Greetings from Raiatea. Wow… It’s hard to believe that in a month we’ll be leaving Polynesia…. Having spent nearly 7 years in this amazing place, it’ll be time to say “ná-ná” , a sweet word in Tahitian for goodbye .

We’re planning to sell our  46ft catamaran Selavi to new owners by end of January. Hopefully to a new family eager to follow the Green Coco footsteps and build a life at sea, and continue offering co-op trips. How will this work out?? More on this to come. 

After dropping off our last guests, we’ve spent the last 2 weeks in Raiatea. Doing preparation for the boat sale, such as repairs and technical surveys. 

What’s Raiatea like , you ask? It’s 20 miles east of Bora Bora, and 20 miles west of Huahine. The administrative center for this group of islands. There’s a hospital, marina, services. It’s the base for the yacht charter fleet in Polynesia. There is a town center with some shops; but otherwise it is very rural. Blink and you’ll pass it. 

Raiatea is a magnificent, large, underrated island. It is considered the spiritual center of Polynesia, the starting point of the ancient master navigators exploring the seven corners of the Pacific. The alliance of Polynesian tribes included Maoris (New Zealand), Rapa Nui (easter island), Hawaiians, Cook Islanders, Marquesans. The legends say that every decade, they gathered in Raiatea to pay homage and strengthen their alliance, and bring back a rock to their homeland, that connected them to this mother island’s spirit. Incredible to think those ancient navigators would sail weeks or months for a meeting. I wonder if that really happened. 

The traditional place to gather was in the SW corner of the island, at Taputapuatea. Whats left of the ancient village and places of worship are now just the stone marae structures, solitary and silent, watching the reef pass in front.  In this expansive coastal plain, the priests and chiefs would send off the navigators, who asked for blessings for their ocean voyages. I stood there with my own little ones… considering the voyage we had ahead, and asked for blessings for our family. 

We can use a lot of blessings..! We have a big adventure ahead. In a few months we will take the metal bird to the Seychelles to pick up a  new bigger boat. Navigate the waters of Madagascar and Mozambique and their culturally rich lands. Going around the infamous cold water capes of South Africa. Crossing the Atlantic to Brazil. What’s the big deal?? haha. 

First we must take care of business. Sell our boat and continue the Green Coco legacy. Since Raiatea has good facilities, and is easier (in some ways) to get work done than Tahiti, we paused here for a few weeks. 

We conducted the typical pre-sale surveys, usual for boats.  Engines, below water hauled out, in water general survey. Rigging would come later. 

The CNI yard in Raiatea took great care of us. Even though the rain dumped hard that day! The surveyor Christophe and engine mechanic Thierry helped us iron out some kinks with the boat. All these surveys give the buyer confidence in the boat, and identify what’s wrong with it. Like doing due diligence for a house purchase, it can also open a can of worms, or be straightforward. 

Meanwhile, our onboard teachers are keeping the kids busy. Yup, teachers in plural!  We’ll share more about boat schooling in the next post.