Tanda Malaika
28 July 2017 | Baie D'Avea (Avea Bay), Huahine, French Polynesia (FP)
Mark Logan
Aloha All,
We're having a fantastic stay in Huahine. Stayed the first night right inside the channel leading to the main town of Fare. We then followed one of Noodle's tracks from his trip here in 2014 to a bay at the south end of Huahine.
This move coincided with receipt of some bad news about a fellow cruising family that ran aground on the reef just outside Avea Bay a few nights before. Turns out that Kana knows the family as they were in Cuba the same time Hokule'a was there in 2016. Kana was on the escort vessel, "Gershon" when he met them and spent some time getting to know the family during the Hokule'a visit there. We had just seen them in Marina Taina a few days before we left for Huahine.
The French Polynesian Coast Guard had to helicopter lift the family of six off their catamaran, flying them safely to shore as the cruisers anchored inside the bay, who attempted to reach them by dinghy, could not get close enough due to the shallow, razor sharp coral reef and large waves breaking around the vessel. All six were safely extracted and flown to Fare, the main town in Huahine. From there they boarded a friend's boat and sailed back to Avea Bay to begin assessing the damage and to attempt to salvage their beloved Tanda Malaika, home to the family for the past 2 and something years.
It was determined that Tanda Malaika could not undergo salvage due to extensive damage to her hulls and the incredible amount of money it would take to float her off the reef and tow the vessel safely to Raiatea. The family decided that they would scuttle their boat after removing anything and everything of potential value. This is where Kana, his girlfriend Paige, Blossom and I come into the picture.
For the next two full and one half days, we worked with the family and a host of other assisting cruisers to remove all hardware, hatches, electronics, two diesel engines and another diesel generator, a water maker, running and standing rigging (less the two cap stays and a halyard being used as a forestay) from Tanda Malaika. It took dinghy trip after dinghy trip to move all that and the family's personal belongings, tools, dive gear, and food from the boat. It looked pretty thoroughly stripped by the time we stopped. Everyone was exhausted.
I was mostly impressed with the tenacity and fortitude of the couple's 4 teenaged children. Jude, sister Maicah (Sp), and the twins, Aiden (Sp) and Emma worked harder than anyone to see the effort through to completion. Despite the incredible emotional trauma of losing their home, they persisted and did their Mom, Belinda and her husband Danny proud. I was completely blown away by the way they cared for and supported one another and their parents through the ordeal, which, by a long-shot, is not over yet.
We said farewell to them, knowing that our paths will likely cross again. We plan to sail to Raiatea tomorrow and the family plans to take an apartment there until all the details and disposition of Tanda Malaika is finalized.
You can read more and even assist the family with some financial help if you look up the "GoFundMe" site for RescueTheTribe. I heard that noonsite.com has a story posted as well.
Everyone take care and stay well. All our love.
mark blossom makana paige