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.
