Mark and I wish all of our family, friends and readers of
the blog happy holidays and a satisfying wrap-up of 2014. We hope you all had a
pleasant time over Christmas, surrounded by family, loved ones and heaps of exciting
gifts… For the New Year, we wish you nothing but good things, from positive
experiences and great health to caring friends and a wee bit of adventure.
Mark and I are finishing up a tough year, what with him
being
diagnosed with cancer, almost losing Irie when her
mooring broke in Marina Taina and putting all our time, energy and focus into
The Wirie and the
upcoming new products. As many of our friends have suggested: 2015 can only be
better! Our beloved catamaran Irie is
for sale, the business still has high
priority and new adventures await. Plans, always vague
in the past, are non-existent this time. Who knows where we will be and what will
happen to us the coming year; very exciting!
:-)
As for the final days of this year, Mark and I sat out some
weather systems in a hurricane hole in Taha’a (Haamene Bay), which offered all
the protection we needed. The
first storm was a bit tricky with strong wind
gusts and boats dragging in the bay, but the second one (briefly declared a
tropical cyclone), passed far enough away from us and only brought some rain
and light winds. We never deployed our second anchor, which sat on deck, ready
to be launched.
Christmas was spent on Irie – which seems to become a yearly
tradition. Around 4pm, our friends Patrick and Rachel from SV Namaste (who were
also present
last year) and Garth and Monique from SV Heartbeat joined us for a
delicious feast after hours of preparation by all. Appetizers consisted of
sushi, tuna cakes, brie and apple, and Deviled eggs, while the main course included
roasted garlic chicken, roasted potatoes, rice salad, Greek salad, and shrimp
cooked two ways (broiled with herbs and pan fried, Cajun style). For dessert,
we had a choice of rum balls (thought to be “rumbles” by the non-native English
speaker), Bahamian rum cake, macaroons and two kinds of “pudding” (cake in NZ)
with custard. An abundance of beer and red wine accompanied the yummy dishes.
On December 27
th, Mark and I cut our time in one
of the nicest anchorages in French Polynesia (on the eastern reef in Taha’a)
short, to use a favorable forecast and head back east to Huahine. In light NNE
winds - which we knew were present this time, being anchored in the open and close
to the ocean - we managed to sail all the way to Fare, Huahine’s capital. It
was a beautiful day with sunny skies, great visibility, and no squalls. The
conditions were so mellow that Mark could do work inside, while we sailed close
hauled (upwind). At the moment, Irie is tied to one of the new (free) mooring
balls, as are Namaste and Heartbeat. We will celebrate New Year’s Eve here and
hope to enjoy the laid-back atmosphere of Huahine over the coming weeks.
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| Christmas on Irie with Patrick, Garth, Mark, Monique, me and Rachel |
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| And then, more rain arrived and we moved back inside |
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| A plethora of delicious dishes |
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| And, back outside to eat dinner |
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| Leaving Taha'a and Raiatea - Will we ever be back? |
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| Time for some pesto and vegetarian pizza with fresh spinach? |
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| Mark works 12 hour days - even underway! |
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| There is SV Heartbeat (and Huahine); we almost caught up with them |
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| Irie slowly overtaking Heartbeat |
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| The "race" to Huahine continues in 10 knots of wind |
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| Rainbow over Fare, capital of Huahine |
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| Raiatea and Taha'a, 21 miles west of Fare's anchorage |
