Tahiti to Tonga - A Gypsies Tale by Adeena SomethingSomething

By looking back at pictures from the last few months I think I'm starting to realize why so many people have mistaken us for hippies - but in  fact we´re gypsies - there is a difference!!!´I shave my legs and beard sometimes...

While we had learned to overcome far too many adversities, and managed to keep the boat afloat (just),

I think the sea air finally started getting to us!

Still the ocean lured us on to new adventures. You´d imagine that there is a limit to the amount of beautiful places a person can visit in their lifetime, but each island group of the Pacific proved that wrong!

Tahiti was the exception, but at least there were other things to get us through:

Very few people in the Pacific still have functional outboard engines, those that have always lend a friendly tow!

Tahiti was full of good people

Karl´s chilling up the mast to construct our fourth, and hopefully final, new mast head thanks to the help of all our friendly neighbours

Good food:

The Swedes were happier than ever with their Knuckelbrood and pickled herring!

There was good beer (Albeit crazy expensive)

No, Tahiti was not nearly as nice as the rest of the Pacific, but it was an important stop.

Like so many others who have completed the 3600 mile landless ocean crossing, it's a bit of a shock coming to actual civilization. And for those who have had troubles on the way - either with the boat or worse, with the crew- its the first place you can dump either and I'm not going to pretend like we weren't thinking of leaving Yoldia behind....

The captain was getting tired of sailing

And the first mate was getting scared of it

But the more we spoke to other yachties, the more we believed we could and should carry on

And so the four of us continued into the unknown.

This time we were fortunate enough to have all our rigging, propane, and four helmsmen!

We did have a few minor problems (Shackles disappearing, halyards coming loose, sails getting ripped...) but this was all easily solved with duct tape, WD40 and fishing line - what more could you possibly need??

It took only 11 days days before we saw land again and the boys were stoked!

But with the sun setting, we heaved to and enjoyed a kask (Vodka and coffee) or few while we waited for the morning light.

Aittutaki (Cook Islands) in the distance

We're glad we waited too because the channel was the narrowest and shallowest yet!!

After licking land hello and meeting several friendly and bizarre immigration officers, we ventured off to explore

There had been far too many run ins with mangy mutts, so Karl was happy enough to find that there were no dogs at all on the island. They were banished after one of them ate a kings child back in a decade long gone

The other amazing thing about Aittutaki was their primary belief in the wrongness of Sunday flights.

And while we could understand some of their non communicable diseases, we're still trying to work out how physical activity can be bad for you.

The island was full of other beautiful surprises too

Apart from the $64 pp departure tax, it was a great visit and we were sad to leave.

But the ocean was kind to us once more

And while our diets got better, our hairstyles got worser.

The islands got closer together and it took only six days (7 vomits) of sailing to get to Niue and only three days to check in after arrival.

Duty free liquor was available too and the boys made the most of it.

We enjoyed other things about Niue too, even with the no nudity rules.

After our first few days, the seas turned crazy and, unable to dinghy back, we were forced to spend nights ashore - the first since October last year - man is it weird sleeping on solid ground!

While we were the only yacht about (apart from the one just confiscated after the owner was deported to the states for kidnapping his own son) we may have been a little too close to the supply ship that suddenly arrived in the middle of the night.... 

I love the size contrast of both the vessels and their tenders...

With the hurricane season upon us we had yet another serious crew meeting. The boat needed a rest, some paint, some waterproofing and some serious TLC. The crew were all tired of being mistaken as hippies. They needed showers, clean cloths and a psychiatrist or two. 

And so it was decided that Tonga would be the last destination for this year.

We set the sails one last time and ventured off into the abyss.

Baguette it or not

And then there was land.

Lots and lots of land.

Too much land in fact. We wanted to see it all (but couldn't. obviously.).

It's hard to think back to two months ago when we finally washed up in Marquesas exhausted, filthy, skinny and caffeine deprived... but we finally pulled ourselves together...

We ventured ashore and gathered fresh baguettes.

The captain found a razor and then beer and pan eu chocolat found us.

We made new friends to hang out with!

We met the first ever Chezc single hander circumnavigator (Martin) and he helped us build a new mast head

With new rigging we were able to move again and headed out to Tauwata.

We explored more tropical lonely beaches than most people will see in a lifetime and made ourselves one with the coconuts.

When we finally left the hammer head infested waters of Hiva Oa and braved a swim, we found a whole ecosystem thriving on our hull and debated opening a restaurant serving only freshly grown cuisine only there weren't really any people to feed...

The 50 days of treacherous travelling finally paid off.

We finally cracked open our last bottle of six dollar Panama Rhum and wished we bought more!
The same bottle here would cost 65 - 80 bucks!!

With no shops to speak of, we explored the islands learning to gather food.

Every anchorage seemed to be more beautiful than the last!!!

We made many local friends who taught us how to hunt
(Although Marquasian hunting seems to be more about getting high than shooting pigs)

Our friend Teii couldn't believe we didnt have a horse on board, so he lent me his.

Teii also made sure that we always had at least 100 mangoes, a plethora of coconuts, breadfruit, soursap, sugarcane, cava, avos, bananas, papayas, aubergines, chillies, guavas and grapefruits on board.

With too may local friends, we never knew what we would be swimming home with - a chunk of fresh meat or a chicken... (there was nowhere to land the dinghy) 

One memorable night we swam home through shark infested waters carrying 3 kgs of fresh bull steak... still dripping with blood

We became far more chilled people. 

The next time we lost the rigging, we sat down, had a cup of coffee and then took it all apart and loaded it all back onto the deck again.

With short (a few days at a time) sails between islands we learned to love the sea again.

We even  managed to sail (with only the main) into the crazy currented reefs of the Tuamotos after we discovered the engine didn't work anymore.

 ¨

Makemo was beautiful! 

 With the calmest anchorage I've ever had, we had no worries fixing our third attempt at a mast head

With Propane again we were always looking for things to cook and sometimes we got a bit carried away...

Although our rigging was still a bit busted we got closer and closer to being a real sailing boat again.

We even got the furler to furl again (sometimes)

Two new Swedes boarded the little vessel of awesomeness

And then we were four

Jonas (Varbroer), The captain (Karl), Mooberry (Thom Ten) and I

Oh, and that very very dirty Teddy bear...

We finally fixed the autopilot... kind of...

 When they steer poroperly, we sometimes  even feed them as a reward.

Together we explored the crazy reefs of the Tuamotos.

And then finally we headed back to Civilisation... Tahiti

 After 4 months of practically nothing, it was weird to find things like fences again, nevermind the supermarkets, marinas and nightclubs!!!

Breakfast of champions!!

Yesterday I celebrated one year out of South Africa (man I miss that place!), 7 months on board Yoldia and 6 months without a shower.

We've built yet another mast head, we've stitched another sail, We've filled the tanks, caught up with many friends, we've scrubbed the hull and finally just checked out of French Polynesia.

Tomorrow morning we finally raise the anchor again and sail to new waters: The Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga or Fiji... wherever the wind seems to blow us, that's where we'll be heading!