July - August 2010

Hello everyone,

After four days of beautiful sailing on a really pacific ocean, I have reached the place where we plan to spend the next two months : The center Tuamotu Islands, beginning with the atoll of Amanu ( I count for nothing the tiny, pass-less atoll of Akiaki). Amanu straight away has appeared to me in conformity with my memories, with its immense lagoon, its two entering passes, impressive but not really dangerous, and the astonishing coral heads, or "bommies" scattered all through the lagoon ; in no atoll have I seen so perfectly rounded or oval ones.

My stay in The Gambier islands had ended in apotheosis, with a record number of 18 sailboats at Rikitea's anchorage, a rare sight on the island: a good part of the sailboats that had chosen to make a stop at the Gambier had been kept there by a long period of contrary winds, from the northwest: everybody was waiting for a favorable weather window, and it gave me a chance to spend some time with a few interesting crews : Shana, for instance, is a wonderful centerboard sloop entirely built by its owners; they had reached the Gambier via Brazil and Patagonia ; my friend Jacques Laîné, director of travel documentaries, whom I already mentioned last month. And certainly the most beautifully decorated boat I have ever met : Post Scriptum. For many owners, a sailboat has become an investment, and the only boats that keep their "resale value" are white boats; a few lovers of beauty (just like Mowgli whom we met a few months ago) don't worry about this resale value, and decorate their boat to their liking; Post-Scriptum has undoubtedly won the palm for the best decorated boat I have seen in 36 years of cruising; built in "strip planking" its hulls are painted with magnificent drawings, beginning with its two bows, one showing two porpoises playing in the waves, the other a lovely "macareux" puffin in front of the bay of Paimpol (that's where the crew of Post Scriptum comes from).

Last night, a violent storm has swept Amanu's anchorage giving me a few frights, but this morning it was all forgotten. The moon, full tonight, will diminish a little every night, and when it will be new again, it will pass exactly in front of the sun, offering us four minutes of mysterious obscurity in full daytime, visible only on a narrow strip of the Pacific, including precisely Amanu. Many fanatics of total eclipses have already reserved their flights to Amanu or one of the surrounding atolls, and Air Tahiti had to create supplementary flights.

Happy Holidays to you all, and see you at the end of August.