A Glimpse of French Polynesia

After weeks, literally, at sea among the great rollers of the massive Pacific Plain, we dropped anchor inside Point Venus, Tahiti. The 1:00am set was the climax of an evening speed run, 11.5 knots from Fakarava to Tahiti, full moon rising, emotions running high on Sea Child. As we neared Tahiti, we knew change was in the air, a crew change and a direction change. Sea Child had covered over 5000 miles from Panama, we witnessed pure beauty in the flat calm, we rode bikes on white coral atolls of the Tuamotus. Our pomploumousse from Fatu Hiva was ripe, our laundry bags full. Arriving in Tahiti, beautiful paradise, was a bittersweet moment. We cherished our morning hotcakes and bacon, coffee and skim session. And then we moved toward Papeete and Taina Marina.

Debby had to fly out, after her wondrous crossing of the Pacific. With her, we were treated to good conversation, great food, wonderful companionship with our fun crew member. She read every book we had on board, watched every DVD, stood every watch, made every pot of coffee. Saying farewell is never easy, and to see Debby off was one of the hardest things we had done on Sea Child.

Yet with every change, comes something new and exciting, and in our case, the arrival of Sandro D'Onofrio from Italy was an exciting change. He was on the original Sea Child test run, back in the Caribbean, when we test sailed from Trinidad to Grenada and St. Vincent. His arrival meant we were heading not only west, but also south, to the islands of Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Taaa and Bora Bora. On Thursday, we head to New Zealand, by way of Rarotonga. Our time in French Polynesia is winding down, and our preparations for the sail south are gearing up.

But first, we must acknowledge the pure beauty of French Polynesia. Moorea, with its vistas and snorkeling, inside the reefs and along the shoreline. The first huts above the water at the Hilton resort, then the Sofitel resort looking east to Tahiti. The views reminded us of Maui, the west side of Lahaina, so eery in their similarities. From Moorea we sailed overnight to Huahine, a true hidden beauty, the east end by far the most fantastic snorkeling we have found yet on this Great Adventure. Carter was able to skim behind the dinghy, making great photography with his tricks and speed across the water. We explored the coastline and motus, loosing ourselves in the turquoise blues of the lagoon. We snorkeled massive coral heads that kept going all across the channel, and swam in currents that appeared from over the reefs end. We visited the Te Tiare Resort in west Huahine, and smiled at Sandro doing the Tamure dance with the beautiful Tahitian dancers who pulled him out the audience. And we sailed away, heading east to Raiatea & Taaa, the two islands who share the same giant lagoon, racing the dinghy across from one island to the other in a challenge of strenght, to hold on in the waves the grew by the currents from the reef. Across we went, in search of gasoline, and had the workout of our lives, just hanging on as we jumped over the waves. Then it was the farewell again, of Taaa, where Richard, the bar owner at the Yacht Club asked us why we were leaving so soon? We just got there? Yet sailing to the other islands has become a mission for us, to see as much as we can in such a short period of time.

And Bora Bora, with a pod of dolphins guiding us to the channel in the reef, and a single, mountain giant looming above the island, surrounded by pristine motus. It's an eery feeling, being this far into French Polynesia, knowing that we are preparing to leave and head down to the cooler climate of New Zealand. For now, we enjoy today, we enjoy the views around us, the flavored rums, the vanilla, the friendly Tahitian natives, and try not to think so much about the future. We are living our Great Adventure now; and what a great adventure it truly is.

Bora Bora Yacht Club, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

16 degrees 29.48' South 151 degrees 45.62' West

Fakarava and the 4-day calm

After what seemed like an eternity on the ocean, we finally made our entrance into the passage at Fakarava Atoll, Tuamotus. The calm we went through was the most unusual ocean we have ever seen. The sunrises would wash the ocean in all colors of the rainbow, the morning clouds would appear as swirls in the water as they reflected off the flat, glass like surface. At one point, the water would appear to have drops of creamer swirling around and through the blue depths, greys and blues and greens. The water was no different from the sky, only reflecting back the sheer beauty of the southern ocean. This weather pattern captivated us for 4 days, the heat of the days though went through our souls, our bodies radiating the sun and our spirits seeking shade and cool. At one point, we stopped the boat to swim, we took snorkel gear and fins and swam quite a ways from Sea Child, taking pictures of her from the middle of literally nowhere. Now that is an eery feeling!

