Wednesday, June 29, 2011
It's about time
We are enroute to Tahiti from the smaller island of Moorea.
A brief catch up geographically..We landed in French Polynesia after almost 17 days crossing from Galapagos,landing in Fatu Hiva of the Marquesas .Gorgeous ! Then Rangiroa of the Tuamoto group. We stayed there for 3 weeks..We were anchored in Moorea for 4 nights. There was an annual puddle-jump regatta thingy,"Tahiti Moorea Rendezvous "to be exact . The cruisers choreographed- locals hired,inspired with much dance,delivering to all your childhood expectations ,3 woman sitting keepers of a long bountiful spread of tropical flowers for us to create as many floral lays ( you know,the floral necklace) as our hearts desire- anything to perfume our mildewy homes..I took much footage of the dancers,very Maori,Hawaii,Tahitian . Both Joey and Olivia were in outrigger canoe races ,winning heats,Joey and Magalis team got to the finals and lost in a dramatic smash splash photo finish- not a lot of this in their lives.
Joey leaves from the city , Papeete tomorrow night at 11:45 pm and Squeak,Rob ,Charlie and Brooke arrive at 9:30 pm .A two hour airport party! Joey and Magali have the most precious calf love relationship,so tender and affectionate and darling. Someday David and I may reach that level of innocent non competitive compatibility,but,then again this ain't no island summer youth inspired medium...oy! OY! It is!
Nephew Eli arrived a couple of days ago and slipped right in ,fitting like a fine salty dog.He is such a congenial,entertaining,fun loving character,a perfect Patty/ Michael cocktail. Rhythms pontoons will be low to the water as every bed will soon be concave with bodies. Magali,Joeys insanely adorable girlfriend is aboard for the airport pilgrimage,apparently Air Tahiti may be on strike- Joeys exit airline....Everyday,I try and live by ," being O.K with ' what is'" Very challenging! This life,especially at anchorage is very social,like a Florida complex with better decor.....So the challenge is to be free and liberated,to go with the proverbial f l o w,but still,just yesterday I find myself behaving like an impatient child while David chats to a cruiser about the local chow mien ,Dios Mio! LETS GO!!! Like wise,we are both braced and very very excited to have the Ridout/Armstrong s here for July( Rob leaves on July16th)
So,Joey is going home for math and back Aug 31 st It will be very interesting how this change reverberates in the collective ego here aboard Rhythm
We r now anchored in the Miami of the French Polynesians, Tahiti,very Hawaii,very comfy- flash showy vessels,the biggest 100 ft + cat. Ive ever seen. It's now night with David and I quiet aboard,having done my first gourmand grocery shop since Panama,ooo,la la! The French know salts and cheese and tapenade and chocolate and relish ' aubergene ,rice crackers and here ,we reap the imports from NZ,pomme de crisp de sweet de fresh!
We now have Internet,we now are surrounded by sculpted local athletes ,like the boy men who raced beside our boat,just like Dolphins ,they in slim sleek kayaks and cutting edge competitive outriggers,the tattooed young sponsored indigenous studs were the most auspicious welcome we' ve ever had. I now need to rise at dawn to catch up from weeks of pre-" throw in the towel"physical fitness /do this at home maintenance.
We think the flights are on for Joey tomorrow night so, now,the kids are on land with the intension and energy of a bon voyage.
At 7:45, the sun set a while ago,pre dinner full,Im heading for bed.It will take a couple of hours but,Im enjoying music wafting from somewhere,the declining temperature,the feeling of a caravan community re settled and tomorrows departures and arrivals to catalyze mo'emo.
I think of y'll everyday no matter how hard I try and stay present.I just had to bring you along
love ,love,Peg
P.S. Please,if Ive forgotten anyone,help me out amigos,just scooping lovingly from the golden pond of contacts in head heart and in de iPad.
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
French Polynesia
It really is ," paradise" .Paradise on earth that is,while inhabiting a human body/condition.
I do feel remiss in my personal commitment to recording this adventure in blog. I think I did send an entry while underway,mid Pacific?
Once again,we are in a pocket of mal internet.It is so incredibly irritating; it creates such FOMO ( fear of missing out) not that I feel I am missing something at home but missing my connectedness to the ephemeral ,the love connection. Home love,love to and from home.
Feeling very connected to the presence surrounding us,yes.The very precious connectedness to the sky and sea and all the bountiful and beautiful creatures beneath the surface.Connected to the new and interesting, amusing and comforting sailors in this pretty anchorage.
We had a wonderful time in the infamous Galapagos,having just caught Joeys lovely Magali aboard her parents Trifon before they left . We toured with John from Beyond and The skipper and crew of Top Secret .Lots of laughs ,sea lions and Darwin .We met up with Guppy;Laura and Jillian ,the fantastic director of her documentary,"Maidentrip" .We asked Jillian to join us,did I tell you this ?
We crossed the ocean in 16 days,22 hours,did I say? I can't get Internet to look at blog.
We had a wonderful magical crossing,one we will all treasure as supreme. It was what Id always imagined as David had promised; bridge games,timeless days to nights,shifting shifts every hour,fish flung daily aboard ,catching big tuna and assisting Jillian in the dissection / filleting,bread baking,creative cooking as our rations shrank.Lots of chats with the intrepid Jillian and her creative task as a documentary film director. I wrote daily emails on our satellite ocens email account and thrived on any words from home.Joey was in constant contact with Trifon,Magali our guiding angel.We had text via satellite phone with Guppy and tried to catch Laura as she had left two days ahead of us. I miss both of those girls and the very very grand adventure following Laura around the world.
We arrived in Fatu Hiva, Marquises,French Polynesia. What atmosphere!! It is where Gauguin is buried,now you can picture it.Very lush,dramatic heights,rocks that appear to be grand Indian Kings heads. precipitous waterfalls .The anchorage was insecure ,deep water very gusty was deep and the bay small which created a tumultuous and insecure anchorage.First night in ,we were woken at 3 am, to our anchor alarm,"we are dragging ", it bleeped. David and Joey hoisted anchor and motored Rhythm to bob just out side of the cove to wait for another attempt to grip anchor beneath the suns light. We were exhausted by the time we secured Rhythm. We adored the hikes to the waterfall,hamstring awakening walks up a hairpin road to the too and a 'blow me down' view of the cove where ten sailboats huddled and a festive feast put on by the locals. Trifon was anxious to move on to the promised diving in the Tuamotos We left the morning after they did for a four day sail to Rangiroa. ( with a lot of insane hair pulling annoyance involved in the chain to anchor...)
Rangiroa is the largest atoll of the Tuamotos. World famous destination for deep sea diving. Sharks,turtles,dophins ,barracuda,manta ray,sting ray galore . After awakening to the fact that our skipper seemed to have no extracurricular activities to distract him,I proposed that he and the kids take the diving certification course. They did,and we've also been bug eyed over the multitudinous fish in infinite prism of colors merely snorkeling .Directly at the stern of our boat,whilst cleaning out the porridge pot,a hefty school of red snapper appear ravenous and nip at the brush. While we were snorkeling ,Top Secret brought bread in the water with us and we were wowed by showy scales and gills and fins. Kendras yelp morphed to a belly laugh after snapper chomped her chin!!
We are sooo excited ,on June 26 we will take down Eli Haines in Tahiti .Four days later we fetch Squeak,Charlie and Brooke and send off Joey to HOME for the summer and two grade 12 math courses.
We are so looking forward to these east coast, west coast Canadians!!
Sent from my iPad