Fare, Huahine

Hi, Hi, Hi,

Some people have told me the summer in BC has finally gotten good. It may seem strange but I miss it, you really appreciate good weather when it’s rare. Good days in the rivers and falls in the back of Mission are hard to beat as are times with family and friends on the Shuswap or cruising the Gulf Islands. We are having a great time exploring French Polynesia, meeting new people and trying different things but it is strange being so far from the rest of our family during the summer holiday season. It would be amazing if we could all be here physically but instead my letters and your replies will have to suffice. Since I last wrote we sailed from Moorea to Huahine, stayed there for about a week and then sailed to Raiatea where I am writing this.

It seems Chloe’s luck took a break, we left Moorea around 15:00hrs too sail through the night and arrive at Raitea around midday the next day. It blew from the wrong direction, Chloe was seasick, Evan slept and I stayed up to keep a proper watch for the first time. I thought it would be nice to have crew for an overnight passage but actually it was worse for me. I can sleep when I am by myself and if I get run over then so be it. Getting run over when my children are with me is not an option and neither is having one of them keep a watch by themselves. With Chloe sick the two of them weren’t relieving me so I stayed up and they slept. I felt sorry for Chloe as seasickness is hardly preferable to death but I have to hand it to her, she didn’t complain and remained cute even whilst puking. Interestingly, Evan, who I would say has less interest in sailing, can stay below and read a book without a complaint, I have not been seasick but cannot do what he does until I have been at sea for a few days, I spend the first few days doing everything I can to avoid getting sick. Basically if I am not tending to the boat I either stare at the horizon or lie down and close my eyes, after three days I am fine.

Huahine was very enjoyable, we stayed anchored in the same spot the whole time we were there. Snorkelling off the boat wasn’t awesome but the water was cool and clear. There was a decent sized village with convenient shopping. We rented bicycles one day and rode around the island. On the way we stopped at a pearl farm that took you in a boat to visit their floating store, Chloe tried on some jewelry and bought a necklace with three black pearls with some money that her Oma and Opa had given her to spend. I high fived myself for not having a girlfriend, sometimes, as rare as it is, it’s preferable. It was hot and riding 2k up hill, OK walking, made the views not so impressive, riding down was fun. I could walk or ride around these islands just to look at the residents homes and see how they live all day.

A definite highlight of Huahine was Jocelyn and Smithy. I met Jocelyn at happy hour, people who speak English seem to gravitate to each other. I am not making this shit up, nor am I a journalist so I haven’t researched and verified any of this either. Jocelyn was from Kamloops, she was married to some NHL enforcer named Twist and lived all over depending on who he was playing for. She also worked for Paul Stanley in P.R., not necessarily in that order. Somehow she ended up in Hawaii where she met Smithy. Smithy is native Huahine and an amazing surfer, he has surfed all over the world. When he was young Jack Johnsons dad was visiting Huahine on a catamaran, noticed his talent and brought him back to Hawaii to surf the north shore. Anyway, none of that matters, they were super nice and invited us to their home for dinner. We picked up pizzas from one of the food trucks, brought them back to their home in the valley where all of Smithy’s family lived. It was very cool to be inside a Tahitian home, very simple but very practical, clean and beautiful. I gave them a documentary DVD I had on surfing the west coast of Vancouver Island called 49®, Jocelyn had taken Smithy to Toffino to surf so I was sure they would enjoy it. I brought over a bottle of rum we shared and when we left Jocelyn gave as all a shell necklace, Evan a Tahitian drink glass and Chloe a bag with 20 black pearls, I guess her luck has returned.

The sail to Raiatea was only 20nm, we had decent wind, the calmest seas I have seen yet, Chloe steered and didn’t get sick, a great day. We stayed on a sea wall the first night and got diesel the next day and groceries in town then motored inside the reef to a bay with a river at the end of it that we heard was a fun trip up in the dinghy. There is something great about dinging up a river, it is very Tom Sawyer. A ways up the river there was a plantation and on our way back the caretaker, who didn’t speak a word of English, gave us a tour. Evan is very interested in agriculture, his mom sends him pictures of his garden at home, so it was super cool. They grew coconuts, limes, papayas, two types of bananas, a tiny very hot pepper and taro root, he also had a couple cannabis plants for personal use. He gave us some of each and carved a coconut with a machete like nobody’s business, much harder than it looks, trust me. Back at the boat we sliced the taro root as thin as possible, fried it in oil and put a bit of salt on it, better than any potato chip I have had.

We were long overdue for a laundry day so we headed to the marina we are at now. Staying at the marina is surprisingly cheaper than a day rate in Canada, but the laundry is another story. Over $45 to wash 3 big loads of laundry, would have been that over again to get it dried, no thanks. There is a good wireless signal, pay of course, and a cruiser from Toronto just dinghied by and told me the snorkelling is great out by the reef and there is a very nice Motu as well so we might stay another day. We have just under 2 weeks left and still want to visit Tahaa and then Bora Bora. Time is flying by and we are trying to cover a lot of ground, one could very easily spend a month on each island checking out all the bays and places. I will write again from Bora Bora and share some more pictures, I would love to see pictures of summer back home and what my friends and family have been doing, if you have some time to send.

Fair winds,

Jonathan