297: FLOATING THE CHAIN DEBACLE & a YACHT CLUB in PARADISE!!!

We have been at the east anchorage now for about a week and we are thinking about moving on. We've checked Google Earth and think we found a good spot but to do that we really have to be prepared to float our chain which we haven't done yet. But we are prepared in that we have the line and we have the floats. We got the floats the other day when we were out and about and we've got the line here. You need about a meter of line connected to the floats which then gets connected to your chains. The other thing we have are these carabiner hooks that are really easy to attach. U.S. stainless made in China? Yes. Think about that. At least they spelled U.S. correctly. We kind of have the process down but we are going to have to practice it a lot. The most important thing is that we don't hurt the coral really and that our boat stays safe. So if we can do those two things by floating our chain then it's a win-win. Alright the floats are ready but now I've got to figure out an ingenious method of getting them to be able to be prepared for when we get to anchor so that's what I'm working out now as soon as I figure it out. I'll share my brilliance with you all. We're working on our clip system because we're gonna use them for the first time at the next anchorage. We've looked at Google Maps and it is just littered with bombings. It's not a question that if we're gonna have an issue we need to be ready for it. The system here on leopards makes it a little bit more difficult because of where the chain locker is. On the lagoons and other boats it comes over the top so clipping these with these clips on to various parts of the chain and taking them off are a lot easier. How are we doing? Alright great I think I got the system down now. Tell us about it. So when we get to the point where I want to connect the floats to the anchor chain, I throw it overboard and then I retrieve using this line here and that brings me the float which I will connect to the chain. And then once we're bringing the chain in and we want to retrieve the floats, this is going to be on the chain here. After I take it off I connect it to that carabiner, drop it in the water and retrieve it. It really pays to be married to a smart woman and that's why they call her the admiral. Well done sweetie. Got a GPS satellite going. Both of us are watching carefully, turning now to head out. First bombing that we have to worry about is straight in front of us. We got plenty of time. So you can see how difficult it is to see the bombies going in this direction. Whereas if you turn around you can easily see the bombies behind you. Unfortunately we don't have a good sun direction right now. But if you were going the opposite way it would be easy to see them. Almost here. So stressful moving in this two moto. Definitely bombies. We're going to have to float the chain for sure. We have floated the chain but I can't see any floats. So we're going to have to get in the water and figure out what's going on. They say the first few times can be a little off and it may be that. But we're going to take the camera down with us and take a look at what we did. Hopefully, hopefully it's working. We're going to find out. So a little bit of not so good news. We have wrapped a coral. So we're going to go take our tanks down and figure out a way to get out of that wrap. One of the reasons why we're taking our tanks down is because while we were down there a black tip reef shark was circling us quite a bit and getting pretty close. He was in attack formation. He was coming right at you. And so you remember when I yelled at you? Yes, but at the same time, Brian yelled shark coming. I saw a manta. And so I got distracted. So we're in a mixed neighborhood. But the thing is, that thing is about 40 feet and it's going to take a little effort. Plus, you know, this is diving with a purpose. And it's the number one reason why we have the tanks. Moving our chain floats closer together fixed the problem in time for us to fully enjoy the windless day. Windless days are so rare and insanely beautiful that all boat work seizes and everyone gets out to enjoy nature. While Raroia is beautiful all the time. It's really hard to describe how much more incredible it is when everything is still. One of those beautiful days, flat days with absolutely no wind. And so we're going to go off and snorkel some of the outer atolls and try and find the Yacht Club. We have found our first snorkel spot. Thanks to our friends on Linnea who scoped this out. What a beautiful location. Look at the water color. Man, this is beautiful. The famous Yacht Club. Twin Palms, baby. It's a very exclusive club. And the only thing you have to do. There's no entrance fee. No monthly dues. You just have to get here. And then you have earned a membership. It reminds me of the one down in the Raggeds. Yeah. At Hog Key. Oh, Skylark, look at Tortorell. That's cool, Dewey. Oh man, we need to leave something. Welcome to your new membership. We're so glad to be had. We can't even tell you. We thought, oh my gosh, just think about St. Lucia four years ago. Would we have ever thought we would make it here? Nope. And we're here. And this is just a beautiful day. There's no wind. It's stunning. Take a look at the water. Amazing. Over there. You can see everything. Wee! Look, they have recreational toys here at the Twin Palms Yacht Club. We are moving out of this beautiful anchorage and heading over to the anchorage over there. We're going to find a spot over there, a little more protected. And it's where our friends are going to come in tomorrow. So we're looking forward to seeing them on Sailing Warriors and Paradise Falls. Hopefully everything will be alright picking up the chain floats. It's going to be the first time we do that. Oh, the lighting is really bad today. We're going to have to be super careful. The row floats up. Not an easy process, especially when they're close together. So we're really going to have to look for better anchorages that don't require four balls, that's for sure. Because that process is really hard. Alright, time to focus. Anything. What you doing? I am putting straps on the front of our sail bag so that we can cinch the sail bag close. Because right now, if you see on both sides, the wind's hitting this and the scrunchies. These things really aren't getting the job done. Eileen is putting in... So we are going to have to remove this every time we raise it. That's fine. Babe, that's great. It works. And that's the key. You have to look pretty hard and the tool moto is to find an expert seamstress. And she's doing it herself. And she's doing great. And we're using things on board that have multiple uses. What do you think? I like it. I am super excited to use our acrylic paint set for the first time. And create our boat sign from this old toilet seat we found in the Bahamas. And this will add our mark to the Twin Palms Yacht Club. How often do you guys both get behind the camera? I just want to talk about the cameraman. He's incredible. Alright, babe. Here we are during the golden hour. With our golden friend. Having a beautiful time. Front and center. Let me hold this up. Ladies and gentlemen, like the price is right. We're all from the same generation. Thank you so much. There's some stains on here. I don't know where they came from. Oh my gosh. Thanks for pointing that out. No potty talk. Literally. Potty talk. Look at you. Let's see what you did. We used a multi-tool the last time to open it. Alright, we've got a bit of an issue. We've got a big storm coming and we're in a place that we cannot handle a 180 degree turn. So we are picking up anchor and we are moving. It's not ideal because we have no visual of any of the bombies right now. But we're sitting ducks here if we stay. We have managed to move the boat successfully. You can see one of our floating buoys out there. We had to add the floats because we moved to an area that has bombies. And the chain was actually caught on the bombies when we went down to take a look. Last time we did this we connected the floats to the chain as we laid the chain out. And this time we did it after the fact. It is definitely a lot easier when you connect the floats as the chain is paid out. So we will never do this again. It's a pretty dreary overcast day. Thankfully we have not gotten the huge storm that everyone faced in Fakarava. 40-50 knot winds and huge fetch. But so far we don't have that. We just have really overcast skies and a lot of rain. So we're really fortunate. The location of the fender is all the way over there. It should be here. So we know we're wrapped around something. We're just going to get in the water now. Figure out what it is that we are wrapped around. So that when we pick up anchor today we know whether we're going to have a problem or not. So we're going in the water now. I've almost got it. That was pretty much what we expected. That the chain close to the boat was wrapped on a piece of coral. A very low lying piece but enough to hold it in place. So we'll take off here in a short time.