leeward islands Archives

Sailing French Polynesia | Part 2

Aug 9, 2019 | Travel

Part 2 of sailing in French Polynesia (continued).

We got these maps that showed us all the anchorages on Raiatea and Taha’a

Still a bit stunned at how beautiful this boat is, the view is, the food is, and my life is.

The morning we sailed out of Hurepiti Bay,

we were greeted by a pod of dolphins!

I was so excited I could only take blurry pics haha

Ian and Rick figured out the lazy susan and the sails are up!

The wind was picking up a lottt so this was just one of the few times we had the sails going.

Above: a view of Taha’a.

Below: of course I had to ask Ian to get a photo of me and Bora Bora in the background!

Rick looks like a millionaire on a yacht hahah

First mate Polly rigging up the sails like a pro (while also being a total fashionista!)

And this is quite possibly my favorite photo of Rick and Polly so far!

I’m thinking Italian Job. Like big baller big baller. Like museum heist artists. Like classy bank robbers.

Aren’t they just the coolest?!

And here’s my guy looking like an outdoorsy waterman, living his dream lol

This was my favorite anchorage. We were in between the aquamarine blue and navy blue waters, where shallow meets deep. And next to Le Taha’a Island Resort, Motu Tautau, and with a magnificent view of Bora Bora.

The men taking us into the shallow lagoon. We had like 8 inches between our hulls and the sand!

Just a dreamy place.

The blue waters were so insane. I’ve never seen such a vibrant and drastic color/depth difference in the ocean. And Bora Bora looked so mysterious in the distance.

This little island is home to Le Taha’a Island Resort, the fanciest resort in all of French Polynesia. And right next to it is Motu Tautau, where we dinghied to for some of the best snorkeling I’ve ever seen. A drift snorkel lagoonarium, they called it. It was so cool (photos to come!)

We chartered a sailboat in French Polynesia!

Aug 7, 2019 | Travel

Ah the time has come. We’ve been waiting for this vacation all year. Actually since last year, and we were originally planning to go to Tonga. But that fortunately/unfortunately didn’t work out as their bareboat charters were all booked out, so Ian’s parents suggested Tahiti / French Polynesia, and well… here we are!

–

The morning we got our sailboat, or should I say yacht?! This thing is so flippin’ fancy!

So thankful for Rick and Polly for making this dream a reality!

–

We got a bunch of groceries the night before, and loaded all our food and bags onto the boat.

Here’s Ian smiling like a kid at a toystore.

My favorite section to organize when we were loading our food and stuff into the catamaran. Polly found that it was the same wine that was served at the fancy restaurant we ate at in Tahiti (L’O à la Bouche). Don’t we look so classy?

We had the option of going out ourselves, or waiting until one of the charter crew was available to take us out of the marina. The sailboats in the marina were packed like sardines with literally inches on either side and only small bumpers to keep them from scratching each other. But lucky for us, this cutie knows a thing or two about boat driving (he casually will park a 33′ boat and trailer with about 6 inches on either side), and he took us out of the marina like no big deal.