After two weeks stay on Arabella, Mum just left for the next leg of her adventure to Antarctica. Yip you heard me right. She’s off to Antarctica with a National Geographic boat leaving from Ushuaia, Chile today. I’m so very excited for her as this has been a lifelong dream of hers   Not sure how anyone has lifelong dreams about being cold but hey we are all different right? So good luck to her and may the ice bring you great happiness as it does in my whisky. 

Mum was onboard with us for a little over 2 weeks. We certainly packed it in whilst she was here. Firstly we hosted the first regatta of the Pacific Series in Hirifa, Fakarava. My was the race committee, starter and general gustapo ensuring order at all time. It was a long day with 23 races in total but she was in complete control and when all was said and done we retired to the beach for a wonderful braai. These little regattas are so much fun for both the adults and the kids and I dare say at times a little too competitive but there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of knowing that first place is more fun than second place. 

Next up for my Mum was a refresher in diving. Well maybe refresher is a stretch considering it must be almost 30 years since her last dive. We went about it pretty slow with just focusing on getting comfortable in the water. After that we migrated to what I planned would be a starter dive of about 4-5m but I miscalculated and the sea chop was actually quite bad. After getting Mum in the water she didn’t feel comfortable so we aborted that effort. The next day we tried again nearer our own anchorage and soon enough Mum was soaring underwater like a Manta Ray. I was so proud of her when I realised how much effort and anxiety the whole process was taking. She was amazing and clearly enjoyed the after dive glass of wine. 

Having my Mum onboard was huge for my girls. It’s been 3 years since they last saw their Nana and little Azania barely remembered her. But for Alex the timing couldn’t have been better. She has been working for the past few months on a book she was writing and I think it is fair to say that there is know one better than my Mum to help her and help she did. They spent many hours together on the fly-bridge going chapter by chapter through the book. Mum also seemed to give Alex the confidence and boost she needed to finish the book. In fact it was published yesterday but more on this in another post when I’m finished reading it. 

After Fakarava we sailed up to Toau where we found 3 beautiful anchorages. I have to say Toau is now my favourite Atoll but I’m sure this favourite list will change again. We firstly anchored in the south east at a beautiful little corner of the world where we were blessed by a huge Manta Ray which both Alex and Arabella had the fortunate opportunity of swimming with for a long time. I even managed to get my mum on the dinghy in time to see some from the boat but sadly we had missed the best of the show. Manta’s are to me the most majestic creatures in the sea. They glide and swoop and somersault as they feed and it all looks so beautifully effortless. 

This anchorage also brought Mum some great joy as she was in awe of a beautiful little Turn with a lilac blue underside. It helps having a birdy onboard to help us all appreciate the joy of birds. To me the little devils just shit on my boat and I need to clean it up. 

We then sailed up to “the Lagoon” anchorage. Little Alex and Arabella decided they’d sail up themselves in the smartkat which they did. It was about 4 miles so not a short passage at all. They managed without any drama and from what we could see from about a mile behind there was no punching. However when they arrived I had told them they should see a mooring and if it was free to grab it and tie up the smartkat. Well as soon as they tried this French lady came zipping over in her dinghy from another yacht saying, “noh noh noh! Sis is private!” My girls pleaded their dad had told them and that it would only be a short while but Noh it was and the girls needed to go and hold the boat on the coral on the waters edge until we arrived. Cant imagine what type of person would chase two little girls off the safety of a mooring when there are no sign of adults near them. But then again each of us are different. But when we arrived we sure as hell didn’t show any love to that mean women. 

The anchorage was breathtaking with a little window across the Atoll onto the sea. We really enjoyed this little piece of heaven and the kids and adults raced around the anchorage in the smartkats.