Shanachie Sailing I1981-1992[Scroll down to view photos, below]
Above is roughly the route Shanachie sailed over a period of about eight years. One of the last boats to escape out the harbor mouth over the annual sandbar that year (before dredging operations), she snuck out of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor on a rare, still, glassy day December 26th, 1982. It was a notoriously stormy season during which El Niño wreaked havoc on the California coast. Little did we know then that it would be nearly 17 years before Shanachie returned through the harbor entrance at Santa Cruz! The rest of the story can be found in this website (see Rebuilding: 1998-2000). This page includes some photos of our first sailing era on Shanachie. Our route included: Mexico (Baja, Sea of Cortez, mainland coast), French Polynesia (Marquesas—Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou; Tuamotus—Toau, Kauehi, Taiaro; Society Islands— Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, Mopelia), Niue, Tonga (Vava'u Group), Fiji (too many islands to list individually, but including the Lau Group, Viti Levu, and the Yasawas), New Zealand, Cook Islands (Rarotonga), Line Islands (Caroline Island with special permission from the owner), Hawaii, San Juan Islands, Canada (Vancouver and many other eastside islands, B.C.), and finally, Seattle, Washington. |
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Shanachie spreads her new wings, somewhere off Baja, Mexico on her first shakedown cruise, February 1982. |
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Anchored off Isla Socorro, Mexico, on our way to the Marquesas, April 1983 (Only 2450 miles and 17 days to go!). |
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Arrival in the Marquesas at Atuona, Hiva Oa...Shanachie is far left, front. When we returned 22 years later, we found a busy, thriving harbor with over 30 boats anchored here, and the mud road was very much paved. Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel are buried about 30 meters apart in the cemetery on the hill in the background. |
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Shy girls of Hanaiapa, Hiva Oa. Little did any of us know then that the young girl to the right of center, daughter of Anna and Teiki Moke, was to become a future Miss Tahiti. |
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Not-so-shy Fijian kids of Totoya Island, Eastern Lau Group, Fiji. The boat was named after the Beasley family's yawl, Severance. The family stopped at the island for a visit, saw the villagers' need for motor boat transportation, and so built the boat in this photo while teaching the technique to the villagers about a month before we arrived. A friend of the Beasleys was definitely a friend of these villagers! |
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Joe does some provisioning at Dick's Place, Malolo Lailai, Fiji. This was our main base for supplies, and we returned to shop every 10 days or so after sailing to various islands 80 miles up into the Yasawa Group. The well-known destination surf resort, Tavarua, is 5 miles away, behind Joe (beyond the photo's background), and was just being built at the time. |
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The Bounty sails off Raiatea, French Polynesia (Tahaa is in the background), after her stint as a Hollywood star. The Bounty movie had been shot on Moorea shortly before this photo was taken. |
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Joe and Nancy tie the knot in a wedding ceremony aboard Shanachie while anchored at Fare, Huahine, April 1, 1984. (Recorded June 9th at Fare's City Hall after a second, civil ceremony performed by the mayor once their birth certificates were translated into French!) They are reading Pablo Neruda's poem Night on the Island from The Captain's Verses. |
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Baby on board... our future Admiral (Kali at ten months old) properly wearing her safety harness (and nothing else) as we approach the island of Bora Bora. |
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Polynesians paddling their va'a (outrigger) as the sun sets under a tropical sky. |
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