Belgium: It is sunday, January 8th, it is a foggy and cold morning while I am looking at the last pictures we took in Apataki…
November 12 2016: Apataki
Picture taken from our last anchorage in Apataki, november 2016.One last time climbing in the mast…Taking off the mainsail and all the halyards under clear blue skies.Cleaning off the salt and the rust.Almost ready to go on land… The exterior is ready.Our last sunset on the water !Sanuk being pulled out of the water on an adjustable hydraulic trailer. Alfred is driving the tractor while Pauline (his wife) is making sure everything is going well. Tony is underneath the boat adjusting the pads.Slowly but surely…Almost there… Tony and a helper are adjusting the metal plates for the trailer wheels.Finally on the hard…Sanuk on the hard ! We were lucky she was taken out of the water early in the morning on the 10th of November because afterwards the wind picked up and changed direction making it impossible to take out another boat that day and the day after!
We take the three days that we are on the hard in the carenage to thoroughly clean the boat on the inside. All the walls get a bleach solution treatment to prevent mold from growing. All lockers get emptied, cleaned and refilled.
While I was cleaning I found a little gecko on board ! They are good to have on board because they eat insects. I wonder if he will be still there when we return.
After 3 days on the hard, cleaning and preparing the boat for the 6 months on land, we were ready to fly to Papeete. It was a gorgeous sunday morning ! No wind, blue skies, the water was like a mirror…
The boat on the right will take us to the airport of Apataki.The day we left, the sea was like a huge swimming pool.“mamie” gave us each a flower wreath before we left. We will be back the end of April.Stefan is ready to leave.The sign for the boatyard in Apataki town…
Ready to leave for Papeete in the 16 seater.View out of the plane, flying over the atoll of Rangiroa. To the left the ocean, on the right the lagoon.
Flight Papeete -> Los Angelos -> New York
After a couple days in Papeete we left for New York to visit with our daughter Meliena (living in Boston). Stefan and I spent a beautiful day at the “9-11 Memorial” in New York City. A total difference from the gorgeous nature in French Polynesia but we enjoyed the City for the day!
The National September 11 memorial and museum is a tribute to the 3000 victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Part of the antenna which stood on top of the twin towers.The foundation of one of the old towers.Billboard: Curious what 2017 will bring for the world order with the new leader in place. They both seem to have their doubts.
We are already 2 months later…time really flies ! We have already left Sanuk in Apataki and are now spending 3 days in a hotel in Papeete. We are flying to New York on November 16th. It seems they are preparing us for bad weather in Belgium because it has been raining here for 2 days ! So ideal to update the blog, only the internet is still not fantastic. We will have to upload all our little movies when we are in Boston.
Emma and Sebastien arrived at 5 AM in the morning after being on the plane for 30 hours! After emptying the suitcases with lots of goodies for Sanuk and some for us, Stefan asked Sebastien to help with installing new solar panels and off they went. Emma and myself went to the little supermarket so we could fix lunch later.
Going to the supermarket Tahitian style. Foodshopping is fun :-))Near the market in Papeete we passed the many stalls where they sold flower garlands and wreaths. Especially on sunday people wear these to mass or parties.Stefan and Sebastien enjoying the food and polynesian dances at the Intercontinental in Papeete.Beautiful girls and dances…We will post a video once we get better internet.Visiting marae Arahurahu. A marae is a sacred religious site where Tahitians offered animals and sometimes humans to the gods.Sebastien next to one of the Tikis at the site. A Tiki is a large or small wooden or stone carved human like form. They were often used to mark the boundaries of a sacred site.
We sailed to Moorea on September 11th.
We sailed with Emma and Sebastien from Tahiti to Moorea, then to Raiatea and Tahaa, to Bora Bora and back to Raiatea where they took the plane to Papeete.Sailing to Moorea, we could not wish for better conditions !
Pineapple fields in Moorea. We did a wonderful hike in the Opunohu valley of Moorea.Stefan and myself at Belvedere point on Moorea. In the back you see Opunohu Bay.Emma in the clear waters of Moorea.A black tip shark looking for some easy food…A stingray swimming away disappointed because we had no sardines…A Moorean girl having fun on sunday after mass !!
We sailed to Raiatea at night since we could not make it during daylight hours.
Sailing to Raiatea, leaving with the evening sun.We booked a tour with Vanilla Tours around the island of Tahaa.The vanilla flower is a type of orchid. The orchids bloom and die within a few hours unless they are pollinated. The pollination has to be done manualy because the bee that would do this does not live in Polynesia.The vanilla pods after pollination of the vanilla orchid. The pods need 9 months to ripen on the vine. The beans then go through a curing, drying and resting period for several months, all of the work done manualy ! No wonder vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron.At the end of the tour we drank fresh coconut juice (no alcohol added).One of the motus in Raiatea where we dropped our anchor.Clear waters of Raiatea.A puffer fish just before hiding from the camera.We were lucky to finally spot three whales in the lagoon of Raiatea.It was great to watch them fairly close to the boat.they were enormous and you could clearly hear and see the air escaping the blowholeSailing to Bora Bora.And yes !!! the long awaited catch of tuna !!!Sebastien with the yellow-fin tuna ! We had sushi and tuna on the barbecue for 2 days!The famous over-the-water huts in Bora Bora. They cost on average 800-1000USD per night. Luckily we have Sanuk !On our way to Wi-Fi and a drink at the St.Regis hotel. A place for the rich and famous 🙂Maybe another fish wil bite…life of a fisherman in Bora Bora 🙂On our way to a snorkeling spot on Bora Bora.Some fish really love Sebastien!All good things come to an end…Leaving at the airport from Raiatea, I was happy we would see them again only 2 months later. Saying goodbye is not one of my strong points !
