10 48S 139 01W
Libertyatsea10
Fri 23 Jul 2010 20:47
All wonderfully well here
We departed Hiva Oa with some signs of nasty weather further south and decided to enjoy a sheltered
anchorage for a night or two. Hiva Oa was rolly as the anchorage sits behind a breakwater which is not very effective against
the huge force of the pacific fetch. We enjoyed a trek to Gauguin's grave, and a visit to the Gauguin centre. Gauguin is held in some esteem by the islanders, even though he allegedly
gave half the island syphilis. Held in much higher esteem locally, is the singer Jacques Brel, who apparently helped the Islanders by flying them to Papeete when they were ill, in his own airplane.
We spent some lazy hours in a beach café, people watching. We drove around some of the island on a dirt track, to see some beautiful coves and remarkably pretty villages. There is a wonderful sense of timelessness and peace here that is infectious.
Tahuata is beautiful in a different sort of way, everything one expects from a tropical island. Palm trees, golden beach, turquoise waters, no people, a calm anchorage so a good nights sleep all round and an opportunity to get some barnacles off Liberty's bottom. It is strange to swim under ones home, but one feels truly so connected to the vessel, to the shape of her underwater lines, the lie of the anchor chain, the shadow she casts onto the bleached white sand below. I often just place my hand on her hull and talk to her but DON'T TELL THE PSYCHIATRISTS!
A Stingray makes the most of the shade provided by Liberty and has hung around the boat today.
Grum and I tried to wash off some salt off the topsides, as the salt bleaches the blue hull white. Only vinegar works but the vinegar is quite weak, and the going is hard! We give in to spend some hours messing on the beach with Benj and the boys play footie with a coconut....
We finish off the day with a movie, a meal on Regina, and I finished Steig Larrson "Girl with the Tattoo" (not bad). Utterly chilled we all head for bed. Driving home in the dinghy in a bright moonlit night makes me realise how far away from the "norm" we are at present and yet how normal it is to make one's weary way home from a nice evening out with friends. Clambering out of the dinghy to board "home", I try to engrave the memory and the moment for times when life might feel a little routine at some point in the unimaginable future!!
xxx