Author: Elizabeth
Picture: "Imaginary Honeymoon" Outrigger Team

Seth & I are very glad we decided to return to Tahiti for the "Tahiti Moorea Sailing Rendezvous" (generously sponsored and organized by Latitude 38). The weekend rates as one of the best so far on our trip. Not only did we get to meet up with old friends (like Imagine & Airelle) and relatively new friends (like Corenthea, Wayward Wind, Follow You Follow Me and Victory Cat) but we also had the opportunity to meet many other cruisers all sailing around the South Pacific for the next few months. In fact, one of the best things about our current lifestyle is the interesting people we meet and having the time to get to know them. Back in the city, it is often hard to reach out to new people as everyone is so busy but here time is the one resource we all have available. Among friends on the high seas, we count doctors, professional sailors, chefs, entrepreneurs, financial gurus and of course many retirees with their own story to tell, from around the world: all over America, England, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Norway, Denmark, France and Chile to name a few.

This rally was all about people with some sailing on the side. Opening with a cocktail party and a visit to the roulette vans for dinner, we were off to a roaring start with people we had not seen in months. Catching up on adventures and humorous stories was the order of the evening. The next morning the group sailed from Tahiti to Moorea in a friendly race. With low winds topping out at 10 knots, the sailing was slow going but the atmosphere was fun and social and I even finally got to use my line "Do you have any Grey Poupon?" as we passed closely by some new friends on La Palapa! Honeymoon came in #22, which was fine because Imagine was #25. In fact, it was with a sense of pride we even finished the course. The race was difficult for catamarans as pointing into the wind is near impossible and most of the cats threw in the towel early and motored to Moorea for first choice on anchoring spots. The day ended perfectly with a fun group dinner at the Hyatt resort. Two tables broke into a spontaneous and competitive game of name that tune or movie and we laughed until our sides hurt.

Saturday brought yet another perfect day in paradise and all the cruisers met on the beach at Moorea for a fun competition of local events, lunch and more time to socialize. We partnered with Imagine and named our team "Imaginary Honeymoon", quite clever we thought. We paddled outrigger canoes, lifted heavy rocks, ran with poles of banana bunches but skipped the coconut craving contest. Had we scrapped together enough team spirit to compete in the coconuts and had anyone on the team tried to lift a rock beside me, we could of captured 2nd or 3rd as our canoe racing was brilliant but c'est la vie, we ended up in 6th. That evening we celebrated our "victory" on Imagine with drinks then headed over to Corenthea for one more party. Fun was had by all.