We made it!

Land Ho!

After 23 days at sea, most of which was rougher than we like, we arrived in Tubuai. By 8:40 last night, we had the anchor set and were enjoying a relaxing drink before bed. We were particularly tired after hand steering for the last four days. What a relief to not have to steer or stand watch. Orca III, with whom we'd been traveling, and Candine, who left Auckland the same time we left Whangarei, arrived about 30 minutes after us. Now here we sit, three Canadian boats at a remote Polynesian island, it's surreal! It was very exciting to see this little island appear in the distance after not seeing land for so many days, it was an amazing sight.

The three Canadians invade Tubuai, only one other boat has been here this year.

This morning, we tended to some chores such as laundry, general tidying up, inflating the dinghy and moving the life raft, then we headed to shore to explore this beautiful island. The people here are so very friendly, everyone who passed us on the road waved. We must have looked very conspicuous, ten of us white Canadians walking the main road in town. We even garnered a hearty chuckle from a fellow riding his scooter, when all of us stuck our thumbs to hitch a ride. Marie at one of the little stores opened up just for us, so we all indulged in a frosty ice cream bar. Then it was off to the Gendarme, unfortunately they were closed today, but there were workers in the garden who asked us to return tomorrow morning. You should have seen the looks on their faces when we told them that there were three boats and fourteen people checking in! It's even more apparent now that this little island gets few visitors. It's hot and humid here which will take us a few days to adjust to, but at least this is the coolest of the Polynesian islands, so we can acclimatize a little easier.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who have been supporting us through prayer during this passage, we couldn't have done it without you.