Profound Gratitude

TIME: 2021/06/03 03:12
LATITUDE: 07-10.93N
LONGITUDE: 153-12.78W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 312T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 4.1 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 15 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 70 deg
SEA STATE: NE 1.5M
COMMENTS: Wind picked up and turned to NE overnight, we are sailing again and left the rain behind this morning. Our course is more W than we would like but the wind will clock around to allow us to turn N in time. Passed 1500NM made good today so all on board got another goodie bag of candy.



We have now covered 1500nm since leaving Tahiti and during that time I have been doing loads of reflection about our time in French Polynesia. This is a country that truly changed the course of our lives. A country that provided us with a safe haven during a global pandemic.

Most people know that our dream to sail with the girls was born while D and I vacationed in FP in 2012. Up until then our plan was to work until the usual retirement age when D would have maxed out his work pension, then set sail. This would have been the more financially prudent option. But during our fateful vacation in FP, we hatched the plan to slightly increase the timeline and include the girls. In less than 3 years, we made it happen. Being in the beauty that is French Polynesia, it truly changed how we saw the rest of our lives. We wanted to live more consciously, more fully than we had up to that point.

Less than seven years after that vacation, we returned to the shores of French Polynesia with Maple, anticipating a one year stay before moving on west. Obviously those plans all went to pot when Covid hit. However, there is no downside for us. We had the good fortune to spend TWO YEARS in this paradise, beyond anything we could imagine. The gratitude we feel towards this country that gave us so much is beyond measure.

In those two years we met countless fantastic people. People we are so fortunate to now call friends and I do truly hope our paths can cross again one day. As a result of our time in FP alone we now have endless couch surfing opportunities in so many countries: Norway, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Australia, South Africa; I know this is not an exhaustive list. We had the opportunity to explore islands and atolls that non-sailing tourists don't get to see. We got to dive in her depths and explore the diversity of the underwater world. We got to attend cultural events of a fiercely proud people who made landfall here thousands of years before we did. We got to be tattooed by remarkable artists, masters of their craft, who carry on the traditions and stories of their people.

This country sheltered us while the world changed as we knew it. Other cruisers around the world were being turned away or kicked out from countries, arrested for trying to make an emergency stop, not allowed to get off their boat for months on end. Meanwhile, for us here in French Polynesia, we had our own oasis. Sure we had four weeks of being confined to the boat, but at least we still had the opportunity to go to shore for shopping and exercise. After those four weeks, truly our lives were not really impacted, certainly not compared to much of the world. It is since Covid that we met so many of these new friends. While so many people have been unable to see the people they love, we have been able to freely travel within the country and meet new people. This privilege is not lost on us. And to top all of this, D and I as mere tourists were even able to get fully vaccinated here at no cost.

To say that I was upset when we pulled out of our anchorage in Tahiti on May 18 is a mild understatement. After waving a final goodbye to one of those amazing people we have been so fortunate to meet here, I was a mess. I was ugly crying, barely able to catch my breath. The girls just hugged me as D took Maple through the lagoon for our final exit. In the 30 countries we have visited with Maple, this is the first time I have had this much emotion. I struggle to find the words of how special this country will forever be to me. I left part of my heart there.

Thank you, French Polynesia!! Merci beaucoup!! Maururu!!