So here we sit in paradise at the atoll of Toau in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Blue sky, puffy white clouds on the horizon, palm trees gently swaying, coral covered beaches and various shades of blue ocean surrounds us. It is exactly what I imagined when we were still dreaming of sailing off to horizons unknown. This is where we will spend our fifth Thanksgiving on board Maple. Certainly much to be thankful for.
The girls like to reflect on our first Thanksgiving on Maple. We had just arrived in the marina in Lefkada, Greece after a long, rough day sail. The same place where D and I first stepped foot on Maple the previous February when we did the survey on her. Upon getting settled in the marina, one of us finally remembered that it was in fact Thanksgiving. It had completely escaped us that we were about to miss celebrating our first Thanksgiving since we moved on Maple. What are we going to do?! There was no finding a turkey and whipping up a full turkey dinner as the sun was already starting to set on the day. Well thankfully we were in Greece where the food is amazing!!! (Oh how we often reminisce about Greece and especially the food!) The highlight for the girls was when it started to absolutely pour rain in monsoon quantities and so we had to quickly run from where we were sitting outside to inside the restaurant. Thankfully no food was harmed during the dash across the torrents of water rushing down the street.
The three Thanksgivings following our Greek feast went off much more smoothly. Where the holiday was remembered in advance and the typical fare was prepared. Although turkeys have been hard to find so generally a whole chicken has to suffice. Plus we have been beyond fortunate to be able to share these meals with amazing friends we have met along this journey of ours. We have enjoyed Thanksgivings in Almerimar, Spain with Sandra and Jeff from Nawii; in Bonaire with fellow Canadians Sherrie, Shaun, Paige and Jordan from Element; and in Guatemala with Kaiwen, Erik, Kyle and Max from Ad Astra.
Despite that run of good planning, that came to a crashing end here in French Polynesia. Literally as we were just leaving the pass of Rangiroa where at least there is a small shop to buy groceries, I had the revelation that Thanksgiving was just a week away. And we were now en route to an atoll that has a population of 3. I had a sneaking suspicion that we were going to have to be creative with our Thanksgiving dinner plans. So today we are having a Thanksgiving meal of butter chicken curry and naan!! However, have no fear, we managed to find a rusting can of pumpkin in the back of the food locker and even have some UHT whipping cream on board, so we are all set for dessert with the pumpkin pie already cooling. And despite our isolation we are able to share our meal with another cruiser, Mike from Easy. So we are all set for our fifth memorable Thanksgiving on board Maple!!
Sending all our love to our family and friends back in Canada who we miss tremendously and wish they could all be here with us to celebrate together. Wishing everyone a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!!
