find a vet to take 3x blood samples from "apple" to send to the
"Kansas State University," USA to comply with her annual rabies tests,
thus saving her months of quarantine in her next port of call after
FP. On promptly on hearing this package plop gently into the coconut
palm post box... we up anchored & set sail back to island of Raitea to
confirm our December 1st haul-out date at the boat yard..
It's been amazing.. how "in-tune" you become with the elements after
being afloat for so long... & it's also been quite an eye opener..
when you mix the vulnerability of these small sailing crafts against
the infinite mass these elements can subliminally create around
you... when we look back over the last year & all those cruising
friends we've met & befriended, well I guess.... it's this
vulnerability that bonds Us all soo closely together as a
community...! . We (Veronica & Myself) probably know about 100
cruising yachts out here & around 20-30 very closely.... & out of
these 20 or so yacht ..... TWO have become fatalities, "Emerly Pearl"
who sank in Marquesas & "Lariekoek" who hit a reef & sunk off Mango
Island ... however strangest thing is .... Both these two yachts (both
singlehanded) were being sailed by the most experienced sailors out
here... ,I mean, Aedgard in "Lariekoek" had already won the
"whitbread' round the world race..twice!!! YES!! TWICE!! In "Flyer"
as Dutch yacht.. & Richard in "Emily Pearl" had been circumnavigating
for over 14 years... both although in there mid 60's but were like
children at heart... Maybe, just like in all walks of life .. People
get complacent, a little too confident or perhaps little to
"knowledgeable".. .. who knows.? . but the one thing age dose brings
is....." Knowledge' & knowledge unfortunately brings..... "Fear"
sorry to say ( just my opinion).... & FEAR Will hold you back!!
I'd have never started a Film company at the age of 20, "IF" i'd
known what owning a film company really entailed!! I mean the scale
of the idea (with no money of support just powered by pure
naivety).. .. But I'm extremely glad I did... as I'm still reaping
it's rewards.
... So basically if anyone out there? (& I have received quite a few
letters for people who'd like to take the same adventure) .. I'd say
if your naive enough to cross the pacific Do it!! (Just make sure
you're physically able to handle the epic passages).. & you'll never
look back.!. & do it as young as you can... Because as you get
older.. That crippling thing called "knowledge" is going to imprison
you... in fear!!..
So here's a bit of knowledge...!! A beautiful clear starry night
sky... means ....very strong winds will be with you shortly!!.... .
when the wind starts & stops. with little puff's one at a time... it's
changing direction...!! over the past month of september , i can see
the heavy humid squall beginning to re-appear just after sunset's,
becoming more & more prevalent as the sun moves into Souther
hemisphere, I guess ( i mean knowledge has taught me) ..some of these
squalls will begin to fill with lightning...eeK.!.... one of the
negatives about spending a summer under the Tropic of Capricorn.
During our brief stopover in Raitea, we received a visit from a
fascinating local polynesian guy..,, He didn't speak any English just
a little French/polynesian, but seemed very interested "Apple" the
yacht.. especially her British flag... in-fact, I'd say he was
totally infatuated by the British flag, I tried to talk with him..
but he'd simply smile.. far too content watching the union Jack
flutter, he seemed quite at peace with himself.... So we simply went
about our "in port" chores of washing down the boat, airing the
spinnaker & storm sails, before heading into town to purchase
supplies .. On the way in, we found an old chinese woman, selling
fresh local fruits & vegetables straight from her front garden, so we
were able to buy all our fresh produce before even getting to town
&.. within another 10 minutes we managed to but a massive Dorado or
Mahi Mahi straight from the fisherman.... so by the time we found the
supermarket we were already loaded up...
Anyways back to our friend at the dock side.... Well, ... We finally
on arrive back to the dock, to a very warm welcome from our "new flag
loving friend"..& he actually said something!!..... He spoke!! In
broken very french/poly/english " you sooo lucky" ..Ummm, I thought
he was talking about the Yacht & sailing around.. ...So I said..
"ummm.. Thank-you, yes.. Thank you..I guess I am" & kindly shook his
hand..... I guess i should of explained that ... i did work like a
machine in film for some twenty years or so... plus I had to sell my
soul to the advertising industry... But i guess this might have got
tangled up in translation...
Anyway's.... Smiling, he picked up his brown canvass bag & pulled out
a pile of old hand drawn papers which he happily unrolled before
me.. ...at first glance, it looked like a succession of sketches of
british flags.. each beautiful in their own craftsmanship.. but on
closer inspection, throughout the beautiful "palace script" style hand
written notes, were astral inscriptions, market in degree's & time,
maps of England overlaid on top of Tahiti., the tips of the flag
reaching across the globe....with endless notes.etc. measurements &
angles... This was this guys lifetimes occupation.. He was about to
prove that Tahiti was in fact England!! ..,It was inspiring in its
meticulous detail.. If that makes any sense..? On even closer
inspection & after asking a series of in-depth questions bout his
knowledge of astronomy & astrology.. I could see... he was right!!...
& finally he said again "you soo lucky being English" because that
means you are Polynesian & we were apparently brother? Amazing..!!
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