfish and Angelfish, in particular the striking Flame and Golden-Spotted Angelfish; and a sea turtle. Unfortunately the camera battery hadn't been charged properly, so we didn't get pictures for this one.

We'd arrived on a Wednesday, and originally planned to stay until the following Monday, but the weather was looking to deteriorate over the weekend, so we decided to leave for Nuku Hiva after the dive instead.