The Start of a New Year in Huahine

Here in Huahine, French Polynesia, Mark and I, and our friends from SV Heartbeat and SV Namaste, were amongst the last ones in the world to celebrate the New Year. While most of our families and friends, from the US, to New Zealand, to Belgium woke up on or moved well into the first day of January, we were fighting to stay awake till midnight!

The six of us spent New Year’s Eve at the Yacht Club in Fare, Huahine, where we enjoyed a tasty Happy Hour (stocking up on as many drinks – at half price - as the establishment allowed us, so we would last well into the night without spending fortunes) and split portions of yummy French fries for the first hunger. We also ordered dinner here, easily feeling wide awake at 9pm. Still three hours to go! Cruiser’s midnight approached (10pm) and just like every other year, we all wondered whether we would make it to the real midnight. Quite pathetic, really, but daily routines and schedules on the boat are very different from shore life, and so is the atmosphere. Luckily, the Yacht Club has pool tables and a foosball table, turning us cruisers into fierce competitors. Good fun was had, but by the end of the evening, we were really just waiting around until cheers went up from the bar and we presumed it was midnight. As the New Year started, we all returned home to our faithful beds, in the absence of fireworks. Our dogs would have loved it!

Since then, Mark and I have been focusing on the business as always, with not too many distractions in between. The weather is surprisingly gorgeous, with sunny days and regular rain showers in the afternoon or at night. The trade winds are lacking this time of the year and the high temperatures and humidity provide a lot of sweating, even while just sitting still behind the computer… One morning, our little group went for an enjoyable and refreshing snorkel in the bay. On the beach, local families and groups of friends have been partying hard, playing music out of boom boxes or singing and playing ukulele quite beautifully. Soon, life will pick up its usual pace with stores being open again and kids returning to school after a month long summer break. Our break will have to wait a little bit longer. :-)

The "girls": Liesbet, Monique and Rachel

The "boys": Patrick, Garth and Mark

Sunset on the last day of 2014

Patrick beating Mark (for now) at foosball

Spoiling ourselves with smoked salmon, brie and goat cheese on New Year's Day

Sunset over Raiatea in 2015, a couple of days ago

Walking over coral beaches to our snorkel starting point

Spotfin lionfish

Reeftop pipefish

  

End of the Year Wishes from Irie

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.

Christmas on Irie with Patrick, Garth, Mark, Monique, me and Rachel

And then, more rain arrived and we moved back inside

A plethora of delicious dishes

And, back outside to eat dinner

Leaving Taha'a and Raiatea - Will we ever be back?

Time for some pesto and vegetarian pizza with fresh spinach?

Mark works 12 hour days - even underway!

There is SV Heartbeat (and Huahine); we almost caught up with them

Irie slowly overtaking Heartbeat

The "race" to Huahine continues in 10 knots of wind

Rainbow over Fare, capital of Huahine

Raiatea and Taha'a, 21 miles west of Fare's anchorage

A New Year Has Begun

2014 has started and will no doubt disappear as fast as all the previous years, or, maybe even faster, since I do believe that the older you get, the faster time flies! Mark and I are still sailing, living and working on our little, but sweet and brave catamaran Irie, and that for 6.5 years now. It probably does not come as a surprise when I share with you that this feels like a long time and that we are getting very tired of the boat life and all its daily and remote hassles. Despite the beauty of the islands, despite the pleasant climate, despite the exciting cultures, despite the surrounding wildlife, despite all the wonderful things that freedom on the water brings. Comfort, convenience and rest are what we miss the most. At the moment anyway.

We have come up with some personal resolutions and with a loose plan for 2014. After my three week visit to Belgium this month, we will explore Ua Pou - the last of the Marquesan islands – and its spectacular scenery, before heading to the Tuamotus early in the new cruising season. We might stop briefly in one of the northern atolls and will haul Irie out of the water mid-March or so, in Apataki. Then, we hope to sail east (yep, into winds, waves and current again) a bit and enjoy some other Tuamotus, low laying atolls with clear water and amazing underwater life. At some point in June, we plan to sail to the Society Islands (think Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora), before continuing on west via the Cook Islands, maybe the Samoas, Tonga and Fiji. We hope to haul out in Fiji in about a year from now and take a break from the boat life.

