“Trapped in Paradise” was the theme of the last week, where we waited for a weather opportunity to head west. We saved some of the best for last.

Paperwork

Not everyday can be about swim and play, because … paperwork. We will soon leave French Polynesia, then pass through Cook Islands and American Samoa with plans to arrive to Tonga by October 1. Each of those countries have separate immigration, customs, and biosecurity requirements. The requirements range from online submissions to printed, handwritten, and scanned documents.

We plan to arrive in New Zealand at the beginning of November and Tieton will spend the cyclone season there, so we need to get a long stay visa. An isolated island country, New Zealand has extremely strict biosecurity requirements. Tieton will receive a biosecurity inspection upon our arrival, including a review of our biosecurity plan, anti-fouling paint (San Blas, Mexico), and a log of our travel, maintenance, and cleaning since then. Before our New Zealand arrival, we need to consume all raw nuts, seeds, beans, honey, and fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy. Authorities thoroughly inspect boats, will confiscate anything not allowed, plus charge for the incineration cost.

Tieton’s insurance renewal is approaching so we also needed to update our itinerary for next year. We continue to learn so much about our world and the places we plan visit. Let the fun continue.

Raiatea

Within sight of Bora Bora and Huahine, sister islands Tahaa and Raiatea are crowded with boats, and from our perspective, less friendly to cruisers. From Huahine, we had a brisk sail to and quite spicy entrance into Raiatea. We motored past Uturoa, Raiatea’s main town, and then through the narrow pass between the islands. We had planned to stop for fuel, but decided to return on a less windy day when we were more certain that we’d be able to get away from the dock. Sometimes I just try to remember to breathe until the anchor is set. Ahh.

The next day, we took our trusty bicycles the few miles back to Uturoa to turn in our exit documents to the gendarmerie, expecting to be able to pick them up the next day. Very friendly people took our paperwork, which they needed to email to Papeete for approval. They would email us when Papeete approved and we could return with our passports to have them stamped for exit. I’m still not sure why all this emailing was necessary, because we’d already submitted everything online. Hmmm. Cruising is a lesson in patience.

We enjoyed walking through some of the tourist shops and had a nice lunch at a port side restaurant. Stops at the hardware and grocery stores completed our visit to town.

We rode bikes the opposite direction the following day. Of course the scenery was beautiful, and we also got to provide entertainment for locals. We’ve become accustomed to finding a solitary pharmacy, restaurant, grocery or hardware store nestled into a neighborhood amongst the residences. On our return, we were hungry and looking for a restaurant and we rode past several roadside stands. Next to the marina, something smelled wonderful and we saw a few sides of pork roasting on a rotisserie. I walked past the empty tables and chairs to ask when the restaurant opened. When they understood what I asked, they laughed and said it wasn’t a restaurant and they were having a party. Oops. So glad to provide them a laugh.

The next day we took Tieton to get fuel. The anchor was difficult to raise and we finally figured out why when we pulled a huge piece of rock/coral up from 60 feet. We hooked a line below the rock and winched up the anchor to relieve the chain’s pressure around the rock, and with the help of a neighboring boat we’re able to unwrap the chain. Whew! We returned to Uturoa and filled the tank. Unfortunately, we couldn’t leave the boat so we were unable to visit the gendarmerie to check on our exit papers.

The next day, we rode our bikes to the gendarmerie. We inquired about our paperwork, which they couldn’t locate. Somewhat like a clown car, an amazing number of employees kept emerging from the very small office to investigate. Finally, our paperwork was discovered in Papeete’s spam folder, and they told us they’d have our exit papers shortly. We made a quick trip to the grocery store to get fresh food and spend the last of our cash. We returned to the gendarmerie and after some discussion they decided to put the exit stamp in our permanent passport, rather than the temporary passport that has the entry stamp. We were relieved that didn’t create additional paperwork.

We weren’t sorry to leave Raiatea and head west the next day.

Maupihaa

About 150 miles from Raiatea, our visit to this westernmost atoll was magical because of the remoteness and people. The six local inhabitants are friendly to cruisers, and have developed a symbiotic relationship with the cruising community, which is wonderful to share.

Maupihaa’s one entrance is to the north, somewhat sheltered from the prevailing winds and currents. The reef comes right up to the narrow (10 yards/meters), shallow (10 feet/3 meters) channel. Eek! We slipped into the atoll and headed to the southern anchorage with shelter from the upcoming strong winds, and found ourselves alone in the beautiful anchorage. The next day, we were joined by eight boats who didn’t appreciate the rockiness that had developed in the north anchorage. They quickly embraced us in the “Trapped in Paradise” group.

Hina, a local resident for decades, welcomed us onto the beach. We shared a potluck and music, crammed into her humble house, which seemed to sway under our weight. Sweden, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US were represented in the small group. Herman particularly enjoyed the fresh coconut crab in coconut milk, all harvested that day.

The next morning, the anchorage was invited via VHF radio to join Andy and Julie in the beach for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). A dip in the lagoon followed our 30 minutes of HIIT. Later a call went out for long screws to fix Hina’s floor, and several boats contributed some spares to accomplish the repair. What a great way to start the day!

The following day Herman and I took the dinghy to the beach for a walk, and we ended up joining fellow cruisers Owen and Tara. We walked along the rutted road that runs the length of the atoll. Several abandoned homes were evidence of more population in the past. We encountered Pierre, a local who was setting out halved coconuts to trap coconut crabs, and seemed delighted to see us. Through a combination of French, English and sign language, Pierre explained that he hangs the coconut in a bush so the crab must eat there, rather than carrying it away. The baby crabs start in the evening and to catch big crabs, Pierre returns at 2 or 3 AM.

Next, Pierre plucked a coconut sprout and showed us that it tasted of hearts of palm. If we had known how delicious coconut sprouts were, we could have been having them on our salads for the last four months – with landowner’s permission, of course. Pierre enthusiastically offered to cut down a young coconut tree for the heart, which we politely declined.

Pierre next showed us a plant with berries that can be squeezed directly into the eye to take care of conjunctivitis. If only it replaced bifocals, my video would have been normal rather than time lapsed.

Tara asked Pierre if it was possible that she heard whale singing through the hull of their boat in the lagoon, and he confirmed that whales singing outisde the atoll can be heard inside. Amazing! We parted after Pierre pointed out the path to the ocean side of the motu.

What’s Next

The South Pacific Convergence Zone has been dancing along the path of westward bound sailing. We’ve grabbed a three day window to sail the 360 mile passage to Aitutaki, a small atoll in the Cook Islands. We’ll be underway two days and three nights, with a Saturday arrival. We plan to stay there until we have another window to proceed to Tonga.

We are so grateful to have ended our awesome time in French Polynesia with Maupihaa. We had to drag our anchor through the water to remove the fine white sand clinging to it – kind of like our hearts. We may eventually return on our way back to the Pacific Northwest 🙂