Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue

How do you spell Reeflief....The Reef outside Marina Tina

Certain ports of call, such as Tahiti, are hub's for crew changes. Owners part with crew and crew depart from owners, for many reasons. And so it was for Slow Dance, with Sherri departing 10 days ago; last seen on a boat headed to Morea. Louise also departed for her home in Canada. So, something old and now, the something new part!

We have a new captain from South Africa, Sean Powell who hails from 3 generations of sailors and pirates and military men. Sean is an experienced marine engineer and well credentialed with a 200 ton captains license.  Sean also fire dances, as evidenced by last nights performance at our dock party. The dock party was a smashing success and the food  (patting my back now) will be talked about for some time. Sailors are fine folk and we met some awesome people. Take a look:

Fire Dancer, Sean.

Krista, from Holland. Newest crew-member

Krista joins the boat in Morea, after she finishes up work on a boat here in Tahiti. Krista is a seasoned traveler, likes Astrology, and is into the healing arts; so we will have much to talk about. The boat has totally new, young energy, a true breath of fresh air. Ron is more relaxed, but anxious to move on to the other islands.This has been an expensive stop, but the boat has had some fine repairs, including a new refrigeration  system.

That's me in the galley making the party goods.

Party fare for the dock party consisted of: grilled Tuna with mango BBQ, Swordfish grilled with garlic, Potato Salad, Grilled Island vegetables in Balsamic, Sausages with peppers and onions, tropical fruit salsa with jalapeno peppers and lime juice, and Brie Toasts for appetizers.

Brie Toast; recipe posted at the end of this blog.

Ron had a good laugh at the sour sop fruit, which looks like an ass, but taste delicious and sweet. Makes great sorbet

Krista liked the grilled Asparagus

David, super cool guy from the Nina,  a beautiful wooden sail boat. David is brilliant, home schooled, and great at the BBQ! Way to go David.

Ariel, feeds Ron the local sausages. Yes, real meat and all the rage at the BBQ. Ariel is French and lives also in Australia; Ari has backpacked around the world, much like Krista and is also trying to get onto a boat going to Fiji. Ari has been to Thailand, Indonesia, and japan.

The party went on until 2AM. There were really nice Kiwi people; one couple sailing with their two adorable daughters.

Marcin with Francis (hat and sunglasses) . Francis is a local sailor who lived in the US for 5 years. Really super cool guy.

The local veggies were grilled to perfection.

Me and Marcin.

This is Vitaya, a lovely French fellow who lives on his boat in the marina.

Marcin manned the BBQ most of the evening and did a great job. Ron was the official greeter and really enjoyed the party. There were so many nice interesting people; owners, captains and crew from the super yachts, families sailing around the world, and Lara, the 16 year old Dutch lass, single-handing around the world. Lara came to dinner with Julian, the film maker who is making a film on Lara's journey. (see the pictures below)



Having a lovely lucky mermaid as crew helped to attract a lot of good people to the boat. Thanks Sooz for helping attract the right crew for Ron.

Ron with Laura Dekker, from Holland, who is 15 and sailing around the world by herself! Lara is amazing; she left from the Netherlands when she was 14 or 15 after the courts ruled she could make the trip. Google Lara for her interesting story. Lara is traveling the same route as Slow Dance for awhile, so see ya Laura down the road in Cooks bay, Paradise.

Marcin and Aga, new crew on Slow Dance

Aga is a physicist and Marcin worked on the team that brought digital TV to London. Both attended university in London,and have lived and worked in England for the past 5 years. Marcin and Aga are from Poland. Aga speaks flawless French, which comes in quite handy. These guys are traveling the world by hitching rides on boats in exchange for work. They love Slow Dance, are interesting folk, and hard workers.We are lucky to have them aboard.

Martin, Aga, Ron and I rented a car and toured Tahiti Island. This was a great hike to a waterfall.

Wooded Idol that looked like a fork at Tahitian sacred ground.

Water Water, hear the water flow, dancing, prancing, see the water go

Ron on hike to waterfall

Ron with giant leaf

Jungle path to the waterfall

On the bridge to the waterfall. Pix from Marcin

Roadside fruit and hat stand. Pix from Marcin

Dinner on Slow Dance with Laura and Julian on the right end. I made chicken curry, lentil Dal, potatoes and pea curry, basmatti rice, and chapattis.

After being here for 2 weeks and not seeing  much but the market and the town, it was great to rent the car and take a look around the island. The waterfall and ancient burial ground were as I imagined Tahiti; exotic, tropical, passionate....the rest was a disappointment; poor housing, graffiti everywhere you look, bad food, few cafes along the way, and NO beaches.Ron say's Tahiti is not how he remembers it from 30 years ago. I am anxious to see Morea and Bora Bora.

Susan was quite taken with Laura, but then, we all were!


The Island people love Bob Marley and Sooz causes quite a stir of positive energy with her long flowing Dred Locks; everywhere we go the locals give us rides, carry our groceries, and pick us up when we hitchhike.



You can follow Laura Dekker on her website: http://www.lauradekker.nl/English/Home.html
  Laura's journey is being filmed by Julian and is titled; Maidentrip, check it out at: http://Maidentrip.com/