September 2008

Hello everyone,

It's back to school for Banana Split and our Website, with plenty new stuff!

It's the same each year, at the time I write you this message, I wonder whether I'm not doing something really stupid ... I have left this morning, after spending there close to three months of total bliss, one of the most pleasant anchoring spots I know on Earth; I'm presently passing , shamefully neglecting them, some of our favorite little coves, such as the one we only refer to as " Anchorage Number One" ; another totally spectacular bay at the south-east end of Fakarava... and all that for what purpose ... To head for Tahiti, Papeete, the big town, traffic jams of cars and boats, the realm of money, false appearances and problems of all kinds... He must be crazy, don't you think ?

Eh no, it's the same once a year, it's for Banana Split the equivalent of going back to school or work in September : after one year of beautiful cruising through the Leeward islands, the Cook islands, Australs, Moorea, Gambier and Tuamotu, Banana Split needs numerous small and big maintenance jobs done.. The list has grown longer, lately, and I can't delay any more! So I am sailing offshore, under a perfectly clear sky, hurrying to reach the shelter of Tahiti before the maraamu, the strong S-E wind that sometimes reigns here, and of which the weather forecast (those famous grib files I receive via e=mail through my Iridium phone) has announced a strong return for the day after tomorrow, comes to torment the sea. Il will only stay a few days in Papeete, then I'll probably seek shelter in Moorea's marina, a much quieter place. So wish me lots of courage for this month of September, and when it ends, when I'll return to France, Banana Split will be shipshape, ready to takes us far away from it all when December returns...

And I, for one, wish our new Website will please you very much; there are still some departments that need work, but we hope you will enjoy the new look, the thousands of photographs and hundreds of videos. The Forum is still there, if you want to communicate with one another, there is still a lot of advice for your own journeys, and of course, my letter of the month, which I'm writing now. One of these days, I will have to describe the timetable of one of our days, when Francette is with me, in an anchorage like the one I have left this morning. Let me just tell you that he day begins with some tafano, and ends with a boujaron; I'll explain some day.

Francette has flown back to Europe to launch the new site, to deliver the produce of our summer's work, the two new films in HD, New Caledonia and Austral Africa. In October will be released the second volume of my autobiography, and in November the two new films. So, see you soon, happy return to school to you... and to Banana Split