Picture time ! Tahiti to Tikihau

thanks to all of you who have been following us!! we have finally been able to post some pictures - also thanks for your comments ! we love to read them, we have been having fun here in Hilo and have lots more pictures for you, enjoy! please be patient, cause the intenet here at the boat is not so good! has been a real pain. lucky day today to be able to post pictures finally! Graeme has left us, flew home last night - we miss him already! thanks Graeme for joining us and all your help. today is a clean the boat and low key day, we have been going and going since we got here. We have to be escorted out and in everytime we want to leave to land . we are in a commercial area - Hilo Port. the security people are great, more later.........

here are some photos from Tahiti to Tikihau, from there we left to Hilo, we had a great time in Tikihau, one of the greenest Tuamotu we have seen! and lots of pretty flowers

the kids! love that Kyle don't ya- what is with boys!!

Dingy rides to land in Tikihau! Malachi and Orca III - the only boats here!

Bakery in Tikihau - last time for the cheap baquettes! good, cause we are getting tired of those!

yep thats Orca III out there between the trees, pretty , eh!?

the Tremblay Duo - Graeme and Steve on land in Tikihau

one of the many , many gorgeous sunsets at sea!

Princess Emma, we all took turns ( girls that is,) wearing the crown and lai, even Malachi had a turn

Graeme and Maya in crows nest under way to Tikihau, Tuamotu

Maya's turn with the flowers!

Dionne the queen in Tahiti!! haha, I bought these flowers cause they are so pretty , we all enjoyed them and they smelled so beautiful. this was from the market in Papeete Tahiti, just before we left for the Tuamotus.

In HIlo Hawaii!!!!!

yeah , we made it!! have internet for a brief time. ! happy to be on land, we are tied next to Malachi, already rented a car to share with them and will be off to see lava, volcanoes tonight. more exploring tomorrow - Graeme is leaving us soon.
we arrived yesterday around 9 am, got checked in and off we went to do all the laundry - 16 laods!! they have this very cool laundry mat- washing machines ,driers - wow! we loved it, no more hand washing!!!!!!!!!!! we went to the mongolian grill for late late lunch, early supper, then off Marg and I went to walmart and safeway! what a treat to go to somewhere we know! came back to a cruiser party on the warf - Steve serving our tuna to all, raw with wasabi and soya - what a hit as no one else caught any fish - so they loved it. turns out there are 3 other boats here with teenagers , so heaps more kids!! everyone doing well,

trying to post pictures but no luck, will try later

almost there

Well we are only 16 hours away from being tied to the dock in Hilo!! still no land in site - just over 100 miles to go , am amazed that we can't see it as the volcanoes are almost 14,000 ft high! yesterday was our best day for miles travelled in 24 hrs - we did 180!!!! new record! the last 4 days we have made awesome time!! but we are tired of leaning and waves splashing. I have bruises everywhere from falling off waves! this has been a long passage. our guess is because we have spent so much time at sea from leaving NZ - 22 days to Tubuai, stopped there for 4 days, then 3.5 days to Tahiti, ( between Moorea and Tahiti we were there 2 weeks) then 2 days to Tikihu Tuamotus - stayed 1 day 2 nights before we left for Hawaii - 18 days , so around 44 days at sea alone, so glad we are stopping in Hawaii for just over 3 weeks! we need the rest!!!!!!

tomorrow morning we will be in Hilo - will post pictures to the blog asap. laundry is first!

update from Orca III

Hello everybody!!!

we are making great headway! have been doing 7-8 knts for the last many days and we expect to be in Hilo by Tuesday! Yeah!!! we did 163 miles yesterday in the last 24 hrs and expect the same today! this is excellent. have seeen lots of flying fish! and last night on my and Mayas watch had one come into the cockpit - flippin and a flapp'n all over the place. I finally picked him up and threw him back. the other day we had a squid on our cabin top! we are healed over 15-20 degrees all day and night , it will be fun trying to walk on land again! Graeme and Emma have had fun drawing faces on her toes and then shapes and flowrs on her leg. Everything is salty and I can hardly wait to get the laundry done.we have a ton!! mostly sheets and pillow cases and many many towels.

well that's it for now, too hard to type on this angle.

