SV Duende Origin Story - Part 4 of 4
Puerto Vallarta to French Polynesia – Non-stop for 24 days
Starting next week, we'll settle into our regular weekly posting schedule as we explore new islands and adventures ahead. If you're aboard for the ride, we're thrilled, this is Post #4 of our origin story.
Puerto Vallarta to the Society Islands: Tahiti, Moorea, and the Îles Sous le Vent
Non-stop for 24 days, 4000 nautical miles, and 20 loaves of fresh-baked bread
On our first Pacific crossing in 2016, we made landfall in the wild Marquesas Islands and visited the atolls of the Tuamotus before the Society Islands. But this time we decided to sail direct to Tahiti – as for us, the Societies are the best of French Polynesia. These beautiful mountainous islands, surrounded by brilliant lagoons fringed by coral reefs are like no place on earth, and we wanted to make the best of our time here. The 4,000 mile passage was the longest non-stop sail we’ve done, about 1/5 the distance of a circumnavigation of the earth.
Some challenges, but an intrepid crew. We had a fabulous crew for the trip and they proved themselves to be up for anything and everything. It’s funny how it works on a sailing passage – you are often in the company of strangers, in relatively close quarters, with no means of escape. Luckily for all of us, Duende is big and comfortable. Even with 5 people on board, everyone had plenty of space and lots of room to hang out. And we all got along – even through some tough moments like replacing the shackle at the top of the in-mast furling main sail on day two (one of our crew bravely went up the 100-foot mast in a bosun’s chair – not a trivial task on a rolling boat at sea), and sailing through a huge rain and lightning storm as we were nearing Tahiti (in the middle of the night, of course).
But the weather was mostly good, the winds were mostly favorable, and the food (as always on Duende) was awesome. Good meals, full bellies, happy crew!
We crossed the equator on Day 13, and arrived in Papeete on Day 24, the tenth of May.
We checked in, cleaned the salt off the boat, and started getting reacquainted with island life. It was busier than where we were here last, but still so beautiful.
We got to revisit some of our favorite places, get reacquainted with some island buddies, and have some good friends come for a 2-week stay at the end of June. We had a blast showing them Tahiti and Moorea and then convinced them to sail to Huahine with us on an overnight sail. It was a highlight of their trip, and our favorite island became one of theirs. We’re happy to report that Huahine remains as charming as ever, virtually unchanged from our last visit.
But now, it’s time to move on. We purposefully didn’t apply for a long stay visa in French Polynesia this trip, as we knew it would be too easy to just hang out here and maybe never leave. So now, after enjoying our 90-day stay back in this piece of paradise, we are ready to set sail for new islands and places we’ve never seen.
I’m looking forward to writing more about our day-to-day life, sharing lessons learned and cool things we see and do – as well as my art, poetry, recipes, and the occasional rant as we DIY our way across the ocean on this big, beautiful boat of ours. It will be new for all of us, and I’m glad you are here to share the voyage.
Next stop: Samoa!
This concludes our 4-part origin story series. From now on, we'll be sharing weekly posts as our journey unfolds.
I hope you have enjoyed this quick recap of our first 5 years aboard SV Duende, and that you will continue to read my stories as we continue the adventure. If you missed the first posts in this series, you can see them on the Shellphone Chronicles Substack Website.
If there is anything you are curious about, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at shellphonechronicles@gmail.com
If at any point this newsletter isn't a good fit, feel free to unsubscribe using the link at the very bottom. No hard feelings!
Thanks for reading Shellphone Chronicles!
This post prompted a few practical questions for me:
What was your sailing experience before Duende with your previous boat and in life? Did it prepare you for this big crossing?
The part on the mast that broke - do you just have extra parts like that on hand? Do you have to carry certain types of spare parts?
Thanks! Very much looking forward to your weekly stories.
Oh I am loving this! I have a plan to head down that way next spring, so I will be sure to keep in touch and hopefully you will be in the vicinity (I use that term loosely - like the whole southern hemisphere - lol!) I would love to see you and the boat (I have never been on one! I can't wait to continue to follow your chronicles!