Papillon in the Pacific

  Ia Orana! We have been on a minibreak to Baie Vairahi this week.   It’s a beautiful little bay on the east side of Raiatea – a new anchorage for us and more importantly the place where Esteban runs his dinghy repair business.   Esteban is a lovely chap from Argentina who like many others has ended up in Raiatea semi permanently after a Trans-Pacific crossing.   Somewhat worryingly his boat is no longer.   When and where it sank, we didn‘t like to enquire but now he is doing up a beautiful old monohull in the bay and financing the work with multiple enterprises including … dinghy repair.   Sunset at the mooring   Turbulent weather at the mooring According to his Facebook page Esteban repairs “any” dinghy. Who could resist such a glowing endorsement? Under the current circumstances we certainly couldn't and a meeting was arranged forthwith.   Like so many face to face interactions here the details were sketchy. To allo...

  Ia Orana! We are currently holed up in a deep inlet on the southeast coast of Raiatea.   Forested mountains tower over us at the head of the loch and the wind continues to blow strongly from the east.   Last night it was gusting well over 30 knots – not very conducive to a good night’s sleep but at least without the added responsibility of an extra body on board as our visitor had wisely decided to decamp to Moorea for the last few days of her trip.      Wing foiler in the lagoon   Papillon in Baie Hotopuu, Raiatea We, on the other hand, had decided to sit it out.   We love this end of the island.   It is so peaceful.   This morning our patience was rewarded with a fantastic sighting of a manta ray cruising around the boat its fins breaking the surface of the water with every gentle turn.   Eventually it settled on the corals a few boat lengths away, presumably to be cleaned by the numerous blue streak cle...

  Ia Orana! After a wonderful month in NZ we arrived back in Raiatea on Friday morning.   Due to the vagaries of the date line, we were actually drinking our coffee back on board Papillon 10 hours before we left Auckland which was weird but perhaps not as weird as completely missing a Friday on the way out and then having to deal with the clocks going back that night for the double whammy!   For a 4.5h flight our time and date clocks were completely shot to bits for days!   Lake Waikaremoana   Martinborough Vineyards   Castle Point   Mount Hobson Having a month on dry land was a novelty after so long on the boat.   Everything seemed more luxurious than it probably was.   The excitement of standing under a shower without those mental images of emptying water tanks,   the enjoyment of washing AND rinsing dishes, the feel of wool on your skin again,   relaxing in a bath with a good book...