Mary and Rick keep vigilance for sparks and cigarettes while MJ fills the diesel tank. Just to be clear - there was and is no relationship between Mary and Rick.
MJ melts the end of the halyard after cutting off the chafed end and retying.
Stephanie riding one of the many decorated privately run buses in Acapulco. In addition to playing party music, the buses have religious icons up front.
At home on the south side of Tahiti.
MJ in a mountain stream in the interior of Tahiti.
Paddlers training inside the reef at Arue, Tahiti.
Papeete harbour just after sunset. Taken from Le Belvedere restaurant high up in the hills above town.
The fondue pot makes a loud sizzling and popping noise when you drop your meat in.
Le Belvedere restaurant serves an interesting fondue accompanied by a great view.
Papeete's Bounty Quay is next to the busy Rue Pomare and subject to a strong swell. Mooring is med-style.
Safely through the pass and on the way to Tahiti. Secured on deck are diesel and gasoline jerry jugs, sun-shower, dive tanks, liferaft, sea-anchor rode and a folding bicycle (in the canvas bag at right.
This brightly coloured Parrot Fish swam by as we dove outside Passe de Tiputa at Rangiroa.
This sea turtle was feeding amongst the coral about forty feet down outside Passe de Tiputa, Rangiroa.
A fish trap is in the foreground of this view of the anchorage off Hotel Kia Ora in Rangiroa. S.V. Wheatstrong is a far left.
Three young girls playing in the water around the Rangiroa Taxi Boat.
View of Passe de Tiputa, Rangiroa nearing sunset. The water is roiled by the outflowing tidal current from the lagoon meeting the ocean swells outside.
We just made it into the anchorage in time for the last rays of sun. Drop the hook, pop a bear, sit back and relax. Working to a deadline in the islands.
At the atoll of Tahanea in the Tuomotus, MJ visited this motu via dinghy, or volcanically small uprising inside an atoll.
Some kind of tern photographed by MJ at Tahanea, an uninhabited atoll in the Tuomotus. The white cloud behind the bird is really a cloud.
See the shadow of a hawk covering over the endangered Tuomotu Sandpiper.
Only at this motu at Tahanea lives this endangered sandpiper. It survives here because there are no rats. MJ fed it pate and brie.
Rikitea, a small town of the island of Mangareva in Gambier, was our first stop after Pitcairn Island. You can see Wheatstrong anchored. Of the three boats closest to the shore, it's the one in the middle.
After a two day sail from Pitcairn, we spot Gambier Islands. This photo is taken about 30 minutes before our Perkins engine decides to stop working. We tack and jibe our way through the channels to anchor safely in Rikitea.
MJ is catching rainwater using the dodger awning while on watch. When it rains, we get out containers to capture water for drinking and showers. To conserve water, we wash dishes in salt water and rinse in fresh. We also shower about once every 3 days.
The Pitcairn Island cemetary has headstones of Youngs, Christians, McCoys, Adams, all descendants of the Bounty mutineers. Stephanie is wearing her jacket buttoned around her legs because mosquitos were attacking her.
Stephanie and MJ are photographed inside the Pitcairn town square with the HMS Bounty anchor, salvaged by Irving Johnson in 1957.
Mayor Steve Christian personally gives MJ and Stephanie an island tour on one of many Honda ATC 4 wheelers on the island. The house in the background was where we went to get our passports stamped.
Mayor Steve shows Stephanie the beautiful natural pool on St. Paul's Point fed and drained by the sea. Notice that Steve, like all other Pitcairners, doesn't wear shoes.
Mayor Steve shows Stephanie the Pitcairn garden and rich volcanic soil. The Christian family sent us off with several boxes of fresh cucumbers, watermelon, bananas, parsley, and bell peppers.
While on the island tour, we took a photo of Wheatstrong anchored at Tedside and Young's Rock.
Mayor Steve brought us to his son's house to do some computer work as soon as he found out that MJ was an IBM consultant. From left to right, Randy Christian (son of Steve and Olive Christian), Stephanie, Steve Christian, Nadine Christian (Randy's wife and New Zealand native), and Bradley Brown Christian (Nadine's from a previous marriage).
Randy Christian picked us up in the longboat (that Steve is pushing up the boat ramp) from Wheatstrong and brought us into Bounty Bay after pulling in the day before. This was our first stop after a 10 day sail from Easter Island.
MJ and Stephanie at Ahu Vinapu, with several toppled moai. Ahu were village burial sites and ceremonial centers. Vinapu is famous for its tight-fitting stonework, which some claim is similar to a style found at Inca sites in S. America.
Painting of birds in a seaside cave at Easter Island.
MJ and Stephanie were serenaded while eating lunch at a cafe at Easter Island. He kept singing a song in English with the lyrics, "I am so happy..."
Seven moai face the ocean. These stone faced statues were the only ones facing the ocean and were put back up by US archaeologist William Mulloy after being toppled in the late 17th century.
This is edge of the Rano Kau Crater with the Orongo ceremonial village to the right. Men would compete to retrieve a sooty tern egg from an offshore islet by entering the water from the crater opening to the sea.
View of the Rano Kau crater, which sits on the southwest corner of Easter Island.
Dennis Burgess came to pick MJ and Stephanie up on the dinghy. It was tough to land the dinghy next the dock because there were rocks and some waves near the ladder leading up to the dock.
This is the road leading down to our pseudo dinghy dock at Vinapu. Easter Island was probably our worst anchorage thus far.
This sign post at Easter Island shows exactly how far it is from everything. The closest land is Pitcairn Island, 1150 nautical miles away.
