S/V L'ORIENT

Some fellow sailors took our picture on the way to Rotoava After the boatyard, we provisioned and hustled the boat back to our favorite "off the grid" playground, Fakarava. Fakarava is the ideal staging area for a trip East, say to the Gambiers or a closer eastern Tuamotus island. But after some research, the Gambiers trip fell through owing to the fact that Polynesians stop delivering supplies to the Gambiers for a two month period (December and January). We subsequently discovered that Fakarava has no deliveries via boat for a month in this period - tramp steamer workers deserve a vacation too! Given that we'd be battling into the wind and probably using some fuel motoring, there was the very real prospect of arriving in the Gambiers needing fuel and provisions with none to be had. We also had a very tight timeframe to sail the 900 miles there and the longer distance back to Tahiti before mid January. A deal killer.  So, with plans changed, Kirstin has shifted into sewi

Yet another strange form of life in Polynesia Having arrived back at Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva (which surely means "super rolly" in Marquesan) we were anxious to make sure the boat was in good shape after our month in the US. Aside from barnacles and green slime ALL OVER our hull, L'ORIENT was mechanically OK. But, no problem.........we knew we could jump in the water (and under it with scuba equipment), clean the boat, and we'd be out of there. Shopping in Nuku Hiva with our purchase limiting trolly- totally rusted and nearing its end The Nuku Hiva fruit bazaar - it sounds weird, but sourcing fresh food is a constant challenge this far off the grid One small problem intervened. During my time in Naples I compress all my medical visits into the week or two that I'm visiting my mother. Since we live essentially in the sun outside, a Dermatologist is consulted regularly. I pointed out a small bump on my hip the size of a pea and he chortled, looked at me like I was a h

A Bastille Day reveler holding the unknowing main ingredient in the Gyro we ate later So it had been 8 months since our last visit to the US and we were long overdue for some serious socializing with relatives and friends. We sailed L'ORIENT to Nuku Hiva (where we were planning on leaving her with a boat watcher... kind of a nautical baby sitter). And we timed it perfectly because Bastille Day (a kind of French Mardi-Gras) was happening as we arrived. As Nuku Hiva has only 2,200 people, imagine Mardi-Gras in New Orleans and subtract 5,000,000 people........and you've got it. Creative float or Nuku Hiva's least experienced driving instructor? Bastille parade. What's with old folks and white shoes, anyway ? But the effort and creativity were there. Virtually every vendor, store or organization participated in a quaint local parade.........including 5 Toyota Hilux pickup trucks driving in formation (for no other reason than they looked similar, apparently). They were follo