KEOLOHA

On the day we hooked a 70kg blue marlin, we weren’t supposed to be fishing at all. Four days into a sailing voyage between Tahiti and Tonga, our little freezer was already filled with fresh wahoo and mahi mahi, so the chef asked us to stop fishing. But the crew tend to get bored on long daytime watches and fishing provides occasional bursts of excitement. So no one was particularly upset when the battered old Penn reel started screaming, although I did notice it wasn’t stopping this time. Even when Tim set the drag to full lock, that fish just kept on pulling. Our yacht’s engine was knocked into neutral as Tim began clawing a few metres of line back. Behind him, the crew discussed what type of giant critter had nearly spooled us. After a long fight where the fish stayed deep, we settled on a big tuna, so everyone was pretty surprised when a lit-up marlin broke the surface. Our next discussion was titled: “What the hell do we do now?” A 90ft highly-varnished yacht with an overhanging stern offers no water-level access and we didn’t fancy manhandling a feisty billfish over the side rail. Luckily, the marlin solved this dilemma for us by throwing the lure as it fought alongside the boat. In the cockpit, the chef breathed a sigh of relief that she wouldn’t have to reorganise the freezer. WEST FROM TAHITI This was just one of the highlights of a yacht delivery that I undertook in August last year. My mission: to help five mates deliver Kealoha, a beautiful 27m Andre Hoek sloop, 1200 nautical miles (2220km) from Tahiti to Tonga. A leisurely yacht delivery with friends through the Pacific during winter? They didn’t need to ask twice. While Melbourne suffered through countless freezing thunderstorms, I’d be barefoot, eating poisson cru in the sun. So how did this come about? The yacht is owned by a US family who employs my buddy James as captain and his wife, Jodie, as chef-stewardess. They run the boat yearround with the help of a third crewmember. The owner decides he wants a trip in Tahiti with his family? Take the boat to Tahiti and show ‘em a good time. Tonga next? Hire some delivery crew and get the yacht to Tonga – that’s where I came in. PAPEETE TOUR This was how I found myself climbing off a plane into the fragrant, steamy air of Tahiti for the first time. And weirdly, after heading east across the International Date Line, I managed to land in Papeete before the time I boarded the plane in Sydney (don’t think too hard about this). This resulted in my Friday stretching on for 40 hours. The next day, fellow delivery-bloke Tim and I hired scooters to explore Papeete in the rain. Tahiti’s most heavily-populated island is still impressively beautiful (and probably even better in the sunshine). Unfortunately our schedule could not allow time to check out nearby Moorea which is reputedly more rugged and wild, but we did find time to squeeze in a pilgrimage to the island’s famed big-wave surf spot – Teahupo’o. Luckily it was flat, so there was no pressure to paddle out and probably die. By that evening, we’d flown to another nearby island – Huahine. Here we met Hayley, the third member of our delivery crew. Shortly after that, we were climbing aboard Kealoha for a happy reunion with our friends, the yacht’s owners having just departed following their own two week tour of the islands. But there was only time for one celebratory beer. The yacht needed to be back in Papeete for provisioning and preparations for the upcoming voyage to Tonga. After a quick overnight sail, we ourselves changing the yacht from ‘guest mode’ to ‘delivery mode’. This involves covering up anything shiny, stowing anything that looks breakable and filling the forward cabin with our collection of sails and surfboards. We also brought onboard emergency water supplies, checked the mast and boom for any loose bits and fuelled up. Jodie also somehow loaded an incredible $3000 worth of provisions onto the yacht (although a good part of this was hidden away and labelled ‘Guest Food – Do Not Eat’). If you needed any confirmation that Tahiti might be the world’s most expensive place to shop, I present a $20 bunch of asparagus as evidence. BLUE SKIES AHEAD And then we were away. At around 7am on August 3, we cast off the lines and pointed west. Not 20 minutes out, the Tahitian drizzle gave way to Pacific sunshine and we were ploughing along using the mainsail and headsail, doing 9kts (17kmh) as the wind steadily filled in. After a safety briefing for the newly-arrived crew, everyone settled into their watch routines. Each team of two has a designated leader, and this person is responsible for calling the shots during their watch. This might involve deciding what sails to use as the weather conditions change or choosing which direction to sail the yacht, based on what the wind is doing (or not doing). But much of the overall workload onboard is shared. For big jobs such as raising or dropping the bulky slab-reefed mainsail, at least four crew are required. If the wind drops away completely, the on-watch crew may need to fire up the engine, or use a combo of sails and motor. My own watch ran from 4-8pm and again from 4-8am, meaning I scored both sunset and sunrise – unquestionably the best parts of the day at sea. It sounds like a cliché, but