Of course, as every sailor knows, when living on a boat and with Mother Nature, plans are called plans and not realizations… For that, we will have to see what happens. What we do know is how we floated into this New Year. Together with Chris, Katie, Dylan and Leili from SV Iona and with Patrick and Rachel from SV Namaste, we had a nice BBQ on the beach in quiet Hooumi, along the south coast of Nuku Hiva: good food, tasty drinks, some live music and friends – Mark and I even made it past midnight this time!

Preparing the BBQ - the set-up in Hooumi was perfect: tables, a grill, shelter and fresh water

Butterflied leg of lam and grilled chicken - the side dishes are on the table

Chris and Patrick playing some tunes on their guitars

A morning at the beach (with Leili in the hammock), until the nonos chased us off and back to Irie

Ready for a hike with the Iona family

Church in Hooumi

Nativity scene in the church, Hooumi

Hooumi beach - Baie du Controleur, Nuku Hiva

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Happy holidays, everyone! And, may 2014 bring you peace, happiness, adventure, love, excitement, friendship, good health and comfort!!!

 

New Year in Mamitupu

Mark and I briefly stopped at two villages in Kuna Yala (the San Blas islands; the area where the autonomous Kuna Indians live and still keep many of their traditions alive) before stopping in Mamitupu, the most traditional of them all. We figured this would be as good a place as any to celebrate the New Year in peace. The afternoon of our arrival on December 31^st, we were taken into the village by an older man who just returned in his ulu (wooden canoe) and led to the Sahili (chief) to introduce ourselves. Pablo, the only man who spoke English, was out of town, so we conversed through an “interpreter” in broken Spanish. By the sounds of it, the chief invited us to the New Year’s Eve celebrations that night and it would involve food and drinks. We were expected to pay a contribution to the village in exchange for joining the party. Mark and I accepted the offer, strolled around the village for a bit and looked forward to a traditional Kuna party… 

Around 6pm we gathered with many of the villagers in the congreso, the biggest hut in town, for what we thought would be a very interesting party and experience. Pablo was still nowhere to be found. We hoped for a clarification of the events, but since that didn’t happen, we took the evening as it came. Even in the dark hut, the kids couldn’t keep their eyes of us and were curious to check us out. While everywhere else, just a little head (covered in red if it was a female’s) stuck above the back rest of the wooden benches, Mark and I peered above them with part of our backs, shoulders and “funny looking” heads. We couldn’t hide… and waited with the hundreds of Kunas – dressed up for the event - to see what the evening would bring, with the difference that they actually knew and we were literally in the dark.

Every evening in Mamitupu, the villagers congregate in the congreso to hear what the leaders and respective department heads have to say and we thought this evening would start the same way, when four men took turns talking about something in the center of the hut, where two chiefs rested in their hammocks. It seemed that nobody was really listening. Some of the Kuna women had brought flashlights and worked on a mola, their traditional handwork – and part of their colorful clothing - which sells for good money abroad, on the mainland of Panama and to tourists. When the four men said what they had to say, the main chief started a monotonous song, interrupted/complemented by the short sounds of his colleague. Initially it sounded very interesting, until after an hour his monotonous tones still continued. By now, many Kunas had actually fallen asleep on the wooden benches. The women kept sewing, undisturbed.

An hour later, nothing had changed except for the fact that the one oil lamp received more oil and some people had left and came back later. Each time a woman left the hut, she walked over to the chief’s wife to pay her respect. Kids were running around the congreso unrestricted and played with the three other hammocks which were tied higher to the ceiling. Sometimes one of the chief’s grandkids joined him in his hammock. The songs went on… and on. I joked that the people who left, probably went home, cooked a meal, ate with their family and came back… Mark thought it “rude” that locals joined this service (we learned tonight was a celebration of the gods), just to sew molas or take a nap. Although after a while this started to make sense. We had been there for over two hours, just sitting still on our hard benches, looking into the dark, listening to the songs. Mark said “What if he does this until midnight?” When I gave him a worried look, he said he was joking…

