Chronicling our journey from our last boat in Tahiti, to our new boat in Seychelles, preparing for the around-the-world expedition.
As we boarded our plane in Tahiti for San Francisco, I wondered, “Perhaps we should have just purchased a new boat in French Polynesia! That would have made life much simpler!”
We had a nightmarish experience at Papeete airport, and now I was having second thoughts about flying to the other side of the world with the entire family in tow.
In mid-2023, we signed the purchase of our new catamaran Nesi in the Seychelles — a 60ft Fountaine Pajot Eleuthera, perfect for our world schooling expedition — because there’s not many of this type of boat available in the whole world.
There were Eleuthera models in the Caribbean and Europe, but the one in Seychelles was a much better price… I figured, if we have to fly part way across, might as well go to the other side of the world, right??
Our trip from Tahiti to San Francisco was presumably the easiest leg. Non-stop 8hrs, with two well known airports, what’s the big deal? We prepared reasonably:
– We picked a French Bee daytime flight (7am-5pm) to avoid United’s red eye flight (10pm-6am) which was really challenging for the kids and us last time.
– We packed our 15 bags (gulp!) and arranged 3:30am pickup by a huge Tahitian guy with a gigantic van, plus a separate taxi for the kids, Sabrina and Zoe (our onboard teacher-nanny). Granted this was an exhausting way to wake up, carrying heavy bags across the marina with very upset kids, but it seemed better than the red-eye flight.
Why so many bags, you wonder? These are nearly all our portable belongings in the world! We also shipped 8 boxes to Seychelles, but together with these 15 bags, it’s all we got that’s portable in the material world 🙂
We arrived at the airport 3 hours before the flight, everything looked good… but we made two consequential mistakes. I share these lessons as they caused us grief and stress we hope others can avoid.
ISSUE #1: Don’t miss the VISA fine print!
Zoe was flying on a French passport. I asked her, is there a Visa to enter the US? She had flown to US many times, but just in case, I asked google. The top lines of the search engine said, “There is no visa for French citizens…” “There is a visa-waiver program…” I assumed we were golden! Had I actually clicked on the link, I would have read further, and discovered that although there was no VISA per se, there was an entry permit application called ETSA. A small detail that messed us up royally!
Due to this glitch, the French Bee check-in counter wouldn’t let Zoe through. I asked them multiple times to let Zoe go to the gate on standby status, which is fully in their power to do so. Had they done so, she would have got on the flight! Her ETSA approval came precisely 45 seconds after the check-in counter closed, leaving Zoe stranded in Tahiti with 3 of our bags. Imagine being left behind! She broke down crying, but no matter, the ticket counter wouldn’t help her. Lame!
Meanwhile, I was on the phone with French Bee trying to change her flight, which had to occur before the plane took off, otherwise she would be considered a no-show. They refused to do so — Zoe had to call herself. I explained her phone wasn’t working, and furthermore I had purchased the ticket, so I should be able to change it!
This went on until all passengers had boarded and the flight attendants insisted I enter the plane, turn off my phone… which I promptly snapped back at them, “I’m talking to your own company!” As the plane was about to start taxiing, I punched credit card numbers into an email authorization they sent me, to pay $30 for the change fee. Got it done with no time to spare.
Suffice to say, this situation was very stressful for everyone. Thankfully, David and Eleanor (new owners of Selavi) took Zoe under their wing. She went back to the boat and waited 4 days until the next flight .
ISSUE #2: Don’t get the wrong carry-on bags
The long story here is that shipping boxes from Tahiti to Seychelles was WAY more expensive than I presumed. Ocean freight was unavailable for less than $10,000. We didn’t have enough stuff to fill half a container. Air freight was absurd. Typically, if you’re a passenger on the flight, airlines charge $200-300 per extra bag weighing 50lbs. Guess what? Those same airplanes charge 2-4x if they’re taking your boxes as freight! This was wholly unexpected.
However, we simply couldn’t physically carry SO many bags ourselves. We caved in, and decided to ship 8 boxes to Seychelles, and carry the rest on our flights.
This was a moving target… as we packed up our belongings on Selavi, we had to consider each item carefully, asking ourselves: is it valuable and hard to replace? is it heavy? is it essential for the next few months? This process took weeks.
In the meantime, we were running trips and also fixing the boat as we prepared for the sale. It was madness to pack in this chaotic environment, but we had too much to do.
In a last minute decision, I asked our friend Ian to bring extra bags from the US. Ian was doing our rigging survey on Selavi over New Years. Based on the website listing, the bag dimensions should work as carry-ons. Or so I thought…
This was the second drama at the airport in Papeete, at 5am that fine morning. While we fumbled with Zoe’s ETSA application, the French Bee check-in counter said my carry ons were too large. I put them each individually into the box that says “Your Carry On bags must fit here”. The ticketing agents said I wasn’t allowed to squish them in like I was doing (the bags were cheap and floppy). I told them to get a measuring tape, and read their own website policy! I couldn’t believe this debacle.
Our patient but exhausted 4yr old kids were slowly losing it. I was also losing it. When we were finally allowed to proceed, we experienced “insult ontop of injury”. Every step of the way — from the security check point, to the gate, to the airline stewards themselves — stopped us for having carry on bags that were ‘too large’. This annoyed me to no end, as I was also on the phone with French Bee trying to change Zoe’s flight. I was starting to snap.
The entire experience just felt like a bloody battle. From carrying 15 bags across the marina at 3:30am to fighting French Bee at every step of the way until we took off at 7:15am… I was spent. The worst part is we had lost Zoe for a few days, which derailed our plans upon arrival in SF.
Reflecting on this experience, we could have prepared better to avoid these two issues. French Bee also could have done better by us. This is a lesson in customer service.
The French Bee agents were trying to “follow the rules”. Fair enough. The question is, when should we follow the rules precisely, and when should we accommodate customers and small discrepancies, in the name of making it work? Airlines get a bad rap because of this exact issue.
Fortunately, on our super difficult journey with United from San Francisco to Seychelles — which included 3 flights over 24hrs — we had a very different experience. This shows us that it’s possible for a company to provide amazing service in challenging situations, and also, for us to learn our lessons and prepare better 🙂
