agility @ sea

By Jo-Ann Beserra

Agility meet-up in French Polynesia

From Pape’ete, Tahiti, we took the weekly flight out to the Gamier islands, which is the furthest archipelago to the east in French Polynesia. The landing strip is on a coral reef “island” that is quite long, but not much wider than a few times the wingspan of the aircraft. On this airport island is the one landing strip, a hut for the terminal, a smaller hut for air traffic control, a fire engine and boat dock.

It took about an hour to unload the coolers and boxes of goods that locals were bringing home. We then loaded into a ferry for the 4-mile crossing to Mangareva where Tim and Jerri were waiting for us. Funny to think that we picked this remote island that might just be pretty close to one of the most remote places in the world many months ago and we arrived within a couple hours of each other. Agility, with her awesome double mast foils, was waiting with Jer waving to us. Mangareva was the first island that they arrived at after crossing from Easter Island, Rapa Nui. It’s quite amazing to read their adventure in getting here. Ours was much easier J

Mangareva is a fairly small island of about 1,000 that thrives on the pearl industry. Very friendly people and the children loved Tim, who they called Papa Noel and giggled. We spent a day there enjoying a walk about the island and then stopped at a restaurant for lunch, where a couple others were finishing dining. However, they were no longer serving food, so we consumed 2 bags of potato chips and many beers. To top it off, we then happened upon a lady selling beignets, which were warm and needed to be consumed in that state. Now that’s one healthy diet!

Provisioning meant going to the mini-mart type store and buying anything that looked reasonable. Absolutely no fresh fruits or vegetables were available, so we are treasuring the ones that we brought from Tahiti. They did have fresh eggs, frozen meat, French wine and canned/dried goods, so we packed the boat for a few more weeks.

Agility is a real beauty, inside and out. She is very comfortable and accommodates four of us, lots of provisions and other fun stuff (including 2 standup paddle boards and Jer’s folding bike) without any trouble. We headed to a small idyllic island today, so we got to feel her move along with both sails out. Sailing on this magnificent boat really let us absorb the beauty of the islands, corral reef and waters of these south Pacific islands.

Beauty of the Gambier Archipelago

The Gambier Islands are an archipelago that includes a few small islands within a corral reef. You can see the larger waves crashing on the outer reef, and there are also corral growths around the inner islands. The idyllic island we arrived at is Taravai, population 7. There is no electricity or any services. They are all self-sufficient catching rainwater, fishing for the few edible fish within the reef, pigs in the pen, wild chickens, gardening and the huge abundance of fruit trees.

To help the local economy, we were able to purchase fruit, spices and pork. The fruit included pomplemous (large grapefruit), passion fruit, round strange mangos, papaya and breadfruit, which is cooked and is a starch similar to potatoes. The 7 inhabitants includes one family that has had family land for generations and a group of 3 young Brits that are house sitting. They all were extremely friendly and interesting to talk to over tours and tea. We learned a lot about the local ecology and their experiences. Jer brought some toys for the young boy.

The water was outstanding for long swims to the beach and to view the corral and fish. The many jellyfish and sharks are a bit intimidating, but we are told that they are all harmless and that has been true so far. I swam into jellyfish and they didn’t sting – it’s great to watch them pulsate through the water. We fed the sucker sharks off the boat with scraps. The sucker sharks attach to the bottom of the boat, as they would to another shark and get their scraps. We also see black tip reef sharks. The beauty is in the corral and the colorful fish, which are plentiful and easy to see. Greg and I also got our first experience at paddle boarding.

The nighttime is great for hanging on the trampoline and stargazing. We have seen the Southern Cross, the Milky Way and many, many others. No light pollution and the skies have been very clear with no moon.

The bays and islands just keep getting better as we scoot around every other day. Yesterday, we saw no sign of anyone or any boat all day. The bay that we were anchored in had the most fantastic corral and fish. We snorkeled and felt like we were inside a premier aquarium. Similar fish, sharks and jellies as the other day, but the backdrop of the fabulous, colorful coral enhanced it all. A large sea turtle swam by as well.

Greg did some more paddle boarding and I swam some laps around the boat to get our bodies moving a bit more. We are not used to being in one spot as we are on the boat, and our Garmins are not happy at all. Greg doesn’t like his Garmin’s red light and seeks any possible way to remove it. Jer is going to require future visitors to remove their devices prior to enjoying the beauty of boat life.

It was Mother’s Day and the hubbies treated Jer and I as proper queens. We avoided kitchen duties, have orchids on the counter and were fed popcorn, my favorite. Greg and Tim sneakily acquired some local pearls and donned us with the jewels as well. These Gambier Islands are where most of the special black Tahitian pearls come from and 70% of the people work in the pearl industry. Quite an easy day to remember!

Solitude and Friends

As Tim pointed out one morning: one of the great things about the solitude and peacefulness of boat life comes when you realize that you are just sitting, being and enjoying with no outside distractions to interfere with random thoughts. The beauty surrounding us, the warmth of having great friends as hosts and spending each day so close to Greg is really appreciated in this setting. It feels perfect for our celebration of 30 years of marriage. Yes, he is VERY patient!

The days go by too quickly as we sail, read books, share great conversations, play games, and listen to music in addition to all the other activities previously mentioned. Meals were usually a community events involving creativity based on available ingredients and cooking options. No Beserra weight loss on this boat trip!

When we returned to Mangareva, we did a bit of walking/hiking as we explored the island. Greg and Jer took the tough route up to the top of the highest peak and Tim and I had a nice walk around the island, which was better for our bum knees. Only downside was that Tim and I took so much longer that our beers were consumed by the time we finished. We dodged some quite impressive rainstorms for a few days and explored a second restaurant option in town. These days had cloudier skies and more moon, so our evening trampoline outings were abbreviated.

Leaving was quite hard, as Boulder is not the same without Tim and Jer. But their adventure is extremely impressive and they continue to be an inspiration for many of us. Amazing how they can conquer a tough crossing on their own and then morph into such kind hosts with patience for us newbies. Tim is a great, skilled captain who made us feel very safe and comfortable. Jer is still so thoughtful and shares her home as a luxury accommodation. We very much enjoyed their friendship, most of all.

The journey back to civilization was long, but quite easy. Dinghy ride from Agility, ferry out to the airport, 4 hour flight back to Tahiti, a couple days in Tahiti, midnight flight out of Tahiti to LA, then back to Boulder. Thrilled that Heather and Max will be at home when we get there.