Our posts from the passage will carry a fresh ocean breeze and the hope that everything will be all right again. Because there has to be hope.
Chronicles of Our Final Days in Polynesia
This is our last post with photographs for the next 2–3 months. After this, there will be chronicles sent by satellite email straight from the ocean. There will be no photos.
20 February 2022
“So, Marina, are you going under the fence or over it?”
“Oh, girls, I’m afraid my *arse won’t fit underneath.”
“Come on, we’ll give you a boost.”
“Nah... you climb over; my husband can give me a boost.”
With a bored expression, the captain vaulted over the 2.5-metre gate a couple of times and stared at us questioningly.
The children, in snow-white T-shirts, had already crossed the fenced-off boundary. I was looking for a way around.
“No use,” confirmed Elena, an EU citizen and the wife of law-abiding Jean-Jacques. “I looked for alternatives last time, just in case. There are sheer cliffs everywhere. They probably started locking the gate after the last lockdown. When people weren’t allowed to go more than a kilometre from home, the whole neighbourhood got into the habit of coming here for a bit of nature. With dogs, children and tin cans. And this is the water intake for the entire capital.”
“The municipal waterworks, then?”
“Something like that. That’s probably why they locked it.”
“So what, do we go back?”
“What do you mean, back? Come over to us!” the children shouted from the other side of the fence.
“What if there are cameras here? What if we climb back and the police are already waiting for us?” I had more doubts than anyone. The EU citizens were confidently crawling under the fence. Nastya was swinging her second leg over it. The captain surveyed this entire circus with boredom. He was the only man in a company of women and girls.
“Come on, step onto my knee.”
The Covid Colony Put Out to Pasture
We had the waterfall all to ourselves—a group of nine people who had recently recovered from Covid independently of one another. “The Covid colony out for a walk” was what we called our squad, catching fresh impressions while self-isolating.
Step by step along the path. A little bog, rain, tall reeds. Losing your footing and getting splattered with liquid mud right up to your, excuse me—that’s our way of walking.
And there it was—a little burbling happiness beyond the velvety green cliffs.
The water in the pool felt icy.
“I read that a waterfall is a crack between worlds,” Natasha said.
After those words, I stuck my head into the crack between worlds, dreaming of washing away all my sorrows. Of which, on 20 February, there were none yet...
26 February
We now have so many provisions to sort through, bought to feed us during a two-month non-stop passage.
We have more than 30 grapefruits alone—called pamplemousses in Polynesia and grown to the size of watermelons. Two enormous bunches of bananas, a sack of mangoes and onions, two crates of apples, and another ten bags. And two hours until we set off across the ocean.
Place your bets: what will fly around the yacht’s saloon best once we get beyond the barrier reef?
We’re setting off into the ocean in stages:
Two days ago, we moved to the northern part of the main island of all Polynesia.
Today we’ll hop over to the neighbouring island to see some friends.
We first met the crew of the yacht Baba—Ben, Fleur and their three children—in Morocco seven years ago. Since then, they have made it halfway across the Pacific, lived in the Caribbean and the States, while we have circumnavigated the Earth one and a half times, dropped in on Antarctica and lived in Australia. We have plenty to discuss.
The captain with the crew of the yacht Baba, Senegal, March 2016
On the way to the neighbouring island, we need to shoot and edit two videos—one for the Yachtsman of the Year Award and one for our youtube com/c/travelyfamily.
And we also need to record a radio greeting for the Russian Geographical Society Youth Club at Lyceum No. 130 in Novosibirsk. The main quest is uploading it.
Bearing in mind the price of internet access (800 roubles per 1 GB) and its dismal quality, we consider this goal difficult to achieve. Against this backdrop, even saying goodbye to our friends and to the Polynesian paradise where we have spent exactly three months this time pales into insignificance.
If you’ve seen the animated film Moana, then you know what this paradise looks like—the most beautiful place on Earth.
I’m off to sew up the mainsail. For the 33rd time. I’m afraid that in its current state, we won’t make it the 6,500 nautical miles to Vladivostok without repairs.
28 February 2022
It’s normal for plans to change, isn’t it?
First our departure was postponed because of Covid, then because everything was taking longer. Fortunately, only by one day. And today we are finally weighing anchor.
Two nights ago, we sailed from the main island of all Polynesia to a neighbouring little piece of paradise. Ksyusha and Polina—two friends of Nastya and Lada—were here with us. Early in the morning, we put the girls on the ferry and then went visiting.
The world is very small, remember? We came here to meet some friends from a yacht. Our Nastya had occasionally kept in touch with their daughter Charlotte through Instagram. That was how the connection survived. Then we were delighted to discover that we were anchored 50 miles apart. And of course, that fact could not be ignored.
With part of Baba’s crew yesterday, six years later
So there we were, on our way to visit Baba, when we met a girl on a scooter at the entrance to the marina. She said “Hi” so cheerfully that it was obvious we knew her.
“Muuum... Isn’t that Charlotte?”
“No, but we do know her.”
I greeted the girl:
“Wow! Do you remember us? We were together at the shipyard in Cartagena four years ago!”
“Of course I remember,” Lucy replied.
And so we ended up visiting two yachts in succession instead of one. We discussed our travels over the past few years, our plans to return home and prepare a new expedition, and their plans to remain in Polynesian paradise for the next ten years or so. We concluded that everyone wants peace and said warm goodbyes.
It’s so wonderful to meet friends at the other end of the world after so many years!
With the crew of the yacht Pila, Cartagena, Colombia, October 2017
With part of the crew of the yacht Pila 4.5 years later, yesterday, Polynesia
Yacht PILA
We gaze greedily at the island. We’re hurrying to finish this post, call and message our families, download the latest school assignments, and be on our way. Into the unknown of a closed ocean for 2.5 months.
What will happen along the way? What awaits us at home? Follow the news!
A fresh breeze from the Pacific Ocean will regularly fly to the website via satellite email.
WHERE TO FOLLOW THE EXPEDITION:
On our website travely-family.com
In our VKontakte group
In our Facebook group
Backup channel on Telegram (in case Facebook and Instagram are blocked)
Posts will also be available on our YouTube channel under the “Community” tab.
We will not lose touch with you, thanks to our shore team working from Russia, Australia and Kazakhstan: Sergey Yakubenko, Yulia Galushina and Olesya Porsina. Olesya is also coordinating all media relations and planned public meetings upon our arrival in Russia. Links for anyone who would like to organise a meeting or event:
Olesya’s Instagram ; Olesya Porsina on VKontakte
Goodbye, friends!
Ahead lie 6,500 nautical miles of a non-stop passage in complete isolation. We look forward to your comments and good news. Our shore team—Yulia Galushina, Sergey Yakubenko and Olesya Porsina—will send them to us. Olesya is also coordinating all media relations and planned public meetings upon our arrival in Russia.
We love you all, and our planet. We will live and remain human.
PEACE TO EVERYONE!
Take care of the land, and we’ll keep an eye on the sea. Wish us luck! Hugs.
The tracker showing our route in real time is available under the “Route” tab. Thank you to MVS Telecom (Iridium-360) for providing the RockSTAR satellite tracker ✅
A huge thank-you to everyone supporting the expedition via 🔴 https://sobe.ru/na/travelyfamily —any card (Visa, MasterCard), mobile phone, or 🔴 https://paypal.me/travelyfamily —PayPal
Taking the girls to the ferry
A few more photos from Polynesia
to harmonise the space
A water lily like in Thailand
Young sailor in the river
Anchorage
The biggest waterfall on the biggest island
Moana’s descendants