Oyster organized a welcome party and dinner for which the locals had been practicing and organizing for months. It was really special and obvious how much they cared about sharing their culture.
We have taken a number of dives on Fakarava which they call pass dives. You time the dive when the current is incoming and you drift with a boat following and the current shoots you like a rocket over the coral. Hundreds of sharks and other fish swim calmly as you drift by. Its not your normal easy dive as we went straight down to 95 feet where you hold onto the bottom for 20 minutes before you let go and the current shoots you into the atoll.
We were fortunate enough to find a church for both good Friday and Easter Sunday services. The church was gorgeous with hard wood carvings and shell chandeliers. While I could not understand a lot of the service their faith and enthusiasm for Easter was compelling.
Easter dinner on board
We had a wonderful day of Easter mass in the morning. We found a lovely little beach hotel for lunch and then celebrated Easter dinner back on board where Issy surprised us with a wonderful apple crumble.
Oyster get-together
We hosted a get-together on board for 3 other Oysters. There is a fair amount of socializing and it is great to talk to the other owners, they are a pretty special group of people that are undertaking this adventure. Our stories are all different but our dreams strangely similar.
What’s next?
We are departing this afternoon for an overnight sail to Rangiroa where we will spend a week before again transiting overnight to Tahiti. Mike will fly out of Rangiroa to meet Cecelia in Tahiti for a week on shore in Moorea. Cullen and I will sail into Tahiti and meet Vanessa on the 28th of April. Cullen is looking forward to seeing his mom and I am looking forward to seeing my girlfriend. We will send you an update before we leave Rangiroa.
Random Thoughts
My assistant Suzanne sent me a text saying I don’t think you can go on a trip like this and come back the same. I will be interested to see what things in your life you hold onto and what things you decide to let go. I think about that a lot when I’m by myself on night watches. So far I have decided I am going to hold onto family and friends more and worry about stuff less but I will keep you posted.