July 2014

Hello everyone,

On the day following my birthday (thanks to those who sent me a message) and the beginning of my eleventh “septennat” (French for a period of 7 years, which once was the time a president of the Republic was elected for), - we returned on board Banana Split, in the small port of Hao atoll, where a bunch of friendly military personnel had watched it (the "Rehab" team, working at the rehabilitation of land still occupied by the remains of the time when Hao served as a home base for the nuclear tests at Mururoa. Surprise, our catamaran had managed to grow on its two hulls a huge platter of seafood, not conducive to rapid sailing; luckily one of the other sailboats moored in the small harbor had a “hookah” (not one for smoking, but a compressor for diving), so I’ve been able, without losing my breath, to scrape off most of the thick cover. My buddy Ludo, who has created a small dive center on Makemo Atoll - which we reached a few days later - perfected the work, and now I just have to dive in the water from time to time to complete the job ... but, truly, a 12m50 catamaran, seen from underwater is quite a huge thing.

We also spent part of the month giving the final touch to our film about Canada, as I had I recorded the Italian and English voices during our stopover in Papeete. And I just finished writing 17 pages of captions for our new photo album to be released next fall by Gallimard.

And then, there is the atoll around us, one of our favorite ones. What could I tell you about it, except that despite the fact that many shores are dwindling all over the world, our beach remains miraculously wide and soft; an inhabitant of Makemo atoll had agreed to sell me a long rod (a 2x2 24 ft long), that he was planning to use for the frame of a hut for the local "Heiva" celebrations, that, here, last close to a month), I am well equipped to get the coconuts we enjoy every morning. Also, our friend Bernard stayed a few days in the atoll, but he did not find any lobster; and the wind veered 4 days ago, rendering our small bay less comfortable and forcing us to temporarily leave, and to anchor in a place we call "the Waiting Room", where the water is as smooth as a lake, where the shore is devoid of any sand beach, but lined with beautiful, healthy, coral heads.

I keep an eye on the weather ("grib") files : two more days and we will return to our favorite spot, but we will leave in a few days later to bring to Fakarava atoll the result of our work on the film about Canada, data that our Internet connection via satellite phone, very slow, doesn't allow us to send from the boat; we'll take advantage of the place to stock up, then we'll head for another one of our favorite spots.

Talk of hellish working conditions!