Pix from Bora Bora

Mountain peaks in Bora Bora with Jared's ugly toes

Most expensive pearl from Robert Wan's

WWII US Navy or Army Gun from 1942

Jared is an idiot

Bora Bora ahead (May 20th) (from Jared)

It's May 20th and I find myself celebrating my birthday as we get underway and put rudder to Bora Bora and begin our 3-4 day journey to Rarotonga. As we leave port, "Happy Birthdays!" come from the good crews aboard "Crazy Horse" and "Wild Tigris". Great sailors and even better people. We have diverted a bit from the Arc itinerary to head directly to Suwarrow. Our good friends, Jeanne and Mike Beswick agreed to accompany us to Raratonga and left on Tuesday aboard their vessel "Jeannius". We had planned to leave on Wednesday, but as the Captain had been having what we thought were premature ventricular contractions, we stayed another day to get him worked up. It was a great birthday present as Dad was given a clean bill of health after being forced by doctor (and crew) to wear a heart monitor for a day and return to have the rhythms evaluated. Total cost for ECG, 2 consults, and a good work-up: bottle of good French Bordeaux and a yacht club t-shirt. Knowing the Captain has a clean bill of health: priceless. With sails up, good-byes being said over radio, and spirits lifted from good news from Doc; we begin to make way out of harbor but before we cleared the pass, a loud piercing alarms comes from the engine room and strikes as quickly as a tiger shark launching itself from the depths to its unsuspecting prey. A hose has torn on the engine's heat exchanger, leaking coolant over the floor of the engine room. The engine has overheated and the alarm dissolves our good humor...for an instant. Oh well. We can't be bothered, at the moment. We are behind schedule a day, Dad's hell-bent to get on the deep-blue, and we need to reach the next experience. It will get fixed and we are, after all, a sailing vessel.

We make it a rule on this boat not to fixate too much on what needs to be done, nor let the insanity of what is a boat in terms of maintenance and upkeep prevent us from basking in the glory of the moment. We could have spent our day being bummed about the engine problem at hand and not being able to fix it readily as we are making 8.5 kts. and heeling a wee-bit. Instead, Mom treated me to a bag of birthday goodies. Oreo cookies, Cheetos, and a pearl(not that $50,000 one, aww shucks :). In French Polynesia, the cheapest of the three being the pearl... and it's a nice pearl. I have managed to tone up a bit on this trip by spending more time in the water than a fish and eliminating garbage (not the pearl) like this out of my diet, but hey, it's my birthday and sailors get weird food cravings. The Skip fixed me a rib-eye and peas and rice for a birthday treat. I'm in heaven but now I need to swim a few laps around the boat (while underway ;). Thanks, Guys!

Bora Bora was sublime. Whether you are into trying on a $300,000 string of Tahitian black pearls at the famous Robert Wan's (like Mom did), having a cold Hinano beer with a sesame-seared Ahi appetizer at "Bloody Mary's" while trying to catch a glimpse of Paris Hilton up to her latest antics, diving with 9 foot lemon sharks that swim by you with mouths agape that seem to be wondering why you aren't the guy from the tour-boat with that smelly bag of fish, learning about the art of grafting black-lipped oysters to culture pearls at a local pearl farm, or simply practicing keeping your feet together as you dive off the boat in the clearest gin-blue waters of the world; Bora Bora is as close to nirvana as one can get in this lifetime. It really does have something for everyone. I still find myself thinking of that one pearl at Robert Wan's that was priced at $50,000. What does one do with the one perfect, black pearl? I loved trekking up the steep, volcanic hillsides and finding an old U.S. W.W. II artillery battery that has long since become rusty and almost swallowed by the jungle. Large gun, probably 10-inch bore, pointed out to sea, reminded us of different times. In some concrete near the base of the piece, we could see where some soldiers and sailors had etched, "May, 1942. U.S. Army and U.S Navy" into drying cement. Inspection of the barrel showed the rifling, though rusty, to still be in excellent shape. Way to go, Steel-Town, U.S.A.!

