After the long dry spell impounded in Mexico, AVATAR is on the move again! Once safely back in San Diego we attacked the backlog of repair and refit projects in express mode and finally, better than new, hit the … Continue reading →
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Mexican Standoff
My apologies for the six month hiatus since my last post back in September! AVATAR made a heroic journey cross-Pacific in October on the heels of our last Tongan adventure. The crew sailed non-stop from Vava’u to Honolulu, arriving on … Continue reading →
Close Encounter
We’ve been treated to beautiful weather in Tonga, with sunny skies and crystalline clear water vibrant in shades of blue and turquoise. But day before yesterday a storm moved in bringing gray skies and rain. The colors wash out of … Continue reading →
Swallows’ Cave and Mariner’s Cave
Just around the corner from Neiafu near an anchorage named Port Mourelle (after the Spaniard Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle who was the first European to land in Vava’u), are two well-known tourist destinations – a pair of caves in the … Continue reading →
Whale Spotting
It took us two weeks to get from Fiji to Tonga, thanks to an uncooperative convergence zone stalled overhead, producing heavy gray clouds, buckets of rain, and high winds. We navigated southeasterly through Fiji looking for safe overnight anchorages and … Continue reading →
Bula from Yadua
Here we are back in Fiji for the umpteenth (I’ve lost count) time. Fiji offers a reliable starting off point for a tropical vacation with nonstop air service from Los Angeles, an excellent marina for the boat to hang out … Continue reading →
Side Trip to the Frozen North
CLICK HERE for Slideshow I have always wanted to see the northern lights but living in Southern Arizona and cruising in the equatorial Pacific do not lend themselves to frequent aurora borealis sightings. And I always worried that making a … Continue reading →
The Wayag Group
We are spending the final five days of the AVATAR portion of our Indonesian adventure in the Wayag group. This is an absolutely stunning location – the very essence of Raja Ampat. If you pick up a guidebook you will … Continue reading →
The Equator
We crossed the equator today. Actually we probably flew across it on our trip here, but that hardly counts. We forewent the traditional maritime ceremony for first-time crossers, involving (Rod tells us) flour, tar and Neptune, god of the sea. Instead, … Continue reading →
The Red Bird of Paradise
After scuba diving three times a day for five days in a row at Sorido Bay Resort, Mike and I were pretty well saturated. We were rather relieved to learn that Saturdays are no-dive days at the resort, but … Continue reading →
