Xavier was very charming and invited us to visit his island
which was truly amazing.
We arrived at the boat house, tied up the dinghy and took
the boardwalk over
the coral reef to his island.
Xavier runs a mail sail station to help transmit e-mails
from yachts via SSB (long range radio) and so first we visited his station
accompanied by Christian Fletcher, his pet spaniel named
from the book ‘ Mutiny on the Bounty’.
The sail mail station is all powered by a huge bank of
batteries and a huge revolving solar panel.
Note from the sign – we are now closer to Sydney that we are to Panama !
This is the house under construction consisting of two
hexaganol buildings, one is the living area and the other the kitchen all built
On stilts to survive any flooding when it is cyclone season.
The picnic area down by the beach and the view from the
island.
Xavier has also built his own church.
We were all very envious !
Xaviers wife is still working as a barrister in Tahiti and flies into Manihi to spend her weekends on the
island.
It was a privilege to meet Xavier and see his way of life in
retirement, after being Commander in chief of the French forces
In the whole Pacific – I expect he deserves a rest.