As we watched Bora Bora, shrink into our wake, it hit us that this is the last of French Polynesia. We threw flowers in our wake to remember our dear friend, Mona. From the Marquesas, to the Tuamotos, to the Society Isles; we have been blessed with the new friends we've made, those we've gotten to know better, magnificent sailing, and beauty that knows no limits everywhere we look. French Polynesia has been blessed by some of God's finer brush-strokes on this magnificent canvas called Earth. Looking forward to the marvels and beauty that await us. As always, love and miss you all. Te amo, Merce. Brown-Eyed Girl out ....

A couple of pictures from Jared

Brown Eyed Girl at anchor in Port Fare on Hua Hina (still in French Polynesian Islands)

Gaugin Museum on Tahiti

Huahine (from Jared)

We sit in the port of Fare on the island of Huahine as wave after wave of torrential downpour washes the boat down.. and our clothes that we've been trying to dry now for a day. They say there are two seasons here: wet and wetter. I believe it and as we traversed and winded our way around the mountainous roads one can understand why the wild orchids and hibiscus look like they have been tended to by the loving hands of a green-thumb. When the rains pass, which is usually quickly, the sun shines so bright and the gin-blue waters are so clear that it feels like we have anchored in an aquarium. We are in 25 feet at our present anchorage and we can watch small grouper carry on their grouper chores as if on display. One must remember, I had the privilege and opportunity to spend most of my working life for 5 years before this adventure cruising the waters of the Florida Keys among sea-grasses and coral beds. Visibility was pretty good there but I've never seen water clarity like this before in my life, nor abundance of species. When we fueled the "BEG" up in Papeete, Tahiti, there were live star corals and brain corals encrusted all over the fueling dock. That, my friends, is a pretty good sign of the health of the water in these regions. It is a diver's paradise. Heck, it's just paradise.
The French have been great to us, as well, the native Polynesians. The other day as we were provisioning and facing an hour or more walk with several hundred pounds of groceries, a nice lady saw us with our provisioning bags and Tahiti sweat rolling down our faces and said, "Where are you going? I take you in my car and drop you off. It's too much to carry your supplies." That's the norm, rather than the exception for the warm reception and genuine kindness of character we find here. As one shops for pearls, I've noticed merchants actually direct me and others to purchase less expensive individual pearls and pearl strands because the less expensive pearls had a hue that suited the individual or the individual described. I like that. In the end, merchant and buyer are both winners. Yes, they gain the almighty dollar, but they also gain the respect of the buyer. In a market with thousands of people, I saw a merchant chase down a lady through a throng of people before she disappeared into the abyss, to give her glasses back which she had accidentally left on his table. Simple act. Everlasting impression. I love the market in Papeete Tahiti. It is a living, dynamic entity. $1,000 dollar strand of Tahitian pearls (above my pay grade :)) can be purchased alongside a nice chunk of tuna, mahi, or grouper which can be purchased not far from great Chinese dim-sum served at lightning speed. Pareu dresses (think of those beautiful Polynesian girls in long flowery wraps) are sold just a flight of stairs up. Mom purchased one that is a copy of a Gaugin painting that is tied together with a black-lipped pearl fastener. She looks the part and the Tahitian ladies love to see her in it. To compliment her beauty a wonderful, loving, handsome, highly intelligent (alright b.s. stops here) son of hers bought her a black-lipped mother of pearl necklace for Mother's day to compliment the dress. She looks lovely. Photos of her when my folks were stationed at Tripler in Hawaii look akin. Circle of life, baby.

It is with sadness, that we say good-bye to our dear friend Mona who passed away after fighting a warrior's fight against an extremely rare, malignant, esophageal cancer. Mona was always a sweetheart to me and to all of us. A good Maine girl with ties to the sea, I think she appreciated the flower ceremony we had in her behalf in the beauty of Cook's Bay, Moorea where we floated a flowered tiara and said our not good-bye, but until we meet again. Our prayers are with Abby and family. We are still deciding on which star in the Southern Cross to pick out and rename Mona. It will have to be the brightest, as that was her smile, and from what Mom tells me it never faltered. That doesn't surprise me.