Locals enjoy surfing at Hanga Roa, Easter Island. The shore is shallow with a lot of reef and rock.
This is about the only place locals wade in the ocean at Easter Island.
Stephanie poses next to a restored moai with eyeballs. Dive shops and small boats line the pier in the background.
Two restored moai in the background as Stephanie tries to get rid of this dog. This dog followed Stephanie for about 2 kilometers.
Stephanie had a friendly dog following her in Easter Island.
See the two moais in the background and the fisherman cutting up fish on the dock.
MJ brought these men from the Vinapu dock back to Wheatstrong for check in procedures. They called MJ "Capitan" on the radio and when they saw him on the street.
MJ created a sock puppet called Steph Chop from Stephanie's hair shed on Wheatstrong.
Dennis gaffs the tuna caught on the way to Easter Island. Dennis joined us just days after retiring from the Las Vegas Police Department.
A few peices got left on the cutting room floor.
Yes, kids, it pays to study. The final splice is truly a beautiful thing. We are ready again to throw out the stern anchor. Thanks Bob and Dennis!
While the concept of double braid splicing seems simple enough the instructiuons are anything but. It doesn't help that they are written by people who think it's self-evident.
Dennis Burgess, recently retired from the Las Vegas PD, takes on his new career as delivery crew and rope splicer. It gave us something to do on the two week sail from Isabela to Easter Island.
Sometimes the splice just doesn't turn out the way you wanted it to. The concept seemed simple enough.
Stephanie made many loaves of bread while sailing. Here's a sourdough loaf with a little inscription for MJ.
After the captain of a local cruise boat, the Darwin, cut out stern anchor rode with his anchor chain in Puerto Ayora, we were in need of a new splice for the anchor shackle on the remaining part. Bob Jocks knows how to splice and was undaunted by even this large task.
These birds were identified to me as Galapagos Ducks.
Flamingos hang out in the wild at Galapagos' Isabella Island.
Galapagos Girls Birdwatching
I haven't been able to identifythis one. It's a wading bird in the Galapagos.
Dennis, MJ and Bob in the cockpit during the eight our passage from Puerto Ayaora, Santa Cruz to Puerto General Villamil, Isabela
Never one to turn down an opportunity for a shower, Stephanie uses the remaining fresh water from the delivery boat after Wheatstrong's tanks were filled.
A New Year's Eve diorama in Puerto Ayora protesting terrorism and violence.
This one was put together by the local police department.
This criticizes the turtle for not having done anything about ecology. If you read Spanish, you may understand it better than we did.
Here are some of our favorite animated characters from Disney and Warner Bros. Some are a little tough to recognize.
This owl was checking out the New Year's Eve celebrations in Puerto Ayora from on top of a flagpole in the town square.
In Puerto Ayora, people gamble while the dealer, unbeknownst to him, is being pickpocketed!
Laundry on board the boat piles up quickly and the pile is processed in small loads using this manual pressure washing machine. It works great but only holds about five pounds of laundry.
One of the many marine iguanas climing on the rocks in Puerto Ayora near the dock.
Mauricio and Richard, the two men in the picture, invited us for dinner at Mauricio's apartment. Mauricio and Richard helped us take off and put on the rudder under water in Puerto Ayora.
One of several land iguana at the Charles Darwin Station in Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands.
One of about 100 at the Charles Darwin Station, this baby tortoise is about the size of an adult's hand.
These giant tortoises were bathing in the Galapagos National Park during our tour.
This giant tortoise was in between bites when this picture was captured at the Galapagos National Park.
Stephanie is smiling next to the back end of a turtle; it even looks like it is smiling back. You can see how big the turtle is next to her.
So the comic strip was right. Birds really do sit on the backs of giant turtles and carry on philosophical conversations.
Stephanie, Mary and MJ before the only freshwater pool on San Christobal Island, Galapagos in the crater of an extinct volcano at an elevation of 700 metres.
Stephanie gives a wide berth to a giant tortoise on the trail in the turtle park on San Christobal.
A giant tortoise about one metre long and weighing probably one hundred kilograms.
Sea Lions bask on the benches in Puerto Baquerizo Mareno, San Christobal Island. One barked at Mary as she walked by.
Stephanie and Mary hiking in the arid environs of Frigatebird Hill near Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
A marine iguana and sea lion bask in the late afternoon sun near San Christobal Island with Lion Rock on the horizon.
A large sea lion pup suckles at Isla Lobos.
A group of sea lions lie in the shade warming on Isla Lobos.
A sea lion looks to his mother for reassurance on Isla Lobos off of San Christobal Island, Galapagos. This little island is inhabited by a large colony of sea lions and nesting blue footed boobies.
Stephanie wears her foulies to keep out the rain during a squall in the gulf of Tahuantapec west of Central America. The gulf is home to frequent storms and heavy winds known as Tahuantapeckers; we were lucky to get through with only a few days with winds in the low thirties and 12 to 15 foot seas.
A few hundred miles south of Acapulco we were motoring in flat seas when we were surrounded by dozens of dolphins. They took turns riding the bow wave and stayed with us until MJ decided to stop the boat and jump in the water to swim with them. They then lost interest and swam away despite MJ's best imitation of a drowning victim.
Mary and Stephanie pose for a shot on a lookout over Acapulco, our last stop in Mexico before departing for the Galapagos.
Zihuatanejo was the best anchorage and friendliest town we stopped at in Mexico. It's a little touristy, but not too much, and the water is calm and clear.
This fishing boat, spotted at ecologically minded Turtle Bay, Mexico, appears to be powered by human waste.
