Week #10: more fun in Huahine
It is incredible how quickly time passes, we have already been in Huahine for 10 days this second time around. Even though Huahine is a small island, there is always something going on.
Two year anniversary !
This month we celebrate 2 years since we signed the documents to buy Wallis! Pre-Covid, our long term plan was to buy a new boat in France, maybe in the year 2025-26. Our destinies had different plans for us and we ended up finding Wallis in 2021 (exactly the same boat that we wanted) on Facebook (out of all the places!) . Since there are very few Allure boats made every year, it is quite rare to find a 5 year old Allure on sale. And the cherry on the cake —- the boat was in Polynesia, a place we both love dearly. What were the chances? There are few times in life, where the universe opens new doors wide for you, and its in these moments you need to walk through those doors trusting the universe. We did exactly that!
Lots happened in 2 years! We had to move back to France, countries had to open their borders, we had to risk getting Covid to meet Wallis and we had to quit our jobs. It all worked out well and we used the first few trips to set up Wallis, get to know our boat and learn to be a sailing team. And here we are, today, 2 years later, living our best lives embracing the freedom that sailing brings us.
A lot of people congratulate us on the fact that our dream came true. Yes indeed, Sailing was a dream, but we never really live in our dreams. Our life was pretty awesome before Wallis and with Wallis, it skyrocketed beyond our dreams! Our 2 year anniversary with Wallis taught us “ Dare to dream, but enjoy the present. And in hindsight you will see, that you went beyond your dreams”. We have many dreams with Wallis for the years to come, but today we enjoy the beautiful sunset being grateful for everything and everyone that brought us to this present moment.
Pétanque !
Local Maori folks are quite laid back, but there is one thing they are VERY serious about: Pétanque !
If you are not familiar with pétanque, it is a south of France “sport” played with iron balls. Two teams compete by scoring points as they get close to the mark (a smaller wooden ball). Rules as simple but it does require specific skills and can also get surprisingly tactical: one team member typically specialises in getting close to the mark (pointer), while the other one can step in to hit the opponents balls out of the way (tirer). The best part about pétanque is that it draws you 100% into the game and, when playing, you rarely talk about anything else. It becomes all about making fun of each other and arguing which ball is closer, calling on anyone as referee (including passing aunties) or requesting the truth to be settled by the all powerful ruler tape !
Every Saturday and Sunday, in Huahine, it is pétanque time ! Locals from the village gather and sign up to play a game, paying 200 Pacific Francs (2 USD) per team. The winner of each little tournament keeps all money put in, stakes are high ! It is all about having a good time and fun with family and friends, but the fact is that the skill level of the local players (from kids to grandmas) is unreal and most of them could easily compete in international tournaments. This is what playing pétanque every weekend for so many years does to you…
Planning our next crossing
We have now been in Huahine for a couple of weeks. We had a great time with our friends, playing pétanque, going fishing, sharing yoga sessions and even giving tango lessons! It is now time for us to move on to our next destination, which is the Tuamotu. The first atoll is Tikehau, 200nm north east of where we are.
First things first, as you all know by now, we need to find the right weather window which can be tricky in this case as we need to sail against prevailing trade winds coming from the east. The good news is that next week looks great, with a westerly wind window on Monday and Tuesday (quite rare and usually not so stable) turning to the Southeast on Wednesday, which would give us a straight path to Tikehau. It looks like we will be heading to the main island town (Fare) on Monday so we can do a round of grocery shopping and be ready near the pass when the forecast firms up.
Before we go, there are a few things on our to do list. Fixing the windlass engine (managing our anchoring system) is quite critical but it looks like we already made good progress. Cleaning the hull, that is quite dirty with algae, will require a couple of hours diving around the boat with a good old brush. A couple of rounds to shore with our water canisters should be enough to top-up our water tank level, it will also be an opportunity to say goodbye to our friends as we won’t be back before end of June…
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