Call of the Wild…
Free to move again, I decided to take a little time for myself and travel around the islands a bit while my current visa was still valid. After that, the government would give me an extension to do the boat work again, but I figured I might as well take advantage of a bit of […]
Finding the Needle in the Haystack
“Hello, Liz? C’est Manuelle. My clients didn’t show up so we can go now to look for your chain if you wish?” “Yes, great. I’m ready. I can pick you up in town with Swell.” We loaded her dive gear aboard and headed off to the GPS point where, 125 ft below, sat my brand […]
Big Brothers Aren’t All the Same
Thick rain closed in and didn’t let up for our last two days together. But James and I were content to rest quietly aboard Swell, reading and chatting and enjoying our last bit of time. We laughed at the ways we were turning into our parents, discussed the state of the world and how we […]
Bro-Sis Upwind Bonding
It’s said that what goes up must come down, so after nearly a week of clear skies and light winds, I wasn’t surprised to see towering thunderheads and swirling wind gusts on the morning we prepped Swell to leave Bora Bora. Schedules pending, we had no choice but to batten down the hatches and go […]
“Vooooo-Lay-Voooooo Quelquechose a Boire??”
New Year’s Eve and James and I sailed into Bora Bora around 3 pm after a glorious passage. We tossed the dinghy over the side and I rowed in to the Bora Bora Yacht Club to see what was happening for the festivities that evening. Everyone hurried to and fro, moving tables and sweeping and […]
Hello, James…goodbye anchor chain!
For four year we had talked about a rendezvous aboard Swell, but the timing had always been wrong. Then suddenly, there was my beloved big brother descending the steps of the plane right before my eyes!! Not only had he made the trip on ultra short notice, he’d managed to bring me a jib sail […]
Motor Mount Showdown: The Final Battle 12/26/09
And so despite that Jesse had probably hoped to spend his brief pass through town out enjoying a blue lagoon somewhere, I had no choice but to tackle the engine repair before my brother arrived the following day! We pulled off the stairs to survey what we were up against: The engine was definitely high…way […]
Nisha Fizzles…Now OLI bearing down.
My ‘vacation’ from the boatyard was short-lived on account of cyclone season suddenly giving everyone a scare. I high-tailed it back to the boatyard before the storm was due to arrive and hauled Swell out a week earlier then planned. Nisha was downgraded and we saw only 30-35 knots of wind, but close behind her, […]
“5 Squalls from the Northeeeeeeeeeeast! 4 Tahitian Roosters, 3 Frenchmen in Speedos, 2 Wrong Motor Mounts…and the Jimmy Buffett Christmas Album on Repeat!!” (sung to 12 Days of Xmas tune)
“Melekalikimaka is the thiiiiiiing to saaaaaaaay, on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day…” Jimmy Buffett’s voice was carried off into the gusty NE winds. It was a longstanding tradition in the Clark household on Christmas, that the Jimmy Buffett Christmas album was played over and over until we all hated every song enough not to want […]