Fixing A Boat in French Polynesia

We spent a year in French Polynesia, exploring beautiful islands, communing with marine life, and meeting amazing people. We also dealt with lots of broken equipment. From sails to machinery, something was always broken on board Sava. Sometimes it was easy to solve, sometimes it wasn’t. Here’s what it’s like fixing a boat in French Polynesia.

Location Location Location

One of the cliches and constants of life on a cruising boat is fixing your boat in exotic locations. At least we have nice views while we’re dirty, tired, and frustrated. In French Polynesia, the views are beautiful. That’s an excuse for a scenic shot!

Fixing the boat in exotic locations, Ua Pou, Marquesas
A beautiful view in Ua Pou, Marquesas

papeete is best for fixing a boat in French polynesia

The best place to be when fixing a boat in French Polynesia is Papeete, Tahiti. Since all the stores selling marine hardware, and regular hardware, are in Papeete, you almost always have to source from there unless you get very lucky. In our three different stays in Papeete over the year, we visited every possible chandler and hardware store. Multiple times. And a machine shop. Living the glamorous yacht life!

Continue reading “Fixing A Boat in French Polynesia”

Cooking on A Boat

A few of you back home ask what we eat on the boat. Good question! It is not as easy to cook or eat as on land. Our equipment is not nearly as good, and resources vary, yet we still eat three meals a day and enjoy them. Here’s how I am handling cooking on a boat.

Challenges in Cooking on a boat

We have a Force 10 stove and a Magma BBQ, both which run on propane.

stove

Cooking on a boat on the Force 10
Force 10 stove

The Force 10 is a common boat unit and has two burners: one only works very hot and the other simply simmers. The oven takes finessing to light sometimes and I never know if the temperature is accurate. Despite that, I make edible bread, banana bread, and even made very tasty cookies once! A cruiser friend calls it her “easy bake oven” which isn’t a bad description of this miniature appliance.

Continue reading “Cooking on A Boat”

Inside Sava

Time to show you what our new home looks like!

Sava is a 46′ Bavaria monohull from 2000. It is a big boat for the two of us (and Domino), because we want guests!

The salon

After two weeks living on Sava, I’m bringing out the boating terms. I need the practice!  The salon is the dining area. It’s pretty big and includes a large wooden table surrounded by cushioned benches on four sides. The seats are almost like couches and it’s actually pretty comfortable. In a lot of boats, the table is collapsible for more space but Sava’s is not. It does have space in the middle of the table for bottles which we are using. Of course.

Inside sava table
Sava’s salon table has a not-so-secret compartment
inside sava storage
Bottle storage in Sava’s salon table
Continue reading “Inside Sava”