French Polynesia

July 4, 2015 by cdeykin 1 Comment

This blog post is loooong overdue, as we have not only landed in French Polynesia, but at this point we have also left as well, and are currently tied up safe and snug at the Ala Wai marina in Honolulu, Hawaii, 2400 miles away from Tahiti. But, to plead my case, the thing about being in Paradise is that you are really, really far away from civilization, and that includes internet service. It would be incorrect to say that French Polynesia is without internet service, but totally dead-on to say it is without internet service that is fast enough to create a blog post without pulling out your hair until you are bald as a cue ball, followed by sticking a needle in your eye while you wait for a picture to load. Hah! So, here I am sitting on the deck at the Hawaii Yacht Club overlooking the water on a beautiful July day, enjoying the sun and a slight breeze and happily writing about French Polynesia.

There is so much to say about French Polynesia but I can only begin to describe the highlights, so here is a Top 10 list of our travels there:

10. Hermit Crabs: those little guys are so cute, and really, really don’t want to be used as bait to catch fish, even though they really do make excellent bait. We used them to snag some super tasty Napolean fish in Manihi in the Tuamotus. They crawl along in the rocks on the shore of atolls, and as you approach them they stop dead in their tracks and if they could talk they’d be saying “I’m not a tasty crab! I’m a shell! I’m a shell!”

Here Giulia is cradling the world's smallest hermit crab. This cute little guys was substantially smaller than the ones we used for bait.

Here Giulia is cradling the world’s smallest hermit crab. This cute little guy was substantially smaller than the ones we used for bait.

9. Hanging out with fishermen in the Tuamotus, who came by to trade with us. We traded a Leatherman tool for black pearls. They hung out with us for most of the day, teaching us how to use the hermit crabs to catch the local fish, which basically jumped on the hook when you offered them the crab. The next day they came back and cooked us a BBQ, roasting breadfruit on the beach and preparing marinated fish, and I made a cabbage and mango salad to go along. We were joined by a nutty Italian single-hander named Francesco in the same anchorage, and he brought wine produced on his vineyard back home in Puglia. The wine was very good, the company was fun and the conversation interesting to say the least, as the fishermen spoke Polynesian and French, Francesco spoke Italian, Ed spoke English, and Giulia and I were translating to the best of our abilities (which degraded with the afternoon and ingestion of wine / rum / beer, in my case).

Fishermen on the atoll of Manihi come by to trade with us, and end up coming back for a communal BBQ the following day.

8. Meeting new friends: We met lovely people all along the way as we made our way through French Polynesia. Without fail cruisers are always ready to help each other out, and to find any excuse to get together and swap stories. The best times we had were when we met a French cruising family in Nuku Hiva, and their two children, Chloe and Malthis hit it off tremendously with Giulia. The parents were lots of fun too! They have been cruising for seven years now, homeschooling their two kids. True to the experience we have had with other similarly schooled cruising kids, these two young adults were intelligent, outgoing, mature and well spoken. It’s amazing what years on the water do for one’s education and ability to interact with all sorts of people.

Giulia hanging out with her new friends Chloe and Malthis in Anahoe Bay in Nuku Hiva. They had a great time messing around ‘after school’ in the afternoon.

7. Flowers, flowers in their hair. What surprised me the most about French Polynesia was the abundance of deliciously fragrant flowers everywhere. They grow wild along the roads, in the tropical forests, and in people’s gardens, and the Polynesians love to wear the in their hair and around their necks as beautifully perfumed necklaces. It is common to see women wearing crowns of flowers, which they have crafted themselves, at restaurants and at special gatherings. I took to wearing a flower behind my ear on many occasions to enjoy the smells and colors of flowers, as the locals do.

Ed having a good time getting his picture taken with two beautiful local ladies (a mother and daughter) on Huahine

6. Amazing colors. The colors of the South Pacific are indescribably beautiful. My favorites were the many hues of blues and greens of the water. The water itself was between 90-92 deg F perfect for swimming and snorkeling. This picture here below was taken in Avea Bay on Huahine island, our favorite spot in French Polynesia. We liked it so much that we returned there for another week after having already been there for five days. In the interim we went to Bora Bora and some other places, but nothing compared to the lovely views, snorkeling and friendly folks we met on Huahine.

If you look carefully you see Time Warp anchored in the background of this photo.

5 Tikis: The ancient Polynesians carved tiki statues to protect religious sites or homes. We saw a number of tikis in our travels, from small tikis on a stone wall at the border of a property, to large statues.

Tiki in Papeete

4. Beautiful sunsets. Being in a boat means you live mostly outside, and without unobstructed views of water, islands and sky. During this year and especially during our time in Polynesia we witnessed some stunning sunsets.

Sunset while on Tahaa, with a view of Bora Bora

3. Polynesian outrigger canoes: Guys in Polynesia don’t surf with surfboards, but with their outrigger canoes, demonstrating incredible strength and finesse. If there aren’t any races going on, they paddle like mad to hop on the wake of a boat, and then surf / paddle along at high speed. These two guys joined us at the pass in Raiatea, and stuck with us over several miles. As you can see from their incredible physiques that this is not a sport for couch potatoes.

Canoes in wake of Time Warp on Raiatea

2. Deserted Motus: The islands in the Tuamotus and in the Societies are ringed by coral reefs. Along with those coral reefs atolls form, or “motus” in the local language. The vast majority of them aren’t populated, except by crabs, birds and other critters. We loved exploring these little islands, snorkeling the reefs, spending time on the beach, gathering shells and corals, and looking for hermit crabs.

Deserted atoll a.k.a “motu” on Manihi

1. Quality time with Giulia and Ed. The best part of the entire experience has without a doubt been spending months of quality time with Giulia and Ed. We got to enjoy ourselves without worrying about schedules and work. Our biggest decisions were where to snorkel what to make for dinner; it was all good!