Deja Vu and a New Crew!

It was on the wettest and greyest of mornings, that we finally left the UK to return to French Polynesia, which was for the best. The glorious sunshine and eternal delight of spring blooming over the previous few weeks had made us wonder if we really wanted to leave at all. The journey back to Tahiti was very long. Four airports, three train stations and a lot of walking in between, saw us arriving in Tahiti exhausted after 38 hours. Juggling Covid passports, British passports, COVID test results, Bond letters and numerous other bits of administration, whether digital or on paper was stressful. We even had to have visas for transiting the airport at San Francisco. This involved standing in line for immigration for over an hour in order to get our photos and finger prints taken, showing our visas, then hurrying to departures to stand in yet another line before further removal of shoes, belts, emptying of bags, and all to get back on the same plane and into the same seats we left two hours before! At least we got to stretch our legs halfway through the 20 hour flight.

Foreseeing this saga we had travelled with hand luggage only. However, it was stuffed with various spare parts for engines, boat systems and safety equipment, so we constantly worried that something would get removed as dangerous. The only query came at security in Orly Airport, France, when Richard’s roll of 8 harmonicas were removed and examined, I expect they feared he might overcome the flight attendants with a forceful rendition of “Fly me to the moon”! But our journey wasn’t over yet, a further flight and two boat rides eventually got us back to Celtic Star at Apataki Carenage, in the Toumotu archipelago, in the middle of the South Pacific, most people would consider it the “middle of no where”.

Poor old Celtic Star was feeling her age, neglected and grubby, rusty, corroded and very fusty smelling, with a few wee bugs inhabiting her nether regions. Only superficial ailments and easily remedied with over the counter remedies and TLC, we managed to relaunch 3 days later despite a seized seacock. This was potentially a bigger problem as the through hull fitting is to the outpipe of the toilet, and the interim repair, needed another lift out to complete. That wasn’t going to happen so Richard fixed it with a snorkel and wooden bung on one side, then he fitted a new part on the interior.

The engine worked, though the starter battery was dead, the other batteries had been constantly topped up from our solar panels, so super skipper, Richard, handyman extraordinaire, was able to jump start it with a screwdriver. Once filters were replaced on the water maker we started that up and the high pressure pump leapt into action, thankfully. Acclimatising to the heat while working in small spaces below decks caused excess sweating and between us, we had drunk 20 litres of water in 2 days!

Boats are full of stowage under seats, beds and decks so it was a challenge to remember where we had kept things and how it all worked, but slowly we started to feel at home again and eventually we hoisted the sails and furled them ready to go sailing again. The rigging was checked and we found anything plastic, especially cable ties, had degraded and snapped, but sensibly we had removed as much as we could from the decks, the important stuff all looked fine. One of the life jackets had set itself off, so we replaced the CO2 canister on the others and checked their lights and beacons were working. Thankfully the flares and life raft were both in date and I checked the grab bag and first aid kits were stocked and useable.

And then we were ready to go sailing again.

We crossed the lagoon in a couple of hours, which served as a short shakedown cruise and because we were sailing downwind we goose-winged the sails, which involves a pole and a few more ropes. The human brain is interesting as it remembers how to perform tasks quite well subconsciously, but when you stop to consider how to execute tasks it’s all a bit vague, so we trusted our instincts and it all worked out! A brief stop alongside the village quay at the passe turned into a four hour sojourn because the shop in Niutahi closes between 11.30 and 1600. C’est la vie, learning to chill out and slow down isn’t too hard for me after three post operative recoveries! After the shopping was stowed we cast off and exited through Passe Pakaka, commencing our passage westward once again, back to Tahiti 200 miles away across the Pacific Ocean. Our first ocean passage onboard Celtic Star since October 2020, we were clumsy at first, but gradually found our sea legs.

Rolling down the trade winds is exactly what we did for the next 36 hours. After the first 12 hours it felt like time had rewound itself, surrounded by the empty ocean, the puffy white kindergarten clouds against a blue sky, the constant movement of the boat and finding dead flying fish on deck in the morning all suddenly seemed quite normal! The trials of the last year started to slide into the back of my mind and I remembered the poetic words of Shelley “ I am the daughter of the earth and water, a nursling of the sky”.

Just a week after we had flown out of Tahiti by plane we arrived back again by boat. Sailing past Venus Point in the early dawn just as the planet Venus was rising brightly was a moment for contemplation about the wonder of the world, but it was brief, because a sudden heavy squall greeted our arrival so we needed to reduce sail and close hatches quickly! We later visited by car as it is beside Matavai Bay where Cook, Bligh and Bouganville all anchored.

