I've spent most of August in Moorea in
the same anchorage next to the same reef pass called Haapiti. The
days kind of all blur together. When there is surf, Dave and I surf.
When there's not, well we're bored and we try n find other shit to
do. There have been days of mindless perfection, magazine quality
barrels. There have been fun days and flat days and too big days and
everything in between. My life has been on hold while I've lived out
my surf rat fantasy: to jump off a boat and go surf a left hand reef
pass as much as possible.
The highlight of the French Polynesia
trip thus far was definitely sharing a day of perfect surf with a
handful of rippers and the girls from a boat called Swell.
Liz Clark is a surfer and UCSB Alum who bought a boat and has
singlehanded it all over the South Pacific for the last 10 years or
so. She's a cruising celebrity and I'm a fan. She and pro surfer
called Lea Brassy dropped anchor a stone's throw from our boat. Dave
had more luck chatting up Lea than he did getting waves. Sure enough, he
convinced the ladies to join us aboard Tusitala for some dinner and
drinks. The evening was tame enough but I still couldn't believe my
luck. Here we were, dining with a couple of semi-famous and beautiful
surfer girls after a day of epic surf. A dream come true to be sure. After a few days they were on to the next island and we were left with a rainy and empty anchorage. The silence was deafening.
It's been a great
experience. I feel truly fortunate to have been granted this
opportunity of a lifetime. There
are drawbacks to paradise, however. The hours and days and weeks of
lonely downtime wore on my sanity. I thought I could use this time to
reflect and to gain clarity on my aspirations in life. Instead my
mind spun in circles and I became filled with anxiety about mistakes
I've made and my uncertain future. My ability to stay present and
motivated melted away in the hot tropical sun.
I needed to make a change and to take
the next step in life. With NPAC Hurricane season in full swing Dave and I
were to be pinned down likely at least through September before being able to make the intended passage to Hawaii. To make matters worse, we were 'flying under the radar' with the authorities and couldn't really risk hanging out in Tahiti proper. The thought of spending 2 more months on anchored of remote islands followed by a big three week passage was daunting. I was already stir-crazy
and August had just started. Dave decided to take Tusitala west
towards New Zealand and I finally booked my ticket home.
The last nine months abroad have
certainly taught me a lot. I learned more about myself than I did
about Australia, that's for certain. I have no idea what the future
hold in store for me. More adventure, more love and more happiness is
what I hope for. Optimism and perseverance is what it will take to
achieve those ends. Time has come to get home and get back to work!
Thanks for reading! Til the next adventure... adieu.
