Category Archives: Daily Lime

Meteo Weather Balloon

Up, Up, and Away: Weather Balloon

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Meteo France has a weather station on Mangareva and I’ve always wanted to go to see the process.  It was a little anticlimactic, but cool none the less.  Every day at 1400 they release a weather balloon in 4 weather stations.  Gambier, Marquesas, Australs, and Tahiti.  They also have stationary, automatic weather sites but they are not truly weather stations as there are no people.

One employee puts out the modem box which has all the sensors (temperature, wind, barometric pressure, GPS, etc…) about 20 minutes before the weather balloon launch.  We could not go into the area where he inflates the balloon but assume its like any other inflation (smiley face).

The employee attaches the balloon to the modem box and unceremoniously lets it go.  No big aha moment or “ta da” or anything.

It was a slightly windy day so the weather balloon took off rather quickly.

Weather Balloon

The weather balloon is about 1 meter in diameter when it is launched and expands to become larger than a house.  It will continue to slowly expand as it climbs up, up, into the sky.  It will continue to ascend until 30 kilometers (21 miles) before it explodes. 

The temperature was -11 at 6 kilometers!  Man, that is cold!

The data collected by the weather balloon is transmitted by satellite to the local weather station, then transmitted to Papeete (where all the weather is collected and centralized) and then sent to Paris – Meteo France (weather).

Each modem costs approximately 18000xpf (pacific francs) which is about $180.00.

Views from the weather station which is situated about 1/4 of the way up a mountain.

On the way back to town, I captured the view of the Rikitea Anchorage (at Mangareva).  Can you find Sugar Shack?

In our last blog post, we bring you into our many boat projects..  Events from this blog post occurred in January.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Happy New Year 2022

Polynesian New Year

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Matt and I decided to ring in the New Year Polynesian style with our friends Valerie and Herve on Taravai.  They promised a Polynesian BBQ and we could not resist.

We have enjoyed plenty of Polynesian BBQs but we have never been around during the preparations.  So, this blog is me sharing the process with you so you can be a part of this cultural event too.

First, we prepped the property.  Valerie and Herve have a beautiful sandy beach, but it often gets cluttered with seaweed and leaves.  One group cleared the beach to properly welcome visitors and to create a space for fireworks.  Herve dug a hole and Tony chopped the wood.

Cleaning up Taravai

Cleaning up Taravai

Preparing the Polynesian Fire Pit

  • 1: After the hole is dug, all rocks, tree stumps, and leaves are removed leaving behind a clean, flat bottom in a round hole.
  • 2: Add coconut husks already prepped and torn apart
  • 3: Gather a pile of sticks
  • 4: Add dried palm fronds on top of the Coconut husks

  • 5: Add more coconut husks on top of the dried palm fronds
  • 6: Add more dried palm fronds on top of the dried coconut husks
  • 7: Add the sticks
  • 8: Add the blocks of wood

Then we add small river rocks and then the large river rocks.  The pit is ready to light in the morning.

The next morning, we light the Polynesian Fire pit.  After about 90 min more coconut husks are added.  Once everything has burned down (about 2 hours after the fire is lit), the pit is ready.

Food Prep

In the meantime, another group of us start to make the food baskets that will sit in the Polynesian fire pit.  Valerie teaches us how to weave the baskets together using fresh palm fronds.

Making the food baskets

Making the food baskets

Everyone had prepared several side dishes – including manuk (like a potato) top photo, pumpkin and banana dish (bottom right), and the goat (bottom left).

The banana leaves are brittle so we lightly brush them across the fire to make them soft.  They become moldable once they are soft and can be used like foil.  The spines are cut off the banana leaves, food is placed on top, and then they are gently folded.

Herve prepares the goat meet with fresh rosemary and tyme.

Herve prepping the feast

Herve prepping the feast

Back to the Polynesian Fire Pit

The men cut down a banana tree, then cut it into chunks and finally pulverize it.  Then we place the banana tree on top of the hot rocks. It will serve as racks for the food.  In addition, the moisture from the banana tree will create steam to help cook the food.