ps couldn't send this yesterday - broken connection from ham to computer - Steve fixed it today - yesterday was our top miles travelled in 24 hours 168.7!!!!! that is a record for Orca III

we are still having a nice sail, today is even better the wind is from the east. less leaning and waves. all are doing excellent! hoping to see whales soon

getting closer and closer to hilo

just a quick update. we are sailing in lovely wind and the sun is out! yesterday we had rain , rain, rain, wind more wind, and confused seas!! that was the ITCZ area but now we are out of it!! looks like if we keep up this speed June 9 evening will be our land fall. we are all looking forward to arriving in Hawaii. one of the boats just a head of us broke their forestay and have jerry rigged it up - also managed to get a hold of the US coast guard just in case they need any assistance. so all is good.
we are madly eating all the frozen meat - last night everyone pigged out on steak! nothing else to say, all are well on board , malachi is just ahead of us by about 1-2 miles . I think we have done our last handwashing forever! its out drying on the line now, and we only did it because we took a ton of water in the galley and head yesterday - so all the towels have been done. I am never handwashing again, I swear I have arthritis in my hands from all the wringing!

take care,
Dionne

current position

07 37.7N 144 01.3W
6 knots
COG 338T

more updates from the sailing vessel orca 3

well we have been making fantastic time! did 153 miles yesterday ! the wind right now is beautiful! about 15-18 knots, very calm seas and we are sailing along at 7 knots- have the hatches open, washed the cockpit from all its salt and doing a cleaning job inside. hardly leaning, and a very pleasant sail! last night on my watch the boat during a squall got to 9.7 knots! but with the calm seas it was fine. did roll the genoa in though and still all night we did 7 knots, if we keep this up we will be in Hilo in 7 days, 17 hrs and 45 minutes!!

Still close to Malachi - enjoying making up songs to tunes we know , just had the shackle on the boom vang bust - loud noise! no biggy , steve has spares and it fixing it now, funny it would go now in this easy sail, glad that it did, makes it easier to fix.

trying desperately to eat all the meat in the freezer as we can not bring it into Hilo - Graeme the protein man is happy about this!

until next time
this will be Orca III charlie foxtrot golf 7565 clear

crossing the line

Its been a long hard sail most of the time,
We've had enough squalls to last us a life time,
With Malachi leading we're not far behind,
together at 1 am May 31
we crossed the line!

there were strobe lights flashing on the line,
even lasers looking mighty fine,
Steve sounds our siren , almost blue my mind!
together at 1 am
we crossed the line

it was Graeme's first time at 00' 00"
it was Malachi and Orca's second - aren't we the heros
Its great to be North again!
together a 1 am we crossed the line

Hey you all, not far to Hilo now!! its your turn!

Hugs,
Dionne and the rest of Orca III

still sailing (actual date is May 28)

well, we have wind.... pointing into it , so we are leaning a lot and have some seas too! not my favorite part. feels like climbing Mt. Everest every time we walk through the pilot house!! makes cooking not so fun! this is where I need a gymbled stove! yep thats right I don't have that and I highly recommend for anyone going cruising this is a must!!!!! anyway, we caught more fish the other day. The same day we caught the mahi mahi, later that afternoon we caught a 4 foot shark! no kidding - have pictures of that one, and we threw him back, then right away on the other line we had a huge huge yellow fin tuna. he was almost 80 lbs!! and our first one we've ever caught. we gave Malachi half - and I have video of that exchange I tell ya, and now my freezer is full of fish. I feel like a fish market with all the varieties we have!

we are making progress, but all are anxious to get to Hilo - fantasizing about frostys and ice cream and such. its very hot here, especially inside the boat as we have to keep all the hatches close for all the spray. Graeme tried to sleep outside one night but found it too uncomfortable. and it started to rain, the cockpit is the compfy spot -but that is reserved for those on watch. Have had a few sightings of "ships" that turned out to be stars -planets really , Venus we think, regardless I call that my star as it is always rising on my watch. Last night we did see a few fishing boats. nice to have Malachi ahead - both Marg and I chat on our watches, nice.

not much else, just hanging out, hard to read in this kind of waves. we have about 12 days or so - depending on wind and waves , to go.

Orca III on the side

just sailing along............(actual date May 26)

having a nice light wind sail for the last few days. seas are very small and calm and we have been able to leave all the hatches open! need to its so HOT!- Malachi is still with us just slightly ahead about 1-2 miles. we have been lucky fishermen yesterday and today. caught some kind of sailfish yesterday, very blue - we think either a pacific sailfish or a very young blue marlin, it has a very pointy mouth but no long bill. He was 4 feet long, and very very blue! very pretty and today we caught a mahi mahi! they are so pretty too, blue, green, gold - it was jumping out of the water! so today we eat mahi mahi!

