Recap June

When my parents came to visit, we set sail for Moorea, a nearby island that feels like it belongs in a storybook. We spent several nights anchored there, exploring lush jungle trails, climbing into the mountains, and walking past fields of pineapples. The landscape was breathtaking. Everything smelled green and alive.

The water around us was an unreal shade of blue, so deep it shimmered almost purple. One evening, as we sailed in at sunset, a pod of dolphins joined us, leaping through the waves right beside the boat. One of them even treated us to flips and spins, like it was showing off just for us. It was pure magic.

And as if that wasn’t dreamy enough, we got offered freshly caught Mahi Mahi from some lovely neighbors anchored nearby. Life was good.

But of course, boat life loves balance, and with the beauty came a fair share of chaos.

Trouble in Paradise

After our first big sailing trip, I did my usual check of the engine room the next morning and found it full of water. Cue panic. I immediately flipped on the bilge pump and started tracing the source of the leak. Thankfully, we found the culprit quickly: the propeller shaft seal. It wasn’t tightened properly. A quick adjustment, and just like that, no more leak. Crisis #1 averted.

The real test came on the return trip to Tahiti.

There was almost no wind, but a stubborn swell rolled in nonstop. My dad, feeling queasy, went below to try and sleep it off. I wasn’t much better (still working on my seasickness game), but stayed up top with my mum, managing sails, switching the engine on and off, adjusting course and repeatedly turning around only to see… the island still exactly where it was.

Eventually, a gentle breeze picked up. Hope! But not enough. We weren’t going to make it to the marina before sunset. So we started the engine.

Except… there was no sound of water at the stern.

Just as I leaned down to check, I got dizzy and started throwing up. At that exact moment, the engine alarm began screaming: overheating. There was no water. Bad. Very bad.

I couldn’t go below deck, but my mum volunteered to take a look. She couldn’t see anything obviously wrong, so we woke up my dad, still seasick, but instantly alert. “Probably the impeller,” he said. And he was right.

I knew exactly where we had a spare, and guided them through it. Dad, swaying in the waves, managed to remove the dead impeller and install the new one. The moment he finished, we started the engine again, and it purred back to life. We cruised into the marina just as the sun touched the horizon.

One More Surprise

The next day, we gave the engine a closer inspection to make sure everything was okay. That’s when I noticed something… off. The engine had shifted. All of the mounts had worked loose during all the movement. If it had fully dislodged, the engine could’ve dropped into the bilge. Not ideal. Catastrophic you could say.

We pushed it back into place and tightened everything down. Another temporary fix. Another lesson learned. Something for Alex and me to fix properly next time.

⚡ Lessons and Fixes

🔋 Electricity:
We learned the battery monitor needs to be manually calibrated when installed, entering things like amp-hour capacity and voltage settings. Without that, the display is just guessing.

Turns out, our rear solar panels were working fine, but the ones on the roof were almost useless, barely generating power. We removed them. They were annoying anyway, especially when the boom lines kept getting tangled in them.

Our wind turbine? Not spinning right and was cut off anyway. Even if it were connected, it barely produced 1 amp, definitely not enough to power anything. Time for a new one.

We also realized having only inverters instead of proper 12V outlets doesn’t make sense, so we’ll fix that too. Plus, the switch that’s supposed to turn off the fridge didn’t work because the fridge is wired directly into the main circuit. Good to know (and soon to be changed).

🧭 Navigation:
The GPS and autopilot seem to work, but the wind meter only shows direction, not strength. We opened it up: the circuit board was a bit corroded.

Our masthead light wasn’t working either, but replacing the bulb by climbing up in the mast did the trick.

When we put the engine in reverse, the transmission lever used to jam into the steering, locking the wheel. We shortened the gear travel to stop that from happening.

⛵ Sails:
During our first real sail, the genoa ripped. It had been patched so many times already that even we patched it again replacing it now just makes sense. Thankfully, the other sails are still in decent shape.

We also fixed the side netting, which helps get the mainsail down more easily, especially in windy conditions.

Oh, and the genoa didn’t want to come down at all. We had to climb up to find the culprit: a rogue screw sticking out of the metal track, blocking the halyard. Classic.

🚽 Miscellaneous:
We fixed the squeaky toilet and replaced some old tubing.

We also kept working on making the boat watertight. Turns out, the anchor locker lets in a lot of rainwater, which would be fine if the water went down into the bilge. Instead, it runs along the ceiling and drips onto the wooden cabin door. So yeah, that’s now on the fix-it-soon list too. Also, one of the windows sealings need to be replaced. For now, we just tapped everything so no water would come in till we're back.

Looking Back

All in all, it was an unforgettable trip. We learned a ton about the boat—and I learned how much work I still have ahead in managing my seasickness. I’m beyond grateful for my parents: their help with the technical stuff, all the cooking and cleaning, and just sharing the experience with us.

It was intense, beautiful, sometimes frustrating, often funny—and absolutely worth it. Alex and I are more excited than ever to keep fixing up Tauha and getting her ready for the big voyage.

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