We are Cruisers Again!
21 July 2011 | On the ocean between Huahine and Tahaa
We are nomads once again, traveling the deserts of the ocean. Today, we sailed away from Huahine, our home for 11 months, to begin a new chapter.
Any transition can be exciting and fun, but also overwhelming.
Michael and I are leaving with mixed emotions. It was nice, back in August of 2010, when we arrived in Huahine and decided to put down anchor, long term. It was going to be a rest from the incessant anchor down, anchor up, where to anchor, what's the weather forecast? We knew from the start that Huahine would be a temporary home, but still, among all the excitement, leaving today was tough, because saying good-bye is never easy.
Zoe, Maia and Liam are all excited to be on the move again. It was a year of challenges and joys. School was the biggest challenge! Not only did they begin school in a new place, but in a foreign language. Now, at the end of it all, I can see their pride, when they are asked, if they can speak French and they can answer, yes! And, with huge smiles on their faces.
So today, July 10, 2011, excited and also very tired, we sailed away from Huahine out of Avamoa Pass, towards Raiatea and Tahaa.
We Did It: The Final Days
After weeks of preparation, starting with the gargantuan transmission rebuild, we finally got everything, almost everything, in order to sail away. Our list was long, but as we began to see an end to it, we finally ventured to name the day we thought we would actually leave: Saturday, July 9.
A couple of nights before our departure, Michael and I put together a list of what was left to do:
laundry scan documents
stow fresh water jug stow printer
install wind vane stow dingy
attach preventer stow bow and arrow(Liam)
run jacklines stow engine oil
hank on storm jib stow bananas
tighten heat exchanger anti-sang main mast
measure fuel in tank remove bimini
arrange gas cans make CD for Mark
organize and stow ditch bags
A couple of days later, we realized that there was no way we'd be finished for a Saturday departure, so the schedule slipped another day. By the end of Saturday, we found we had only a few more things left to do:
bow and arrow
fuel
antisnag
gas cans
laundry (on going)
ditch bag
stow pails
and finally, stowing the dingy (meaning no more transportation)
We figured on about 2 hours to complete everything and went to bed deciding we'd get up around 6, and that we would be ready to leave around 8 or 9 that next morning. Well, finally around 11 we began to pull up the anchor. We waved good-bye to few neighbouring boats and headed into the wind so that Michael could hoist the mainsail. We had good chuckle later on about the many times we went around the bay of Fare while we worked out the hoisting of the main! It had been 7 months since we had last raised the sail and found that there were a few little details we had overlooked. I figured we were looking a little odd, when I saw a woman on another boat looking at us with a 'what are they doing?' look. Sure, sure, we are experienced sailors……….
Well, eventually we did get things right and headed out the pass, feeling relieved and sad. Good-bye friends, good-bye Huahine.
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