have had some rain today and two beautiful rainbows! its cloudy and cooler - nice for a change! well not much else to say, me and the kids are reading lots, Graeme listening to his music, Steve just hanging out. his mp3 player that got wet and he fixed has kicked the bucket! so we will be looking for something for him in Hawaii cause he loves his music. thats it for now, this is a much much better passage! i like this kind -

until next time this is Orca III CFG7565 standing on the side

orca III underway to Hawaii (actual date May 23)

Hey all,
we are leaving from the Tuamotus today, on our way to Hawaii. Boat is in great shape - looking forward to being in Hawaii. we are heading to Hilo on the big island. It is very hot here! and will get hotter the closer we get to the equator. have had a nice time in Tikihau ( thats the atoll we are at in the Tuamotus) lots of swimming and this is the greenest atoll we've seen! lots of flowers and trees, not just coconut ones either. Malachi is still with us - hope all of our fellow cruisers are enjoying Fiji and have arrived safe. keep us posted. to all of you at home, looking forward to seeing you in August!

hugs
Dionne

last dinner in Tahiti - Roulette style

what a treat to not have to cook! and its so hot ,especially in Papeete City..... we are leaving today to first do a quick stop in Rangaroa then off to Hilo Hawaii. until then its ham radio time.....

here we all are eating at the roulette trucks! good food!

these trucks all park here and have all kinds of food. this is the crepe one!

waiting for dinner

the Crandell's of Malachi

Orca party time - Canadian Style

We had 6 Canadian boats in Moorea , so we had a party!! all the crew on all 6 boats came over to Orca III - Ian on Earthlight read us a story he wrote many years ago! It was fantastic and a good time had by all. munchies and new friends being made! One boat "Loona III" had not seen Canadians for 2 years - so they were very excited to join us. ( they have been in Lima) We decided that seeing as there were a majority of Canadain Vessels , we claimed Moorea as ours!! ( hahhaha) it was a lot of fun !



This be Ian from Earthlight, he came "dressed" for the occassion! I think Emma was trying to get his top from him. It was neat to see Earthlight cause the last time we spoke - 1 yr ago, they were just coming into Tahiti and we were in Moorea and heard them on the VHF - but we were leaving the next day so missed sssing them . what a nice surprise to have them in Moorea when we arrived this time!! all who know Ian , know how funny he is!!!



Captain Robert! hat suits him don't you think!!

the true owner of the cap!! this was my grandpa A's hat when he was on the Lord Selkirk! Looks good on the Admiral, eh?!!!!!
Rose and Steve, in charge of the tuna - we have come to love it raw with soya and wasaby!!

Here we have the lovely Marg , Julie ( Mad Hatter) and Wendy ( Earthlight)

canadian kids!

Emma wanted to go fishing on her own! so off she went with fishing rod in hand and in her own "dingy" - had fun, caught no fish............

Moorea and swimming with the Rays! and Tattoos!!

we had a blast swimming with rays and they are gorgeous! and Graeme had fun! It was Rose's first time and she also loved it .we will go again tomorrow and take Robert with us this time. After that we walked a long way to go to the tattoo artist for Graeme. he got one ! You'll have to wait til he comes home to see what it is!! I'm not allowed to show you!!!

everyone checking out the tattoo book

Tattoo time. not everyday you take your 9 yr old to a tattoo parlor, eh?!

Graeme getting his tattoo

tikis everywhere

more rays

kyle and the rays, he loves these guys!

birthdays in Tahiti! snorkeling too!

Its picture time again! we have been having fun and working hard. lots of groceries to buy!! and Steve has been fixing all the broken things. we are getting it done!! yead

Our little Emma also a fish!! sorkeling in Tahiti at Marina Tahina

Kyle, Jocelyn, Jenny, and Maya - they are just like fish!! snorkeling in Tahiti!

Yep that's me!

Maya and her found treasure

Kyle found some too! thats coral from the bottom ( don't worry its a dead one)

and that's Graeme, finally got him in the water!

Me and Rose ( Tillicum) this was my birthday afternoon snorkel!

Kyle can go straight down! He's our diver

Birthday music for me and Emma sang her own song with him

the kids with Rose

kids with Robert ( Tillicum)

Steve and I on my birthday

My beautiful necklace from Robert and Rose!
my medal from Maya , I love it!!!! and the forks - well that's a story from Malachi, ask me when we get home!
My birthday Cinnamon Buns made by Marg on Malachi! what a treat, they were still hot too!! Lucky lucky me, these are the best!!!
Emma's birthday Ice cream!

Emma's 9th Birthday! We made it to Tahiti on her birthday!

Emma and her best bud, Austin