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Sailing De Novo

Where are we now?
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2018-2021 Adventures

Where are we now?

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To track us on De Novo, try our Garmin Inreach:

https://share.garmin.com/denovo . This might include some shore adventures as our InReach is also our only form of emergency contact we bring on hikes!

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Eight Days in Suwarrow, Cook Islands

"Prevention is, as in other aspects of seamanship, better than cure." --Sir Robin Knox Johnston Kia Orana , dear friends and family, We’re sorry for the long wait between blog posts. We’ve been distracted by the responsibilities of land life and the horrors unfolding here in the United States. But since we’ll return to lovely Tonga soon, we realized we needed to catch up. We still have so much to share. And even during political dumpster fires, people need stories! The Best Laid Plans… At 1400 on July 20th, we pulled anchor in Tapu’amu, Taha’a, and headed south for the pass. It would be 8-10 days to Independent Samoa. We heard about customs issues there, so we ensured all our paperwork was in order. Our lavalavas (Samoan sarongs) were clean and ready to wear for our clearance formalities. I even downloaded basic phrases and numbers in Samoan to study during the passage. With a low-pressure system forecast to form south of our route a week later, it wasn’t ideal w...

French Polynesia Part 3B: Leeward Islands

If you're interested in the bureaucratic complications of sailing into other countries by private boat, this is the blog post for you. If not, it may feel long and tedious. Feel free to just enjoy the pictures instead. We'll have a "Too Long; Didn't Read" [TL;DR] message near the end. For those hoping to do a passage through French Polynesia, let this post serve as a reason to get a long-stay visa. We opted not to because we were already busy enough before we left Mexico earlier this year, and the process was ridiculously complex. Although we had no intention of staying a full year in French Polynesia, having flexibility around our departure date would have made all the difference. The First Domino (by Denise) Once in a great while, this life is straightforward. Weather cooperates, the bureaucracy is simple, and nothing onboard breaks. It's like the universe conspires to give De Novo a big thumbs up. On passage to Huahine, it seemed to give us a different fi...

The Kingdom of Tonga: Season One

"Never have we felt as welcome as we did in the islands of Tonga" -Lin and Larry Pardey, Taleisin's Tales: Sailing Towards the Southern Cross Malo e lelei , dear friends and family, I'm happy to be back. I missed writing you all, and I have so many wonderful things to share about our next destination on our journey: Tonga. Given the length of this post, maybe too many wonderful things? If you're heading west, don't skip out on this gem of a country. Please note that I geeked out about Tonga, and I may have provided more information than anybody wanted or needed. I'm also combining multiple months into one post, which I don't normally do. While reading, set an alarm to get up and move your body once in a while. I added photo breaks after each section to help. Stay hydrated. You're in it for the long haul now. Sorry. Tonga Overview Tonga is remote. It consists of 171 islands, totaling 750 square km of land scattered across 700,000 square km of ocea...