2nd part on my journey in french polynesia: Raiatea, where I stayed for two weeks.
This place is the center of the polynesian culture, where many started, sailing throught the big ocean to settle on the hundreds of pacific island, from Hawai to New-Zealand.
I've been hosted by Philippe, who brought me real sailor adventures, a taste of really good whiskeys, and passionate conversations over diners and pizzeria. What a wonderful time I spent with him, reconsidering our conception on the way of life and professional carrer. What does really matter when we're living in the middle of the great Pacific? Isn't it time to reconsider what makes us really happy?
It was a Sunday. Philippe took me out for a day off on his boat to sail in the lagoon. The sky is clear and we even get some company on our way to Tahaa as we crossed a squad of playful dolphins cruising from the ocean pass and to the boat only a meter from my touch. The water is incredibly clear, the color of a bright blue sky. We anchor in the lagoon close to Tahaa in front of the motu, and went swimming in this giagantic natural swimming pool. On our way back, we tried to catch some wind, which was most of the time totally calm for us to sail. It happend suddenly, when grey clouds show up and covered the horizon in less than a few minutes. A small storm was separating our boat from the island, standing up on our way and closing up quickly on us. Le Gervois was opened, the only sail to keep us on moving, when the wind abruptly stroke into the sail with strengh and rain. I was turning the weel, useless as the storm bounced the boat like a toy. In raging back wind and force of noise, the rear cable suddenly broke, relieving the sail like a kite and propulsing it all to the front until it touches water. Philippe turned the boat in a full 180° to face this unlashing nature. The wind in our back just a few seconds before was now coming from the front, pushing back the sail into the boat and avoiding to lose it all into the sea. As I tried to keep our direction to the marina, Philippe fixed the sail and tied it tight to the boat. We finished the last part to the marina with the engine, as the storm fadded as quickly as it started.
I took once more the opportunity of this place to dive in the lagoon: I'm in Raiatea and I go on exploration into the ship wreck of the Norby. The boat sunk in 1906 after colliding to the reef. After 3 days, the three-masted empty of its loads hits the bottom of the lagoon. Years after, it slowly drifted away and ended up close to the shore. Easy access with only few minutes swim and the wreck is on sight, its main entrances like cathedrales let the explorers enter into history and wonders.
C'étaient les plus grands navigateurs de tous les temps
"Je serais tenté de m'arrêter à Tahaa. C'est la Polynésie profonde,
bien loin de la 'civilisation' de Tahiti. Tahaa est chantée par les
Polynésiens comme un berceau préservé, qui sent bon la vanille, une île
restée à l'écart du développement touristique. Il y a bien dans le même
lagon sa grande sœur Raiatea qui a des prétentions historiques et
culturelles justifiées, mais c'est évidemment pour Bora que l'on
embarque, surtout à bord d'un avion, rarement à bord d'un bateau. Bora
Bora est la référence mythique évidente. Mais j'irai bien mettre l'ancre
du Toa Marama dans le lagon de Tahaa pour voir les motu de près, sous le soleil et les étoiles du Pacifique.
Nous sommes seuls, dans l'hémisphère Sud, sous un ciel étoilé dont
l'organisation diffère de celui stocké dans ma mémoire et celle de mes
ancêtres. Là, le groupe des quatre Tau-Ha, la Croix du Sud, [...] la
Ceinture d'Orion et toutes les ta'urua. De mois en mois, d'année en
année, je reconstruis mes souvenirs stellaires. Il y a des siècles, des
hommes, des femmes, des enfants, accompagnés de cochons, de poules, de
coqs, entassés sur de fantastiques pirogues catamarans de trente mètres
de long, ont sillonné cet océan sous un ciel qui, pour eux, était
l'unique carte. Venant d'Asie du Sud-Est, petit à petit, île par île,
ils ont créé l'immense triangle polynésien qui s'étend de la
Nouvelle-Zélande à Hawaii et jusqu'à Rapa Nui, l'île de Pâques. Ils sont
restés dans le Pacifique. Ils sont là, on les croise sans doute plus à
Tahaa qu'à Tahiti. C'étaient les plus grands navigateurs de tous les
temps.
