It took my breath away: swimming beneath the towering waterfall at Papenoo (Les Tres Cascades de Faarumai) but my new friends - 11 year old cousins from Papeete - had coaxed me in, and I obliged. The water was cold (Il fait froid!) but the warmth of these budding Tahitian beauties too much for me to resist. Hazel urged me closer to the waterfall and the refreshing downdraft we enjoyed at the footbridge became a weight: a heavy drum of icy vapor barreling down from on high. It was breathtaking - literally.
The Mahalo Sailing Wahines had a wonderful day - jealous of Trisha's pre-planned island tour, the rest of us decided to pitch in and rent a car (a clumsy van as white as us haoles, which only once did we have to push off the black sand beach) circumnavigating the islands of Tahiti and Tahiti Iti ... too much to say in one dispatch. But from our hikes to waterfalls and a delightful swim shared with a local Tahitian family - to a foray at famed Teahupoo beach where we watched Polynesian moms & dads teaching their little 'fingerlings' (some just toddlers!) how to boogie board on knee-high waves (with utter glee!) - collecting spring water roadside - watching the sun set behind Moorea: its sharp grey silhouette outlined by pink and yellow striations of the retiring sun - and greeting RAGE (one of the boats finishing the TPYC Tahiti Race) downtown: it was awesome.
And then, the creme de la creme. I introduced myself (on the TPYC B.O.D. for eight years) to the crew of the arriving yacht. In our small talk, the skipper told he had done the 1993 Transpac, and when I piped in "I did too" his wife pulled me aside. "You! We heard you girls in the bathroom at Kaneohe YC talking about what fun you had and I went right outside and asked my friend if she ever wanted to race to Hawaii ... " That silly giggling bathroom (rum infused no doubt) chatter spurred them to do the following year's Pacific Cup with an all-girl campaign. "You have created a legacy" she said. I was stoked. :-)
Monday morning now and all busy packing for our next leg: the flight to Raiatea and departure (tomorrow) on our two week cruise! ~ Betsy Crowfoot
PS - our SPOT locater is not working properly so please do not be alarmed if you don't see SPOTs. No news = good news ;)
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