Check out Our New Blog!

Now that Mark and I have sold Irie and temporarily moved onto land in the United States, we have created a new blog called Roaming About - A Life Less Ordinary. This new blog showcases our semi-settled life and all our current and future adventures, with flashbacks to our "old" cruising life. It links back to this website when appropriate. On Roaming About I write about our new lifestyle of house and pet sitting, side-trips, upcoming travels and plans, thoughts, ideas, writing, food, health, frugal living and much more. Basically about everything that strikes my fancy! :-) The goal is to post more often and write shorter pieces. Feel inspired to live a life less ordinary, check in often, or sign up to follow our alternative lifestyle blog by email! Click here to see what it is all about...

(Update: Since the summer of 2017, we have a new home on wheels! Our 19ft campervan is called Zesty and has taken us to many places and on heaps of adventures. In June 2019, we also extended our nomadic family with an adult rescue dog called Maya.)

Farewell Irie!

It is final. Irie has been sold. Her new Australian owners will soon bring her to their home country. She will leave French Polynesia after more than two years, just like we left her after more than eight years.

Mark and I are a bit sad, but mostly happy that she will be sailing again and that the burden of owning a sailboat on the other side of the world is lifted. Of course, we will miss Irie; she meant everything to us and was our home for eight years. She brought us all the way from Annapolis, MD on the east coast of the United States, via the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, to the northern regions of South America. Then, she safely sailed us to our all-time favorite, the San Blas Islands in Panama, before transiting the famous Canal, and entering the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Before we decided to put Irie up for sale, because other priorities arose, we had a great time in the Galapagos Islands and lived two interesting and diverse years afloat in French Polynesia.

We loved the cruising lifestyle and will always have fond memories of Irie, our watery surroundings – the beautiful beaches, the clear water, the amazing wildlife, the colorful and peaceful snorkeling, the people we met (locals and cruisers alike) - the intriguing sites and pulsating cultures, and especially, the peace and solitude of exquisite anchorages. And we will definitely miss the tropical climate! 

While we totally enjoyed being one with nature for so many years, appreciating what she had to offer and living a pretty basic life, we are currently content with the quirks of “modern” living. We indulge in daily hot showers, are aware of conveniences like unlimited internet and electricity, and embrace the fact that we can just take the car somewhere or go for a walk. We are ready for some comfort and landlubber “delights”!

With the sale of Irie another special experience and adventurous chapter of our lives has ended, but a new one – intriguing and exciting on a different level – is about to begin. Officially homeless, we will have our base in the United States for now, but anyone who knows us pretty well, can predict that it is just a matter of time before the next adventure presents itself… What that will be, is anybody’s guess! (But we do have some ideas. :-))

More photos of Irie and stories of our cruising life can be found in older posts on this website. The archive is listed on the right (bottom of the sidebar).

My last view of Irie, when I left Moorea for the last time in July 2015

Irie hauled out for a buyer's survey in Tahiti, August 2015

Irie hauled out at Technimarine in Tahiti - August 2015

Mark's last view of Irie - under contract - in Moorea, August 2015

Bye bye Irie and the cruising lifestyle (for now)

The Time has Come…

It is with sadness, some apprehension and big sighs that - on July 3^rd, 2015 - I bid a final farewell to Irie, my beloved and reliable floating home and means of travel for eight years. After cleaning her inside and out, packing up our personal belongings and leaving her in a very secure state in a well-protected marina in Moorea, she is looking great, while awaiting new owners who will hopefully love and respect her as much as we did. She has not sold yet, but we expect this to happen pretty soon, based on her market value. She is as good as ready to go sailing and cruising again and continue her epic travels!

