A Princess Arrives (finally)

Umbrella in Paradise - Bora Bora

After several Covid cancellations, Princess Emily finally made it to L'ORIENT and enjoyed 16 days in Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora. This was actually her second attempt at coming to French Polynesia; the first was derailed in August by the authorities here announcing a total lock-down a mere 6 hours before Emily's wheels-up time in Washington, DC. She was forced to return home (and worse, to work) with her suitcase packed full of swim suits, suntan lotion, and most importantly, desperately needed boat parts.

Never has a vacation or guest been so anticipated!

While Emily waited in DC for French Polynesia's month long confinement to end, we "enjoyed" the lockdown for five weeks at the Tahiti airport anchorage and spent big money. After seven years of faithful service, our dear dinghy Crabby succumbed to irrepairable floor damage and was replace by "new Crabby". Cha-ching. Four kilo-dollars out the door. Likewise our defective batteries (only 9 months old) also unexpectedly bit the dust........probably due to damage sustained in our very rough passage from Hawaii to Tahiti. Another four kilo-dollars. With all this spending, the authorities decided that the economy was roaring back to life here and the confinement was lifted......or that was our supposition.

Kirstin testing the new dinghy's ejection seat

But persistence pays off. After a quick Covid test in DC, our Princess drove to the airport and took a train to her terminal- walked to the gate, flew DC to San Francisco; San Francisco to Tahiti, cabbed to the marina, then dinghied 3 miles in rough seas to L'ORIENT.........all in the same calendar day! This was Emily's first boat visit since Bonaire in 2018 (the Princess had opted for trips with us to Colombia and Spain the past few years).

Moorea Lagoon - our boat is down there somewhere

They don't call it Magic Mountain for nothing

Who talked us into this hike??? Any guesses?

But it was worth the wait. Swimming with sharks and stingrays, exotic food, guys juggling fire, ukulele lessons, Polynesian love songs, local barbecues, hikes, rum tasting and NFL football (Thanks NFL Gamepass)......

Yum Rum! And Pineapple juice on the assembly line

Emily enjoyed her time here, and it was a pleasure having her. Most importantly, she returned home with a legit tan........"I can't believe this is my arm" said the Princess as she admired herself.........as Princesses are known to do.

The sharks and stingrays we ordered for Emily to swim with

Visible everywhere - even from the dinghy

One of the highlights of Emily's trip was making the acquaintance of Mana from Motu Tapu here on Bora Bora.

Land Ho and Emily is glad - First sight of Bora

The 24 hour sail was worth it!

All of the outer islands in Bora Bora are privately owned by local families and have been passed down across the generations. Our introduction to Mana began in a very inauspicious manner - attempting to pick up a mooring ball in 25 knots of wind. This did not go well and Mana zoomed over in his boat to provide assistance.

Mana's home - the ultimate host

We gave him a bottle of wine in thanks and our relationship started from there - he has given us a private tour of his island, invited us to a Polynesian dance and fire twirling performance and finally held a bbq with us and his friends to say goodbye to Emily. The BBQ featured a private fire twirling performance that was perhaps a little too close for comfort - particularly when the fire stick was passed under his loin cloth.