Our send-off from Tahiti was special. Our friend Heiata and her family came to the dock to say goodbye and adorn us with shell necklaces. Flowers are for arrival, shells are for departure.
We met Heiata a couple of weeks ago while looking for the Ace Hardware. We’d taken a different route and ended up walking in completely the wrong direction. In a residential area at least three km’s from the hardware store we’d seen a girl getting into her car and Will had tried to ask for directions. Without hesitation, Heiata drove us to the Ace and also offered to take us out and show us some of the sites. This led to a fun afternoon a couple of weeks ago when Heiata and her husband picked us up from the Marina and gave us a tour of the island. So nice!
Simon and Katharine (good friends from Vancouver) joined us last weekend and we set sail for Moorea as quickly as possible. Will and I loved Tahiti, but after three weeks it was definitely time to get moving. Moorea is just a quick hop away – about 15 nm. So far, Moorea has been amazing. It is stunningly beautiful, there’s a nice mix of French and real Polynesian culture, and the three anchorages we’ve visited here have been post card perfect and flat calm.
Renting scooters for a couple of days allowed us to ‘scoot’ to all the sites. We circumnavigated the island and checked out all of the beaches (they are considered the best in all of French Polynesia). Once the scooters were returned we opted for the second-best mode of island transportation: hitch hiking. The people are so friendly that we haven’t had any trouble getting rides, including one in a world war 2 jeep.
This morning we’re going swimming with sting rays and sharks. Exciting! This evening we’ll set sail for Huahine, an 82 nm passage. Unfortunately there’s not much wind, but it’ll be fun to do an overnight passage with S & K and see another island with before they leave us to enjoy the luxury of a hotel in Bora Bora…. Hydroquest doesn’t provide quite the same level of opulence, although group showers on the beach have been quite indulgent in our opinion.
Saying goodbye, Polynesian style
Hydroquest at anchor in famous Cook’s Bay
Simon, Katharine, Sarah & Will at the Belvedere lookout
svkaiquest.com 
As we remember Tahiti (John & Karen in 1972) – stuck our thumbs out to hitch hike somewhere and we would be ‘captured’ – almost always taken to the drivers house …sometimes spent the night.- wonderful hospitality – but what a way to discover their culture!
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40 years later, the hospitality is still the same!
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Idyllic anchorage. That greenery is so luxurious…..Is it real?
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It’s true – everything feels and looks unreal!
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Where do you guys plan to venture next? Do your travels include Asia? Singapore or Thailand?
I’m trying to talk myself out of preparing my old but well found Tartan 27 for such a trip.. Currently on Lake Erie. There is a guy and his wife, Russ Cobb that have been cruising the world aboard there Tartan 27 since 1986. Currently they are somewhere in the Philippines.
Do be very careful.. Have you read “The Last Voyage”, by Harold Stephens; the building of and 18 year voyage of the schooner, The Third Sea? If you have not I highly recommend it.
Dan
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Great you could share such wonderful experiences with your friends. I too remember Moorea and the beaches …..I think I got lucky one night! TMI! Travel safely
Fran and Mur
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What a lovely story. We need more people like this in the world!
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Will, you look less like a pirate – Sarah must have attacked you with scissors!! The scenery looks magical.
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