Starting Over................
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| A manta ray greets us during breakfast..... |
So, we made it. Over a year of planning, provisioning, studying the weather...........it all led to a glorious 28 day 8 hour sail to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas chain.......the first stop in what promised to be a wonderful year in the stunningly beautiful islands of French Polynesia.
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| And not just one - a manta ray ballet |
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| OK- Just one more. They are amazing. |
L'ORIENT performed magnificently. And along the way we discovered that we actually like long passages. Wow........maybe this circumnavigation thing might work.
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| Looking like two people that just broke out of jail......because we did |
We left Panama February 13. While there was a pandemic in China, and fear of it spreading, it wasn't a big deal (yet). When we arrived 28 days later and got proper internet, the world had changed quite a bit. Kind of a shock to log into your brokerage account. And a bigger shock that you've basically sailed into confinement. On Nuku Hiva, some new rules.........I think borrowed from Guantanimo Bay
- no inter island travel
- no water sports
- no swimming
- only 1 person going to shore once per week
- restaurant closed
- no visiting other boaters
Wow. This kind of sucks. And Corona cases in French Polynesia, although low, were steadily climbing, meaning that the ability to sail to other islands was not likely to be restored soon. We could be staying in Nuku (and only Nuku) for months..........many months.
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| The one walk we were able to sneak in before the big lock down...... |
American sailors enjoyed one unique advantage in this situation...........Guam, American Samoa, and Hawaii being American territory means they can't turn Americans away. We thought about this a lot. We quickly ruled out Guam and American Samoa as places we had no interest in seeing (sorry if you're from there). But Hawaii...............hmmm. It's a 14 day sail, admittedly not easy after we just finished 28 days. And the sailing is big wind, big waves, etc. But if cruising had to end for a while and we could choose our "prison", Hawaii vs. Nuku Hiva is no contest. And if/when things change in the South Pacific, we are only another 14 day sail away, meaning this decision could be reversed. So after repairing and refueling L'ORIENT for eight grueling days........away we went. It took three days to obtain the necessary permission from the Polynesian High Commissioner to leave, and our last image of the island was the French warship "Arago" guarding the bay in case of a zombie apocalypse should food/fuel become scarce.
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| Good bye Nuku Hiva - Hope to see you again... |
The trip wasn't easy. With the challenging conditions, sleep was nearly impossible. Wind, squalls, confused seas.........this trip had all the difficulties that Panama to Nuku had largely lacked. But we made it in good shape. We sailed to Ko Olani Resort and Marina on the island of Oahu. It's beautiful, although that's a qualified statement because we're quarantined for 14 days again. We've seen almost nothing of Hawaii. The resort does have a golf course, a Four Seasons property, and best of all.......delivery pizza..........all signs of the advanced culture we knew we'd find here.
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| L'ORIENT on the move again.......evening watch approaching |
One thing though.........we were greeted here like conquering heroes. The cruisers here (mostly aware of our plight...42 days at sea out of 50) have brought us food, done us favors, and generally been super helpful. Incredible generosity by people who's only bond with us is our strange sea-going lifestyle. We've already had Zoom happy hours.........although we've found that you tend to drink faster for some reason. Gotta work on that.
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| Aloha Hawaii........getting a good feeling about this place already ! |
But on the hopeful side, many of these Pacific paradise islands rely on tourism..........like 80% of their economy is tourism based. The initial backlash/fear of foreigners will no doubt be followed by "hey, bring back the tourists........I need my job back". The world will come to its senses at some point. And we will be ready to head south again. In the meantime, our marina/luxury resort isn't so bad. My golf game is rusty but, if I can shed 42 strokes off my handicap, you'll see me at the Senior Masters next year.