September 19, 2007 -Wednesday
Celebrated with a chocolate cake for Anya's Bon Voyage.
September 20, 2007 - Thursday Bora Bora, Society Islands
Captain:
There is a real nice snorkeling spot, not far from where we are anchored, which I've been to now, several times. Each time I snorkel there, I see fish I've never seen. Pretty amazing sea conditions reside in Bora Bora. We hear that in the Caribbean, the coral reefs are dead, due to hurricanes and pollution. These South Pacific coral reefs are less colorful and more damaged than I expected, but the varied and abundant fish life is good to see. Maybe, the coral around the world is going through a natural cycle of decline, says my hopeful, optimistic self, and then my pessimistic self speaks of a habitat lost. Will this be here in ten years or even five?
The "town" (Vaitape) is pretty, quaint, small with one Main Street. Most days see no cruise ships so that's the time to go into town. The grocery shops have pretty much what we need-fresh vegetables and fruit. It's been nice to have my morning coffee on deck with baguettes or chocolate croissants watching the sun touch the motu across the anchorage. Nice.......we really are in paradise, sometimes I can't believe how great this feels.
First Mate:
Anya left late this afternoon on a ferry to a Motu and then aboard a small plane to Tahiti. In the morning she will catch the Air France plane to Los Angeles and then onward to Paris and Amsterdam. We sent her off with a Care Package and lots of hugs, laughter and love.
Anya is on her way. Six months aboard Encanto and living with us was quite the feat. She should be proud of her accomplishments- many "firsts". She was a joy to have with us. And the girls especially grew from her charming ways, laughter and sing along times; no doubt, she leaves a void that can't be filled. What does she call herself, "The human jukebox"; to no one's surprise, it was noticeably quiet when she left. She brought a different perspective to nearly everything and that made for many lively times, memorable moments. Her ease with people and her sense of humor, made it easy for her to make friends among the cruising community. She visited places that others only dream to visit: Ecuador-La Libertad, the Galapagos- Islas Cristobal, Floreana, and Isabela, and the French Polynesian Islands: Fatu Hiva, Nuka Hiva, Makimo, Tahanea, Rairoa, Fakarava, Toau, Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora.
Who among her peers can claim crossing the 'Big Blue' Pacific Ocean, being run over by a 100-year-old tortoise, hiking to tropical waterfalls, or swimming and snorkeling with manta rays, dolphins, eels, goat fish, coronet fish, angel fish, tiny little blue fish, and reef sharks? Blazed in her memory are the abundantly colorful fish, flying fish, starry nights, moonrises, moonsets, sunsets, sunrises, and the amazing, varied colors and faces of the sea. She pursued some new and old passions: writing, reading, singing and learned new ones: drawing, sewing, cooking, and nature watching. Best of all, she was able to renew her energy and hopefully she will be able to focus her enthusiasm for a life with a purpose. We are grateful that we could be by her as she explored, discovered and expanded. We wish her well with whatever pursuit she selects. We all benefited from our time together. And as the Captain said, "She is always welcomed back." (Although next time, he might make her clean a freshly caught fish. Remember Anya, "Not all fish come in shrink wrap.").
I think she'd agree; it was a perfect time for us to go our separate ways. We admit that we were negligent and faulty at delegating crew chores and that is a problem for John and me. We aren't great at delegation. Having crew was new for us and we learned from it. Judy found it difficult to not treat Anya as a guest rather than crew. Yet even that changed later as Anya became more family than crew. (Same difference?) Anya was very willing and an able crew, if anything, John and I were terrible at letting go of our respective chore roles.
And the Captain could not teach her how to sail Encanto. As the Captain reminds me, Encanto is just "too much boat" and our conditions not conducive for learning "How to Sail". He thought it better to learn as the kids in Moorea on a lasar boats, in warm, shallow waters with gentle breezes. Maybe, Anya will be able to learn in Holland? In any case, she knows more than when she arrived and that can't be all bad. Her enthusiasm for sailing is both in her genes and in her appreciation from this trip.
We encourage her to go forth and discover more in this realm; maybe she'll even buy a boat? She could hire a Captain and First Mate with matching attire? At least, she knows what it means when she hears, "Ease the Main. NOW!"
She left us with a dozen fresh eggs labeled with a few of her more "charming" observations and quips: "Hey, where did the moon go?" "Penguins are like…ah, birds.", "The currency is running really fast today." , and our family favorite, "Snnnnickerdoodle". Guess you had to be with us to get these, in the moment, bursts of joy…Needless to say; we have lots of fond memories and we will miss her. We thank her for the positive influences she has had on the girls. And thank you, for being my aid with chores, provisioning and most of all, sharing as we searched our souls. And I suspect, Anya "may" even have had a positive influence on the stinky Captain, but time will tell only tell on that one!
Obviously, moving from five to four meant a change to the tenor of the unit. Now, that Anya has abandoned ship, we will concentrate our efforts on what we have yet to attend to: finishing the school year and working on some neglected boat projects.
John trusts no one to sand or paint the boat's deck, yet he could use the assistance, as the rust patches are large and a woe that could become a monster problem. In hindsight, we should have had our topsides redone in Ecuador by George Steward's crew. We have to tackle this issue of boat management sooner rather than later and it has little to do with crew. Our dinghy cover is worn and needs patches. Our dinghy suffers from a leak that grows larger (that's like your car leaking oil). And our Testa homemade port lights continue to leak and rot the wooden boat's interior walls. It is also time for me to refine the curriculum for Gaby's first year of High School. I have the books aboard, but the daily schedule and monitoring her performance has yet to be designed. We also need to finish last year's school, we have test lesson 160 coming up…and that will put a close to this school session which began in December 2006. They will have completed school in ten months, just not during the "normal" months of September to June. The coming year will run from October to June 2008, a ten month effort.
And finally, at nightfall, on deck, in these incredibly gorgeous conditions, we are getting reacquainted with each other-our family unit of four. Personalities shift the dynamics and life adjusts, as we commence our plans to head back-west then, north and then later in 2008, eastward, as we make the slow and steady trip safely back to the United States over the next eight months and again across the Big Blue. John is reviewing charts, books.
No surprise we are feeling sadness and melancholy as 99% of the boats are headed to Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. We haven't met any boats going our way.