A lovely relaxed sail across the 10 miles from Hiva Oa to Tahuata through the Bordelaise Channel. We spied coconut tree fringed beaches - beautiful white sand - very different to the black volcanic sand on the island we had just left. We sauntered along the coast line until we found a bay we could have to ourselves and weighed anchor. The joy of a calm anchorage, clear blue water and the possibility of a swim to the beach to explore. This is what I call a holiday and I resolved to do no jobs and simply enjoy the moment!
Snorkelling was fabulous - so much to see and all so close to the boat. A wander along the empty beach and a lovely lie in the sun listening to my audio book. Heaven. Apéros, large G&T’s and a beautiful sunset … perfect.
We planned to move to Ua Pou Island the next day thinking it was about 40 miles away so a leisurely start … in fact, as we got organised to leave at 9.30am after our fresh mango and banana breakfast, Cap P realised it was 65 miles away and had we left then, we would be arriving in the dark … never a good idea in unknown waters. Obviously, we have got far too relaxed about planning. I was disappointed … a) I had spent more than an hour packing up and getting ready and b) I had got excited about our next destination and realised our visit would now be a really short one. Still … another day in paradise was not such a bad option and having got over myself, I set to work planning the next few destinations (having learnt our lesson), snorkelling and then cleaning the boat hull from the water. I am a bit more than half way round now so some good progress.
We set sail this morning at 4.30am … we will be at Ua Pou early afternoon. So far, a relaxed sail … Ua Pou looks magnificent from 20 miles away as I write.