The songs stopped once in a while. Each time, we thought the chief was done, but he only took a sip of water before continuing. Mark and I lasted about three hours, before we realized the signs pointed towards the singing being an all-night event. Some men had been handing out lollipops to the kids and now, they came around again, with candy for the adults. Is this the food we were supposed to get? Mark and I were starving by now, our butts were numb, and finally we decided to leave the “party”. On our way out of the village with our flashlight, a man sent us off (they usually don’t like foreigners in their village at night). I wanted an explanation of what was happening and this time, we learned that the singing would continue until midnight. I asked “And then what?” to which he answered “Then it is the New Year (Nuevo Aňo)!” Dah! The people would go to sleep afterwards and celebrate the New Year the following morning at 7am with food and drinks. Mark and I returned to Irie to cook a nice dinner around 9pm and made a promise to practice our Spanish!
 

Bequia over Christmas and New Year

To be back in the water after three months in different houses on land and over a week in a dirty, wet and hot boat yard, felt wonderful. This is where Irie belongs and Mark and I as well. As long as the seas are manageable and the anchorages comfortable! We barely spent a week in Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada, before moving on. We needed that time to get the last preparations done so Irie would be “sail ready” again. We also had to catch up with our friends Sim and Rosie on Alianna and make Christmas plans…

According to plan, we made our way north, stayed a couple of nights in Carriacou and continued on with a full day of great sailing, until we reached the small island of Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a few days before Christmas. The most popular spot to anchor in Admiralty Bay is off pretty Princess Margaret Beach, where we dropped the hook in crystal clear water. Not too close to the beach, since there is no need for that anymore without Darwin. And, were we glad we didn’t! After two days in the anchorage, the waves started building and an enormous swell rolled into our part of the bay, starting to break pretty far out. All the boats were lifted ten feet higher than “normally”, up to a point it became a very scary and dangerous situation...

When 5 pm came around, it was really time to move! There was only one problem: right in front of us, another catamaran was anchored above our anchor, so we couldn’t pick it up. And, nobody was home to move the boat forward. A stressful moment, that required a solution before the sun went down. After waiting around for a little while, we decided to let go of our chain (with a float attached) and leave our main anchor behind, hoping it would still be there to pick up when the conditions settled down. That done, we started heading out, climbing over the massive waves, only to see our neighbors return… Back we went, dealing with the anchor and picking it up in an awful swell, urging the boat owners to nudge their boat a bit forward. I was at the helm, needing to get close to the other boat, where the anchor was, and, at the same time, trying not to get smashed on to it by the towering waves. Mark and I were a great team and we managed to get out of this hairy situation without damage or hurt, but our nerves needed a little while to settle down again!

Irie found a nice, cozy spot in a calmer part of the bay and Christmas came around. Sim and Rosie brought English style dishes, while we offered the American version of a Christmas dinner. Our friend Dave from Tatia had taken care of the hand made decorations, which took him days to produce. The atmosphere was festive and all five of us had a wonderful time. After the appetizers of freshly made pâté and Devil’s Eggs, we moved on to the buffet of roasted chicken, pot roasted beef, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, two kinds of gravy, cranberry sauce and home made stuffing. By the time we had stuffed ourselves, there was no room for dessert (assortment of Belgian chocolate)!

The week between Christmas and New Year was a combination of chores, internet work, celebrating Rosie’s birthday and some quiet time. One afternoon, our friends Tom and Angie surprised us with a visit. They had just arrived from the Canary Islands (Spain), after being 25 days at sea and hadn’t even been ashore yet! Another reason to just stay put until early January! New Year’s Eve was a bit less decadent food wise and also took place on Irie. All our friends brought an appetizer - or two - to share and we were accompanied by Tom and Angie as well. After dinner, we planned to go to shore to party, having saved some money by not eating out.

From the moment all of us were settled in the cockpit with a plate full of food, however, it started pouring! We moved inside and stayed there until midnight. At exactly 12 am, the rain took a break and we watched some spectacular fireworks (yes, we were all impressed; Bequia is a small Caribbean island after all) from Irie’s deck. Then, the drinking continued, people started making accessories out of paper, with a paper boat race as a result and - unlike previous years where we barely made midnight – at 3 am, Mark and I went to bed! Happy 2011 to you all!