Our first stop was Tania Marina, 4 miles from Papeete, where we had hoped to berth, but there was no space. We did manage to visit the chandlery shop where we bought an engine start battery, plus a new fuel filler fitting. We had stopped at the fuel dock but were unable to fill up because the fuel cap had seized tight and wouldn’t budge with a hammer or blow torch, eventually Richard removed the entire fitting and replaced it with a shiny new one! Having spent a lot of money in a little time we went off to anchor, but the anchorages were busy and eventually we headed to Papeete marina where we had spent lockdown in April and May 2020, and then returned to several times during the following months we were cruising in FP.

A huge sense of deja vu hovered in my head, especially as friends from one of our original Rally boats helped us to berth and take our lines. We had last seen Andrew from Accomplice in the Galapagos in March 2020 because he had spent lockdown in The Marquesas islands, and left his boat there. We had actually bought a spare generator part out for him, nestled next to Richard’s harmonicas! The marina had nice new facilities, showers, bars and a restaurant, which we enjoyed and the staff remembered us well. Celtic Star was still on their system and so were the two crew who had arrived with us from the Galapagos in 2020, so we updated their system! Papeete seemed like a very busy place after the extreme remoteness of Apataki, and though we went out and about we felt bleary from our night watches and had literally swapped jet lag for passage fatigue.

We had worked hard and continuously for 10 days to make the boat safe, seaworthy and habitable. Once in Papeete, we hired a car which enabled us to continue preparations, buying provisions for our planned two week passage to Fiji, and chandlery from the various suppliers in town. Unfortunately, we then discovered that the prop shaft seal was leaking, which meant we really might sink, and right on cue, the bilge pump float switch stopped working too, so we did need to arrange an emergency lift out to replace it. Ha! As soon as there is a whiff of a plan, the proverbial spanner gets in the works! While Richard had his head in a cupboard, sorting out leaks, I unwrapped the dinghy. Despite being wrapped and on a pallet under the boat, after 18 months in the tropics, it was filthy and to my horror I uncovered a couple of squashed scorpions and lizards and a bevy of live ants, but the worst was yet to come, 3 large scuttling cockroaches appeared and shot off in random directions! As did I, shrieking and flapping and carrying on until Richard appeared in his bouncer role and persuaded them to leave the premises; overboard! We continued cleaning and mending and checking equipment until it was time to collect our daughter Laura at 0600 on Monday 16 th May, and she was shown around Papeete and even managed a small tattoo before succumbing to jet lag and disappearing into her cabin for the night.

We still had a day left with the hire car, so the following day was dedicated to tourism and fun and absolutely no boat maintenance! We drove around the exquisitely beautiful island of Tahiti and re visited places we had previously enjoyed, waterfalls, blow hole, The wave at Teatapoo, a marae and a grotto. We also had lunch at Rose’s restaurant on Tahiti ziti, first introduced to us by our tour guide, Tracey from Brighton, in 2020! We have returned twice and each time Tracey was there with guests, so we had a great catch up!

Then it is fully back into our peripatetic boat life as we headed up through the Society Islands introducing Laura to the high lights of our travels in 2020. Firstly to an anchorage in Opanua Bay, on the island of Moorea, where we launched the dinghy for a day out to see sharks and rays and colourful fish followed by a delicious lunch at the Coco Beach restaurant. Once we had slept off the very strong Pina Colada we set off on a night passage to Raiataia. We had no wind so it was a noisy motor and we found that there was a problem with the batteries again which was temporarily fixed. Laura is much easier to winch up the mast for a rig check!

We picked up a mooring on Raiatea and went to visit the historical site of Tupatupatea, a remarkable UNESCO heritage site of temples called marae, made from coral and the spiritual home of Polynesia. After a sleep and a cooling dip we motored through the lagoon and across to the smaller island of Tahaa to pick up a mooring in Tapanua bay where there are two rum distilleries We raced ashore to book our e bikes for the morning and of course sampled the rum and bought a celebratory bottle of Mano’a sugar cane rum. Delicious. The following day we spent 7 hours cycling around the island, this is such a delightful place, we visited a pearl farm and a vanilla farm and learnt about both, as well as purchasing both.

Then it was snorkelling at the coral gardens and a short passage to Bora Bora, where the yacht club was first port of call for wi fi, banking and the mundane but essential bits, washing, immigration, shopping and a last Bloody Mary at Bloody Mary’s. Now we are passage planning and getting weather forecasts for our 1800 nautical mile passage to Fiji, which we think will take about 2 weeks.

It is a momentous moment to be finally moving west two years since we arrived here. It has been two years full of surprises and strange happenings.

Farewell French Polynesia! Au revoir et merci beaucoup!