Tales From The South Pacific, Part 1

Hello from Carla!   I am happy to report that I am back home from my trip and eager to get back to work again!  In case you missed an earlier post, I was taking part in some offshore sail training in French Polynesia and Cook Islands on SV Mahina Tiare III.    Here are some images to share from a variety of cameras:

The sail training included 5 other students as my crew mates- Angela, Amy, Cody, Simon and Shanti.  What a wonderful, fun bunch of people!  They made the experience richer, as they warmly offered encouragement, support, and laughter throughout the training.    So glad to have shared this trip with them all.

Self Portrait with Crew (Amy in pink, parts of Simon and Shanti)

   (photo courtesy of Amanda Swan Neal)

My hair is french braided by Amy, who would kindly fix my hair when asked.   As the trip progressed, my hair became blonder and blonder.  Here I am learning about celestial navigation with the sextant:

(photo courtesy of Mahina Expeditions)

I went into this adventure with several goals: To learn more about offshore sailing and gain skills not available on my sailboat.  Experience a watch schedule and helm control, and see if I would become seasick. To climb to the top of the mast, and also swim with sharks.  Okay, that last one was thrown in for fun,  but I did actually want to capture a photo or video of a shark.   So, how many items did I check off my list?

Swim with sharks?  CHECK!

Climb to the top of the 65 foot mast?  CHECK!

Did I become seasick?   THANKFULLY, NO!

Learn more about offshore sailing?  CHECK, CHECK!

More stories and pictures to come about my grand adventure.  There is even a quilt tie in- I visited the studio of tifaifai artist, Miri Vidal, who lives on the island of Moorea.     That story is for another day….  Hugs, Carla