Next we cover the food with more banana leaves, then a tarp, then covered with dirt.  The food will cook in the Polynesian fire pit for 4 hours.

The Celebration

AT 1400, everyone is hungry and ready to eat.  We remove the sand, dirt, tarp, and banana leaves from the Polynesian pit.

The smell is intoxicating and only makes us hungrier.  

We had about 35-40 people celebrating with us – both cruisers and locals from Mangareva.  Everyone enjoyed a day full of amazingly tasty local food and games.

Some fun photos

Valerie and Herve’s Auntie showed up at 9:00am ready to celebrate the new year.

Valerie and Laura and I pose next to our Happy New Year = Bonne Année 2022

Although it is way past the first of the year, please know we are wishing you all a delightful 2022!  Thank you for reading our posts.

We spent Christmas in Taravai (see post), we truly enjoy our time in Gambier.   Events from this blog post occurred at the end of December 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Herve, Valerie, Ariki, Alana

Taravai Christmas

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We arrived Gambier on the 12th of December and took a few days to regroup while anchored in Rikitea (main town of Mangareva).  We arrived the day after the supply ship came so we were able to stock up on fresh fruits and veg, replenish staples, and catch up on sleep.  As excited as we were about the fresh goods and sleep, we really did have an awesome Christmas in Taravai.

The winds dropped and the water was glassy.  We had stunning sunsets and sunrises.

Then as usually the case, we high tailed it out of the main, crowded anchorage and headed toward Tauna.

Tauna

This is a small motu on the South East side of Gambier.  It is known for its shallow sandy shelf and great winds which makes it an ideal spot for kiteboarders.  I do love to watch the kiters but it takes away from the beauty of this little slice of paradise so we tend to not visit this motu when it is crowded.  We got lucky with a few days of very little wind which meant we had the anchorage to ourselves for 4 days!

We rested, explored the motu, swam, and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  After we were well rested and caught up on a few boat repairs, we made the move to Taravai. 

We had super light winds coming from behind us so we put up the parasail and enjoyed a leisurely 3-hour sail.  If you zoom in the photo you can see our instrument showing 3.0kts of wind and our boat speed is 3.2kts (we had a little help from the current).

Parasail downwind run

Parasail downwind run

Taravai

As you know, Valerie, Herve and their two sons (Alan and Ariki) live on Taravai.  They are 4 of the 12 people that inhabit this island. They’ve become good friends of ours and we wanted to celebrate Christmas with them.  We arrived at Taravai Christmas week.  Everyone greeted us with huge hugs and warm smiles.

I spent several days preparing and baking Christmas cookies.  I made well over 600 cookies including gingerbread, sugar, peppermint, white mice, and toffee.  It was a labor of love, but it was fun to pass out bags of sweet treats to our cruiser and local friends.

We enjoyed several happy hours onshore with our friends and spent Christmas morning celebrating the holiday over blueberry muffins.  They are such generous and loving people!

Herve, Valerie, Ariki, Alana

Herve, Valerie, Ariki, Alana

Our Cruising Christmas card

Coral Spawning

In mid-December the coral spawn emitting a gazillion eggs.  Huge patches float and gather all over causing a pretty bad smell and really gross mess.  The wind blew trillions (at least that is what it seemed like) of these eggs to the shores of Taravai.  They leave a trail on the waterline of the boat as well.  Hopefully, some of these eggs actually make it to coral.

Coral Spawning

Coral Spawning

For some reason, there are lots and lots of jelly fish.  These are the non-stinging kind, but it still gives me the willies!

We see man beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  Love the top left photo with the blue shooting out of the mountain in Mangareva.  The cat’s name is Shasha and she is 5yrs young.

After our eventful passage to Gambier (see passage post), we truly enjoy our time in Gambier.   Events from this blog post occurred just before Christmas 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.