Yesterday, we waded in the waters of this tiny stream on a far corner of this beauty of an isle called Huahine. As a man waded among us drizzling the juice from a can of mackerel, six-foot long blue-eyed eels swam up to us. I decided to see how well the underwater camera would take photos of these, well, beautifully ugly creatures. The eels, not being blessed with intelligence as much as a voracious appetite; took my camera as food and time after time came screaming through the water toward it making for some excellent frontal shots. Don't think they appreciated the flash, but then again, they continued to try to eat my camera, so the flash couldn't have been that bad.
We head for Raiatea and Tahaa tomorrow, weather and God-willing, and then to Bora Bora. As always, love and miss you all. Te amo, Merce

"Brown-Eyed Girl" out...

Pictures from Jared from Tahiti

Sunset, Cooks Bay, Moorea

Look carefully -- Blacktip Reef Shark


Idiot

Tahiti... (from Jared)

Yesterday, the good skip and crew headed into the fueling dock at the marina at Papeete, Tahiti after a wonderful three days of provisioning, buying air compressor to fill scuba tanks, fixing refrigeration, pearl shopping, and eating some great Chinese food. I have been dying for some good Chinese and when those sesame sticky buns and won-tons hit my lips, I was in culinary heaven and at market price. To get a good deal here on anything is kinda' like finding a diamond ring in a lost and found in a border town. Good luck. Tahiti is the most expensive country we have been to yet. Everything in this country is expensive, but then again the merchants can afford to miss a deal or two, it's a socialistic government, so they are assured their checks from France will be arriving shortly.

So, we were fueling up our near empty diesel tank (generator is a must at night as heat makes Panama feel like a crisp, New England apple-picking day) and out of the blue I hear the Star-Spangled Banner blasting from a sailboat flying french colors fuel ling up next to us with people waving back at me with large smiles on their faces, genuine smiles. I put my hand to my chest and faced their boat for the duration of the greatest song in the world and they watched me the whole while. At the end, I yelled "Merci Beau coup." The smiled and said, "Your welcome!" I had to wonder if it was just a friendly gesture between those who sail the seas or something more. Had their parents been subjected to the horrors and atrocities of the 3rd Reich? Were these a section of the French populace still grateful for the sacrifice our country made to liberate their beloved France? Perhaps, just another group of the multitude of friendly sailors we have met along the way? I don't know. I will never know. What I do know is that as we find ourselves sailing and meeting the most beautiful people from myriad countries, we find ourselves more akin to people than different. The other day, a Polynesian guy about my age with the coolest geometrical tattoos, saw the name of our boat, "Brown-Eyed Girl" and without pause began singing the Van Morrison song. I piped in and the two of us stood there with people looking on as these two, very different looking guys who could communicate only through hand gestures moments before, were now singing a great tune together. He knew the words verbatim and carried the tune very well. One of many cool experiences I have experienced.

Then I heard the news of the "failed car-bombing" (trial run in my opinion of something worse to come) in Times Square. It brought me down. I see far more good as I travel around this beautiful blue and green sphere. I see innocence in the eyes of children playing in the surf and learning to paddle their outrigger canoes. These kids will never grow up to want to take human life. They have food, love, community, safety, and the next wave to catch. But evil in this world is a tangible thing and must be confronted and eliminated. It saddened me to read that my president seemed more interested in Miranda Vs. Arizona than making sure my relatives back home would be safe from a future attack. I don't mean to politicize this blog but what I write here is what I see, feel, and hear as I make this wonderful journey. As I am very far removed from my relatives and other loved ones, I find these things affect me more. What saddens me is how little talk there is of this latest incident among those I find myself sailing with. It's like they don't care, it's no big deal, or they accept it. My family had a relative murdered on 9/11. Raymond Metz, III was a great guy. His memory, and the memory of 3,000 others deserves a little more attention to the matter than review of Miranda Vs. Arizona. I hope our President has the strength to see this through, to prevent another Fort Hood under his watch or the planned upcoming attack on Times Square.

It will be a great day when I can safely sail the Suez or along the banks of the Euphrates, and meet Middle-Easterners of all ages from all different countries, whose major concern is finding the next big wave or catching a fish slightly bigger than that of their buddies.

Te amo, Merce

"Brown-Eyed Girl"... out