Author: richwest3

(Ah, the magic of Photoshop.)

August 11, 2012

“What are you hoping to see out there?” we were asked about our upcoming cruise. Wow, we really didn’t have a good answer.  There are the easy answers… beautiful water, mountains, quaint Polynesian towns, sunsets, fish, forests, waterfalls, rainbows, coral, and a lot of Cyndi but that didn’t really seem to answer the question for me.

Now I think I know the answer.  I think I know what the biggest reward of cruising has been for me.  All that stuff, the sunsets, fish, coral, mountains are great, spectacular even, but for me, they don’t really compare to the joy that making new friends has brought me.  Case in point; we just spent a wonderful week in Raiatea and during our stay we met Marlies, Alain, Kathy and Richard at the marina, Ivan and Louise on the boat Brio and Roz and David on the boat Bare Foot, among others.

We’ve been out here for a little over three months (and almost a month of that has been with just Cyndi and me alone at sea) and yet I think we’ve made more friends in that short time than in years living in Southern California (I’m not saying this to imply that there’s anything wrong with Southern California, it’s just where we last lived a land-life).

It’s still amazing to me that within a few hours of meeting new people out here, I feel like they’re life-long friends.  Cruising friendships develop fast, maybe because they have to as your time together is often very short, or maybe because you have so much in common, including the many joys and hardships that cruising entails.

We had a tearful goodbye with our new friends today as we sailed off to Taha’a.  It was one of our hardest goodbyes yet but I know that we will see these people again.  I believe that they are part of our true family – that being “family” doesn’t just mean sharing a lineage – that we have many true family members scattered around the world just waiting to be discovered.  The rate at which our family increases while cruising is undoubtedly the biggest joy of cruising for me.  “What are you hoping to find out there?”  Wonderful people to share life’s journey with. -Rich

Alain, Kathy, and Marlies

August 10, 2012

Sorry for the lack of updates lately but our social calendar has been packed here in Raiatea.  We’ve met wonderful new friends here and have had a great time.  We’ve been tucked in a nice little marina for the past week, waiting out high winds.  The winds have abated and off we go today.

We’re headed for Taha’a about four miles away.  (Wow, we love the short passages!).  We don’t even have to go out in the ocean as a big barrier reef enclosed both Raiatea and Taha’a.  We’ll spend about three days in Taha’a and then head to Bora Bora.

I tried to find my hair before leaving Raiatea, but it’s no use, I’ve looked everywhere.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to grow new ones.  Actually, we found a great hair dresser and he did a very nice job, but it still shocks me to look in the mirror and I really look goofy in this picture!  This was taken yesterday in the back of a truck on a tour around Taha’a.  What fun!  We’ll post more soon.-Rich

August 1 – 10, 2012

Generally bad weather while cruising is not a desirable thing, but sometimes it can be a blessing. If you can make your way to a secure place, bad weather can let you enjoy it in a way that is special and rare when you’re cruising with a time limit. Raiatea was a perfect example of this.

When we arrived, we had at least week of strong winds ahead of us. There would be no pressure to get going as we were “stuck.” We could just relax, do boat work, and sightsee at our leisure. It allowed us to enjoy morning yoga classes, spend evenings with new friends, to get to know the town of Utaroa in depth, and to take a few days to really see the island.

If our weather conditions had been good, we would never have bothered to go to the marina and would never have met some great people or experienced some great things. We would have spent a couple of days tied to the public dock in town and then, lacking some conveniences there, would have moved on to “better” spots.

After 9 days the winds calmed and after a tearful good-bye, it was time to get going once again. The clock resumed its ticking, but for awhile it was nice to have a time out to enjoy the gifts that bad weather can bring.

August 09, 2012

We planned to sail our boat to Taha’a, but when we had the opportunity to go on a circle-island tour of the island, we grabbed it. Taking a tour would help us decide where we wanted to go, and what we could skip. It included a snorkeling trip at the Coral Gardens, tours of a pearl farm and a vanilla farm, a safari trip to a lookout point, and lunch. I was especially excited to see the Taha’a Resort near the Coral Gardens as I have always dreamed of staying there.

The tour turned out to be a great thing to do. The highlight of the day was, as expected, the Coral Gardens. But an unexpected highlight was the lunch that was included in the tour. The guide’s family prepared the lunch at their home, and it included banana bread, taro and breadfruit side dishes, poisson cru with rice, fresh mahi in vanilla sauce, and fruit salad for dessert. On the table were carafes of wine and water, and the final treat was coffee with fresh vanilla. The food was delicious, as good as the best restaurants we’ve been to and worth the price of the entire tour.

The day ended with a drive up through a tropical forest to a lookout over Haamene Bay. When we saw it, we decided to bring the boat there after we left Raiatea. This ended up being an worthwhile tour! -Cyndi