You can never have too many feasts can you? Well perhaps you can! In Tonga, it is tradition to gather with your family over a meal on Sunday afternoon. If there is a roast suckling pig then it is - officially - a feast. We are hoping the WorldARC rally doesn't make the local piglets extinct on the islands as there have been plenty sacrificed for our good eating. With the pork as the primary meat staple, the other elements of the feast are locally sourced products such as

Tonga. It is not by mistake that these are called the Happy Isles. We had loved it 26 years ago, and we still love it today. One of our first days in Neiafu, we visited the local municipal market. We were a little late in the day for the market, but a few of the stalls were still open. Betty, manager of one of t the stalls was impressed with my rudimentary ability to speak Tongan and was eager to teach me more. We chatted a bit about our trip to Neiafu 26 years ago and

After crossing the start line in Bora Bora we had a slow first day. Winds were light, but eventually they built up and we had some good winds but really uncomfortable swell on the beam making for rolly conditions. Pleasant conditions for the start line for Leg 5 We didn’t do much those first few rolly days and I was mostly useless. The side to side motion made things uncomfortable and I was a queasy. Our new crew mates were troopers and while they too were getting their s

Bora Bora is the place of mystical beauty and may embody what many people imagine when they dream of the South Pacific. I couldn’t stop thinking of the songs & lyrics from musical Bali Hai as I wandered down the streets. Compared to the other islands we'd been to in French Polynesia, Bora Bora has a more ‘American’ vibe. More people spoke English and it just felt less ‘French’. (Je ne sai quoi?) Tourists seemed to be more predominately from the US. We supposed that w

After a lovely overnight sail from Tahiti we found ourselves at the island of Taha'a. This small island shares a lagoon with the larger Raiatea. We were looking for something a bit laidback from the big city and a chance to do some snorkeling and exploring. We were not disappointed. Taha'a doesn't get too much tourism although a few of the smaller South Pacific Cruise ships wander through, but we didn't see anyone getting off the ships. Enjoying a day at the end of the

After leaving Moorea, we enjoyed a lovely week at Taha'a Island and a few days on Bora Bora. It was a busy time where we changed crew, reunited with other WorldARC participants and prepped the boat for the next offshore leg. We didn't have much time to write up anything about our time. Now we are onto Niue (maybe), then Tonga. We will share more stories about our last weeks in French Polynesia in a future blog -- when we have time to catch up. Okisollo crew complete with

I thought it would be funny to include a picture of a snow covered mountain and tell you all out how we went snow skiing for a day....But April fools day was last month! At anchor just inside the reef on Moorea So here we are today anchored off another beautiful tropical reef in a picture perfect setting. We just completed a non-eventful overnight passage from the island of Moorea to Taha'a. Taha'a & Raitea share a reef and there are many anchorages within close proximity

Papeete is a bustling city, frenzied by the early morning arrival of large cruise ships and their hundreds of visitors and the marine industry (as one might expect being the biggest city in the middle of the Pacific). Our slip at the Papeete Marina was located just 50' off the main road (it's the closest to on-street parking we will likely ever put Okisollo), so it was quite noisy up until about 10 pm. There were 4 chandleries within walking district as well as two large AC

On the Fakarava South pass we were soaking up all the goodness. Dan has done scuba dives with sharks many times -- but me -- well I was in for a new and exciting experience!

The anchorage in front of the village of Rotoava Fakarava Atoll The four day sail from the Marquesas to the Tuomotus archipeligo was an easy sail. With 4 of us on board, we had 3 hours on 9 hours off at night. It was again heavenly. We ate well and we slept well. Even though we were sailing on a broad reach, the wave height was minimal which made for a very gentle motion. We hardly had to touch the sails. Deb and Gregg our crew for this leg easily fell into the rhythm a

Approaching the beautiful island of Ua Pou, Hakahetau Bay Leaving Hiva Oa, we first headed to the island of Nuku Hiva after an overnight sail between the islands. It was mostly uneventful, calm and a steady breeze. Our only issue is that at this point was our freezer deciding to join our refrigerator -- and stop working. We had defrosted multiple times but still it seemed to be having issues, and then it went dark. So we were very thankful to meet our crew, Deb & Gregg wh

Land Ho! Hiva Oa Marquesas The moment you sight land after being at sea for almost 3 weeks is a happy day. It is at that point you realize that humans are supposed to be land-based animals and while being at sea is ‘fun’ ‘exciting’ ‘challenging’…there is nothing that sounds better than the idea of having your feet on Terra Firma. The final days of this leg, we sailed 100% downwind. We hadn’t really planned for a direct downwind sail, although we likely should have. For Ok

We are closing in on our arrival to the Island of Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia. In preparation I am tasked with registering on multiple websites for the various French authorities. As my French is extremely limited, google translate has been a life saver to help figure out what forms are needed and what documentation will be required (proof of outbound flight, health insurance, travel insurance, boat insurance, boat documentation, passports, biosecurity questionnair

Tradewind Sailing at its best! It’s day 9 and we are almost half way to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands. Nine days into our voyage, maybe 9 days to go and we are settling into our routine. The transformation to offshore sailing does take some time. Among many of the adjustments, the two biggest are constant movement and disrupted sleep. Our galley at an agle. The stove top and cup are actually straight, everything else is leaning! It is hard to describe how much the

Street art in Puerto Ayora Or nature adventure continues in the Galapagos. After getting settled in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, we've enjoyed exploring the busy touristy town and seeing some more wild things. Dan and Josh went on a guided scuba diving trip to Gordon Rocks. They had a calm day and saw some amazing underwater wildlife on the drift dive. Shark sighting on the dive Dan scuba diving That same day, Raf and I took a guided snorkel tour to the Island of Sa

Upon arrival on the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos, we proceeded to complete the Ecuador check in procedures. First, the boat bottom was inspected by 2 free divers. Upon getting the 'bien' and thumbs up from them a small boat delivered another 11 people to board. The Agent's entourage included the Port Captain, a doctor, a national park official, narcotics officer, customs, immigration and several other people that we aren't sure what they were doing. They check

Before leaving Las Perlas Panama we met more of the rally boats and their crew at the rendezvous dinner situated overlooking a bay full of rally boats. The evening ended with a bonfire and fireworks. The next day all the skippers met to review the plans for the course to the Galapagos. Entering into Galapagos is tricky. Not because of sailing but because of all the rules upon entry. Part of our trip there will include organizing all of our things to make it easy for t

We got our official rally flags and numbers...and were excited to leave the dock. But it didn't go entirely as planned.

We anchored off Taboga Island for a few days. This cute little beach town, just 7nm from Panama City is full of flowers, vibrant colored houses and lots of tourists traveling in for a day of beach. Well within the reach of Panama City by ferry, the town was partying until the last ferry left the dock. Laid back beach town of Taboga brings the weekend crowds. In the evenings and mornings, it was pretty quiet. People doing yoga on the beach and the weekend crowd enjoying the

https://youtu.be/pmcsr0wt4wk?si=zpY7ajK-mh1r5N8B We made quick work of ready-ing the boat after the launch from dry dock. We spent one more day running into town to get fresh food supplies filling up the fridge and freezer – the only open space for food remaining. We were overjoyed to find that one of the grocery stores carried cans of corned beef and hash. It is one of our favorite breakfast treats that remind us of cold mornings in the pacific northwest. We bought 10 ca