We are back where we were a year ago: Tikehau atoll, 200 nautical miles north of Tahiti. Half that year we spent cruising the “backwoods” of French Polynesia. Then the other half of the year, we spent getting married in California. Yep, it took some time, we enjoyed it so thoroughly!
Now we are finally back aboard Aldebaran sharing the magic of this place with others. I’m excited to share stories as we kick our blog back into gear. Some highlights include my mom and sister’s first weeklong trip (enroute to Bora Bora), hosting Aldebaran’s godfather Ed France for two weeks, sailing with architect & business partner Alex Wyndham to a far flung atoll to make an offer on land to purchase; and finally (finally!) seeing my sweetheart Sabrina freedive with 10 foot Manta Rays in the clearest, most cathartic water imaginable.
Share a comment below if you’re reading this and other posts, if you want to see this blog going, it’s my best motivation! Much love,
Captain K
Photo: Aldebaran sailing into Tikehau with our blue & gold reacher sail.
Sent via satellite.
Green Coconut Run 
Hooray for latest blog post!
Your number one fan, keep it up Capt D. Infinity!
I love when this pops up in my inbox!
Your motivation is our motivation! Please keep up the posts, my inbox has been full without you in it!
Wow, what a photo..so glad to see you back out there…some of our best memories are the times with you in 2017!! Can’t wait til the next time we get to sail with you two!!!
Great to hear you guys are well! Hope the cyclone is many miles away. Can’t wait to get in the brine with those mantas. Keep the blogs coming it’s inspiration for us land locked mer people. Kimbo
I love following you guys
Every time I receive your blog my mind races back to that magical moment when we first saw Pitcairn on the horizon having sailed non-stop for three weeks from the Galapagos. Keep writing Captain K.
Good to hear the update! Welcome back onboard 🙂 More pictures!!! With still a half a boat to build your pictures are our motivation 😉
Garrett and Ruth
Salt&Tar
s/v Rediviva
Great to hear from you guys! Sounds like you’re neck deep in the boat project!! What are you building? You’re such legends for embarking on that dream. I will look up your blog when I’m in internet again — http://saltandtar.wordpress.com Hugs, K
Oh yea! keep em coming!
Bisoux à toi! We are missing your joie de vivre aboard the good Aldebaran. Hope to see you in Sep/Oct!
yo cap’n! def keep this blog going! I love getting the random yarns from the day in the life of Aldebaran… thx!
Valeu amigo! We’ve been cooking up lots of good meals, you’ve always been and inspiration on the culinary front.
Hey Capt.K,
This is Bob Greening from S&W Diesel. I retired last year, but I lost touch with you guys, got kinda busy.
I hope Don, Scott and the guys are still helping you keep the old C-240 running. Congratulations on getting married, and I love cruising the world vicariously through you and your crew. Always let me know if there is anything that I can help you find or get for your boat. Fair Winds And Following Seas.
Please please keep the blog going. Sometimes life keeps fans from reading for awhile, but I think these posts are more than two dimensional for some of us.
I’m landlocked in Germany at the moment and every time I read updates, my mind races with thoughts of how to get my butt back onboard for more briney Briany adventure.
It’s also a cathartic window into an alternate reality that we can’t all be living at the same time. For me, the smallest details are fun to hear about and light up questions and imaginative ideation.
What are they stocking the boat with? What fish are they seeing? How many surfboards do we have on hand at the moment? How large are the tides? Do the no-nos bite when you’re sleeping on the boat and are they a year-round issue for the landlubbers? Is it possible to ship boxes of xyz to you in Tahiti? What are the people like in business and personal settings?
For me, it’s all interesting to see through your eyes. The written reflections of a kind man traveling the world is a worldview worth spreading.
Brian, your kindness & practical curiosity are like balms to relieve any tropical stupor. Which is defined as the condition of wanting to lay in a hammock uselessly. Instead I jump in the water, which is 82 degrees, to re-fresh and get writing again. Your questions all deserve answers with more depth, but here’s a start:
1- we’re stocking the boat from (usually) weekly cargo ships from Tahiti, and what crew members bring from Trader Joe’s 🙂 fresh veggies are limited, but we get cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, apples, oranges, pears when the ship comes; and onions, potatoes at the village store. It ain’t Whole Foods market, but we’re keeping scurvy at bay! 2- Fish: more on this later, but just to mention one… parrot fish are unbelievable. 3- Not bothering to keep surfboards on board. It is too inconsistent in the atolls ;-p 4- Tides are just 1-2 feet. Which remarkably causes currents of 3-5 knots in the passes. 5- No-nos are not-not issue on the boat. On land they can be terrible between sunset-sunrise, especially if the wind is calm, in certain motus. 6- Easiest way to ship anything is via the Santa Barbara- Tahiti direct courier service, aka Green Coco crew coming by plane. Although we just started a new route from Frankfurt… Hans, when you coming back? 7- People here are AWESOME. It’s like an embodiment of the gifting culture of BM. I really want to share more about this.
Thanks again my friend. Your stoke is palpable, from 15.000 miles away !
Seconding and thirding the encouragement to keep the blog posts coming. As someone said, this is a rare window on a world available in any way to so few. BTW, “Gifting culture of BM”- the initials refer to…?