Entering the pass at Fakarava was a challenge to us. We arrived at the atoll before sunrise, but since Eric had never been here before, he wanted to wait until he could visually navigate the pass. The sheer depths outside the atoll could not be read on our fathometer, and inside the pass was around 15 meters. The marriage between the two created the roughest water we have seen yet on this Great Adventure. The steep peaks of ocean currents, pushing up as water rushed every which way, created not only swells that could be surfed, but also created a washing machine effect that appeared as steep white water, like a rushing current on the Colorado River. The eddys on either side of this current were as if a steam ship had just churned up the water, and the fatho would read 5 meters, even though we were in 15000 feet of water. It was a truly interesting phenomenon. And so was Fakarava.

Fakarava, as one of the largest atolls in the Tuamotus, is 35 miles long, 17 miles across, and about 1/2 mile wide. The interior of the atoll itself is just like you would image the south Pacific to appear, turquois blue water, white coral sand, lush green palm trees, white roads. All we needed to complete the picture of Fakarava was a cold Corona and a good ditigal camera (we did have the camera) to capture what could only be called paradise. The atoll is flat, our anchorage inside the atoll was next to a navigation marker that looked like an arrow pointing up to the sky, yet set on top of the most beautiful white coral head. The snorkeling around this coral head was spectacular, with clams the size of cantaloupes, edged with teal and cobalt and taupe. The colors of Fakarava, both underwater and on shore, were spectacular. Our visit was brief, not even 36 hours, as we need to be in Tahiti for Debby's departure on Friday. We all agreed, though, that Fakarava is a must return destination, to relax and explore and appreciate.

We are now 161 nautical miles from Papeete, Tahiti. The winds are still light, and we expect our landfall to be sometime Thursday morning after sunrise. Then the big clean up, transition, and reprovision will begin as we say farewell to Debby and Aloha to Sandro, who meets us on Sunday night. We expect our departure from Tahiti to be Monday or Tuesday next week.


CURRENT POSITION:

16 degrees 31 minutes SOUTH
146 degrees 59 minutes WEST

Scent of an Island

4000 miles and 4 weeks have passed since we left Panama City, on our Great Adventure across the South Pacific Ocean. The weather has been varied during this journey, from hot to cold, into the wind, reaching and flying downwind. We have eaten fabulous meals and read fantastic books. Our time on Sea Child has been just that, our time, and we are all very aware of how fast it is flying by. At 142 miles from the Marquesas islands, around 1:30am, the winds shifted out of the west, and we became aware of the smell of the approaching islands. Animals, like goats or boar, the musky smell of wild creatures and their presence on a remote island. After 14 days at sea, this change to our senses was pronounced; we were near our first French Polynesia destination.

Approaching Hiva Oa, we sailed through a minor cold front, with the sky darkening, outlining major distant squalls, the sky a dramatic silver at sunset. Our world on the sea is so simple, so beautiful, filled with sunshine and cobalt blue days, a billion stars at night, appreciating the beauty of the Pacific Ocean, after its left us in our wake. As we arrived in Hiva Oa, we sailed 3,070 miles from Galapagos, averaging 219 miles per day. Top boat speed on the crossing was 18 knots, spinnaker run, mostly out of control! Just focusing on keeping the massive blue, green & white sail full on a night watch took every ounce of focus we could muster. A degree or two off, the giant sail would collapse and wake the entire boat. We sailed with the spinnaker for 4 days straight, day and night, hand steering, racing towards the Marquesas. While the effort at focus was intense, we appreciated the great sailing that we were blessed to experience on our Galapagos to Marquesas crossing.

We arrived at Hiva Oa early Saturday, October 24, 2009. Coming into Taahuku Bay, we followed the range markers and navigation lights, dropping anchor at 2:00am. After a few celebratory beers, we all hit the sack for a few hours of much needed sleep. And awaking around 10:00am, we discovered the first strong wi-fi signal and internet access in over 2 weeks time. We anchored in the little bay about a mile from Atuona, the main town in Hiva Oa. Our mission across the open ocean was complete, and our exploration of French Polynesia was about to begin.

Hiva Oa, 9 degrees 48 minutes SOUTH, 139 degrees 02 minutes WEST.