2104 UTC | 17.30’28S 149.49’29W
Anchored
Even after a night on the town consuming blissful pina coladas, the crew rose early at around 6am. We had several missions to accomplish - getting Brian and Marie off to their flight, letting captain Mary have some well-deserved land time, and acquiring Pareos from local artisans.
Originally scheduled to depart in the evening, Brian and Marie’s flight was moved to 9:45am, so they took the only known taxi on the island off to their flight. Nat took a rest on the boat and floating in the beautiful bay where we were the only boat anchored. Andreea, Nick, Mary and Kate took off around the island on scooters rented the day before and found some fabulous snorkeling. Phoebe, Jude, Maddie and myself set off on foot towards the Pareo workshop
We believed we could hitchhike to the Parea shop, but called the owner to see if they could pick us up. We had some communication failures, believing they were coming to pick us up, but they never showed. Eventually Phoebe raised her thumb and showed a big smile, leading a local pickup truck to stop and give us a ride. On the island, hitchhiking is still fairly common. The truck had bench seating in the back, returning from dropping Mormons off for their Sunday church service. We offered money for the ride, which the driver refused. They just gave us a ride and showed us some island charm.
At the Pareo workshop, we had a tough time choosing which to buy - they were all very beautiful and full of color. Once Phoebe learned they accepted credit cards, I thought she was going to buy the whole store. I bought a beautiful blue with flowers for my daughter, and the artisan drew her name on the cloth.
We only had 40 minutes to get back and it would have been an impossible walk in that time. Phoebe asked the store owner’s husband to give us a ride and they obliged, returning us to Falken with plenty of time to spare.
Several of us then had a peaceful float in the bay around Falken and then prepared to pull up the anchor and depart for the passage to Moorea. The beginning of the passage had weak winds, but eventually we were able to turn the motor off and enjoy a peaceful late afternoon sail.
Ryan Boyd
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Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!