Reflections on Season 2 in French Polynesia

As with most things in life, there is never a perfect time to embark on an adventure–changing jobs, changing cities, getting married, having kids, buying a house, starting a business, taking a sabbatical trip, or sailing the South Pacific. We often leave behind work opportunities, friends, kids, aging parents, a house that is slowly deteriorating. As Mark Twain famously said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” I’m good with that.

John Riise, Contributing Editor for Latitude 38 magazine (unquestionably the best sailing magazine in the world) asked me to reflect upon our first season in French Polynesia. Among its diverse sailing content, the magazine features short articles from cruising sailors making their way around the world. Here is what I wrote:

Roam’s second season has come to a close. She is currently tied up in Marina Taina, Tahiti. We are back in the US for a few weeks working and visiting friends and family. We’ll be back aboard in January. We’ll bend on the headsails, fill our freezer with cooked meals and fresh food, and head east as the weather permits.

Our insurance company wants us east of 150W until May 1st. We’ll bide our time back in the Tuamotus and Marquesas, visiting the places we liked and a few we missed. We might sail down to the Gambier if the timing and weather allow.

This season, we sailed through the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society Islands as far west as Bora Bora before sailing back to Tahiti. I had a work trip in early October and we needed a secure place to leave the boat. We arrived Tahiti in mid-September thinking it might take a few weeks to secure a marina spot. Pam had been emailing with Marina Taina for a few months, and when we called them upon landfall, surprisingly they had space waiting for us!

We hove to outside the port entrance and scrambled to find our dock lines and inflate our fenders—none of which had been used in many months. Taina Boatwatch will keep an eye on Roam and exercise her systems while we are away.

It was a wonderful season highlighted by a spectacular sail across the Pacific, crossing the equator during the solar eclipse. Pam loved the beauty and food scene in Mo’orea and Bora Bora. I loved the dramatic landscapes of the Marquesas and the pristine solitude of the Tuamotus. We found something for each of us. Both of us enjoyed snorkeling these warm, clear waters with their abundant marine life. I rekindled my long-dormant love of scuba diving while getting re-certified in Tahiti.

You remember most the people you meet—cruisers and locals. And it was fun to have our kids spend a few weeks with us sailing the Society Islands.

More than anything, cruising is about adapting to a new lifestyle with all of the highs and lows it brings. We were blessed with relatively few problems this season. Roam, a 2001 Catana 472 catamaran, turned out to be the perfect blend of speed and cruising comfort we hoped she would be.

Starlink turned out to be a game-changer as it allowed both of us to continue our work while cruising. But that creates the challenge of constantly shifting gears between work mode and cruiser mode throughout the week.  That, and finding a secure place for the boat if work required a trip somewhere in the world.

Once cyclone season winds down, we will continue west—Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and finally New Zealand. Plans written in the sand at low tide, as they say.

Here’s looking forward Season 3!

Scenes from Season 2:

Pam at the helm departing our slip at Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She has become a skilled and competent offshore sailor in her own right. She has done an amazing job looking after the health and well being of me and our crew. I can’t imagine a better partner in this grand adventure.

Witnessing the total eclipse of the sun while crossing the equator in a small boat. The only humans on earth to do so. Cheers to the best crew ever–scalawags the lot of them.

Champagne breakfast aboard Roam in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas with the crews of Chaos and Fundango celebrating a successful Pacific Crossing. 16 days averaging nearly 8 knots.

French Polynesia, and the Tuamotus in particular, are a bit of a food dessert. But baguettes are subsidized by the government and you can find them everywhere. Add some New Zealand canned butter (the gold can) and you are good to go!

French Polynesia has it all. Crystal clear water, endless beaches, abundant marine life, inhabited, uninhabited, friendly people.

The cruising community forms fast, deep friendships. They are generous people by nature and are always looking after each other. But the times together are often fleeting. Seems we are always saying “hello” and “goodbye.”

Starlink made it possible to build and run a business while cruising. It has been an interesting challenge. It requires shifting gears from cruising mode to working mode throughout the week. And, we often need to get creative in finding a place to safely park the boat in order to make a business trip. I am fortunate to have wonderful (and flexible) clients–many of them in this hemisphere.

Being here rekindled my love of Scuba diving–my current obsession. If Pam had one wish, she’d reduce the number of shark encounters.

Paddle boarding is the new hiking. Polynesians call this kind of paddle boarding “going for a walk.”

Liza, like many local residents, has built a small business around the annual migration of cruising sailboats. She cooks up a feast for the sailors anchored off her beach in Hirifa, Fakarava, Tuamotus.

We loved having friends and family come to visit and spend time with us.

Our friends Jim and Angela came to visit and braved a “maramu” wind event.

We find spectacular anchorages everywhere. They are all unique. Some we have to ourselves. Some are busy with locals and other cruising sailors.

The best partner in the world spreading rainbows and sunshine and good vibes as she always does.