News from the Halls

Hi everybody,

 

Some news again from the Halls after a long silence.

Where are we? What are we doing? What did we do, what did we see?

So, here are few lines to give you a brief idea of our adventures since end of February, our first 4 months in the Pacific Ocean.

Lots had happened and all of the detailed stories are on our blog (www.merlinsvoyage/net) with lots of photos. So please don't hesitate to go back to it and browse the photos (check the galleries under "Pacific crossing").  We are trying to post news regularly on the blog so family and friends are up to date with our travels. Feel free to leave some comments as we like to get them!

 

Mamouss (Emmauelle's mother) joined us in Panama at the end of February. She came to help us with the sailing and cooking on board, especially knowing that a long crossing was ahead of us. There is lots to do on board: cooking, cleaning, doing school with the boys and now also Clea, doing the watches (at night) and of course looking after Merlin "who" is the one working 24h/day, whatever the environmental conditions.

The transit of the Panama Canal went smoothly. Quite stressful at the beginning because it is a big myth for the maritime world, lots of stories, good ones but also bad ones. However, we had 3 super extra crew to help us with the lines while we were in the different locks. It was very emotional when the last doors opened onto the Pacific. It is a big dream coming through and a big ocean await for us.

 

We stayed too long in Panama City getting ready for our long crossings. However it is never too long when it is about being safely ready! We shopped like crazy to provision for a least 3 months. We were filling up all the empty spaces: we had flour packed away with our tee-shirts and beers in the kids lockers! Greg worked hard on Merlin (new batteries, servicing the motors, …). The water line got even lower when we filled up with water (we are trusting our watermaker but you never know) and even lower when we filled up with extra diesel (here too, we trust the trade winds but you never know).

We left for Las Perlas the 18^th of March. This archipelago seemed really pretty. However, our friends on Nika convinced us to join them as there was a good weather window, which lasted only 36 hours.  The spinnakers were out even with very light wind but we had to motor as from time to time there was really no wind to push us. No luck neither on the fishing side as the score was 5 to 2 for the fish.

 

After 9 days we arrived in the Galapagos. We visited 3 of the islands: San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela. We were surprised to see that these islands weren't so touristic. We really enjoyed our time there, trying to explore everyday and take advantage of being in such a special environment. The flora and fauna are of course just amazing. We also felt that some of the "special features" weren't so special when you came from Cape Town, for example swimming with the penguins or the seals. However we felt privileged to be there, to have enough time to explore this far away paradise. We also felt very special to be part of the sailing family which crosses the Pacific and meets up in the Galapagos as their 1^st stop in such a crossing.

 

We had to leave to start the longest crossing of a "normal" around the world sailing tour from Galapagos to the Marquises, which is more than 6000km. We weren't too sure about this long passage mainly because we haven't done such a long one before. Everything went really well. No bad weather. A disturbing side swell at the beginning but Merlin is such a good boat that knows how to reassure us and Greg is such a great captain! Lots of green flashes, lots of Monopoly games, lots of reading (mainly thrillers, they go very well during night watches) and lots of pancakes evenings. We had our routine (watches, school, cooking, playing…) and this long time at sea went very well and without problem. When we saw Fatu Hiva (our first stop in the Marquises) at the horizon after 17 days a happy excitement grew on board. We were glad to see land again, smell the earth again and meet some people again. We spent 2 ½ weeks in 5 islands of the Marquises. They are all so beautiful. High mountains dropping into a clear transparent sea. The landscapes were really amazing. Lots of treasures in land, very friendly people who gave us lots of fresh fruits and were telling us stories about their land. However with our time frame, set mainly by the weather resulting in having in New Zealand or Australia by November, we had to go.

 

We left for the Tuamotu on the 16^th of May for "short" navigation of 5 days. We had the perfect start: good wind, spinnaker out doing 9 knt, tens of dolphins playing around Merlin and another green flash. However, after 12 hours the wind did not want to cooperate anymore and we had to motor most of the trip (good fore our water line but bad for our diesel stock). The Tuamotu are atolls where you enter through a coral pass. The passes of the Tuamotu need to be entered at the right time because a strong counter current can push you on the coral heads. So every entrance or exit you try to calculate the time of the tide coming in or out. It is very easy to be wrong as the available tables are always for other atolls and local conditions vary the times by an hour or two. We had a great smooth 1^st entrance into Kauehi and discovered living in a lagoon of clear turquoise water. The Marquises are all in height and shape, the Tuamotu are as flat as a pancake.  Very different landscapes but these atolls are so beautiful, We didn't discover too many of the little lost paradises as we decided to enjoy where we were. So after Kauehi, we stayed 10 days (4 different anchorages) in Fakarava. We went diving with the sharks and lots of colorful and impressive tropical fishes. We weren't bored by all this diversity and snorkeling in the passes using the current to push you in the lagoon was such a great experience. Greg was frustrated when we were in the South side of Fakarava as he hurt his back and couldn't move for 2 days. So no diving (apparently this pass is world known for its beauty). However, he joined us snorkeling few days latter.

 

Mamouss had to go back to France and "normal"  life again so we headed to Tahiti beginning of June. We met up with some cousins and a friend. We were discovering the city with all the noises, the pollution but also the shops! It was too much of everything for us after so much simplicity of the islands. We went shopping again for the next 3 months (but in French Polynesia it is less fun as the prices are really steep knowing we are travelling with our SA rands). We are now in Huahine, one of the Society islands, about 200km West of Tahiti. Less boats and very pretty.

 

We are slowly going West and should leave French Polynesia around mid-July. Then it will be the Cooks Islands, Tonga and Fiji. We are not too sure of the rest being either New Zealand or Australia?

Keep an eye on our blog www.merlinsvoyage/net and don't hesitate to leave comment or drop us an email with your news or views as we would love to hear from you!

 

Cheers

Emmanuelle, Gregory, Victor, Felix and Clea

On sailing yacht Merlin

Cell 00 689 23 15 83

Check out the web updates on www.merlinsvoyage.net