It was almost equally as hard for me to leave Moorea and French Polynesia after two years of exploring the islands, enjoying their spectacular beauty, discovering the intriguing culture and meeting some of the nicest and most hospitable people in the world. This place has captured my heart and spirit, and I truly hope I can return one day. After getting a ride from Coco, the harbor master of Vaiare Marina, to the harbor dock with all my bags, my friend Pierrette joined me on the ferry to Tahiti. She brought me to her Tahitian home to spend my last afternoon in typical Polynesian style. It was her husband Thierry’s birthday and we had a lovely meal and pleasant time, before they dropped me off at the Faa’a airport one last time…

The plane rides back to Boston, on the East Coast of the United States, went relatively smoothly and I am now reunited with my happy husband, who has had a productive and comfortable time being back in his home country. Work on the Wirie business is much easier, industrious and satisfying from here, we are catching up with friends and family, and I am trying to find my own routine. Whenever Irie sells, this temporary situation will come to an end and we will figure out what our future entails.

I plan on keeping this blog going, but the content will become a bit more personal, mostly unrelated to sailing and less adventurous for the time being. But, I expect this “time being” will be short-lived! :-)

Irie in Vaiare Marina with Tahiti across the channel

The marina is well-protected by the surrounding mountains

Last dinner and evening with Birgit and Christian (SV Pitufa) on Irie

Sunrise across the channel, next to Tahiti

Sunrise over Tahiti at 5:30am - another early start for me on Moorea!

Taking my last ferry from Moorea to Tahiti with Pierrette, who has a house on both islands with her husband Thierry

My friends' yard in Mahina, Tahiti

Daughter Lahana preparing a wonderful Thai meal

A Thai culinary feast with my Polynesian family - Happy Birthday, Thierry!

Leaving LA on the way to Boston

Back in Newburyport, USA - Pierrette and Thierry gave me shell necklaces representing a safe return to French Polynesia one day...

Irie, safely secured in Vaiare Marina and looking pretty, is still for sale

Wrapping up Life in Moorea… and on Irie

Of weeks that fly by fast, this last one certainly made my top! With Mark slowly getting settled in the Boston area, I rounded up our life on Irie in Moorea. While initially, I enjoyed some more time sightseeing the island and meeting up with friends, the closer my departure date approached, the more I focused on Irie. For days, I cleaned up, organized, sorted, decided, packed, and cleaned – wood, ceiling, forepeak, cabinets, kitchen, bathroom, decks and cockpit.

Here are some photos of my final week in Moorea, French Polynesia: hiking to waterfalls with Christian and Birgit from SV Pitufa, reconnecting with Shane and Ava, friends from California I hadn’t seen in over ten years, and dealing with our boat.

Dusk over Tahiti, seen from Vaiare marina

Walk to find some waterfalls in Moorea's dramatic scenery

Where is the rest of the motorbike?

Baby waterfall in the jungle

Not much water flowing down this waterfall in Afareaitu, but tall it is indeed...

The water is distributed over three little falls on the bottom

This cute, sweet and smart dog showed us the way to the falls

What a pretty location to live!

The Intercontinental Hotel on Moorea

This is where I met our friends Shane and Ava, who visited Moorea for their 10 year anniversary

The set-up and setting of the hotel is pretty nice!

Catching up beach and lagoon-side

Visiting the Intercontinental for the afternoon felt like vacation!

Yummy dinner in the "Lezard Jaune" (Yellow Lizard) with Shane and Ava

Birgit from SV Pitufa making curry in Irie's kitchen

Another tasty meal in good company

A couple of days later, we were thinking big... Our goal was to reach the top of the highest mountain (which has a hole in it) or at least the ridge leading up to the peak.

We found a hidden waterfall along the way...

And some tropical scenery

When we reached this waterfall, we knew we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Not a bad turn of events, though

The real trail to the top was very challenging, with a steep climb, roots to maneuver through, up and over, or under, and slippery rocks to navigate

After an hour and a half, realizing we left way too late for this arduous hike, we turned back, without coming across any (anticipated) view, but it was a very interesting and beautiful walk nevertheless.

Hitching back to Vaiare from Afareaitu

Spotless forepeak on Irie