A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 10/27/2024 – 11/03/2024

Happy Sunday! No video this week, we’ll make it up to you next week.

After last week’s disappointing change of plans, we’ve decided that since we’re staying in French Polynesia until April, we are going to make the most of it! We turned our frowns upside down this week because- let’s be honest- our Plan B isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. We’re in paradise, after all! So, we spent this week paddle boarding, swimming with stingrays, and relaxing on our beautiful floating home.

On Wednesday, we decided to move to a new mooring field. We motored for an hour and a half around the island and hopped on a ball with a side view of Mount Otemanu. It looks completely different from this angle!

There was some noisy construction nearby (a new huts-on-the-water-type resort being built), and the famous Bloody Mary’s Beach Bar was temporarily closed for renovations, but we didn’t care. We sat in the saloon all afternoon, putting the final touches on our new website, which we launched later that day. If you’ve been following our other posts, I probably sound like a broken record, but we do not feel comfortable with people supporting us, knowing that a significant portion of their hard-earned money may not actually go to Sabado. So, we have created our own membership program on our website as Patreon’s fee/billing process evolves. Payments on our website are processed through secure gateways (Stripe and Paypal) with minimal processing fees and no one else taking a cut. If you want to help us sail around the world, you can join our Crew or become a VIP here. You can also join for free to beat the algorithm: you’ll get our posts sent straight to your inbox and be able to leave comments! We spent the rest of the day triple-checking the site since we’re sailors, not web developers. It was a fun project, but we’re happy to be done.

Friday was Hawaiki Nui Va’a, a historic race of over one hundred six-man teams in Polynesian outrigger canoes that began in 1992. The race is 80 miles long and completed over three days. The route covers the open ocean and inside lagoons spanning the islands of Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a, and Bora Bora. We were eager to watch them cross the finish line just around the corner from our mooring field! 

The green, yellow, and purple lines represent the route taken by senior men who complete all three legs. The red line is the half-day course for women and junior men.

That morning, we dropped the dinghy and headed toward the pass. We could see a line of boats coming in, composed of rowers, support vessels, and spectators alike. There were jet skis, dinghies, pangas, sailboats—you name it! 

The lagoon quickly became a washing machine of wakes. These skilled athletes seemed to alter their course to use it to their advantage, surfing where they could to increase their speed. People were cheering, music was playing, and coaches were yelling over loudspeakers. It was a chorus of chaos! We followed as the locals led the way to the finish line at Matira Beach. We walked our dinghy through the crowd in waist-deep water to witness the action.

The winner is determined by the overall time to complete the course. I read that the leaders paddle 55-60 strokes per minute, and the fastest time recorded was 9 hours, 20 minutes, and 51 seconds in 2009. That’s a lot of strokes! It was incredible to see them up close. I was impressed they maintained their pace even after crossing the finish line. I guess it would cause quite a traffic jam if they didn’t. I would simply collapse from exhaustion! 

We hung around for a while, watching 30 or so boats finish the race before the sun and salt water began to take their toll on us. We returned to Sabado, showered, and knocked out some chores before dark. 

The following morning, I nearly spilled my coffee as Sabado suddenly began bouncing up and down. We went outside to investigate—we seemed to be in the middle of a children’s outrigger race! Power boats zoomed by on our port side while the kids paddled past our starboard side. I sat on the sugar scoop and joined in cheering them on. It’s just a matter of time before these kids compete in the big race themselves! 

We spent the rest of the day cleaning the boat and planning our next move. We need to start working our way back East for cyclone season, so we hope to make a small hop in that direction next week, weather permitting. We’ve enjoyed our time in Bora Bora but are feeling the itch to move again… I’ll let you know where we end up! 

I hope you had a great week. ❤️