We arrived Gambier on the 12th of December and took a few days to regroup while anchored in Rikitea (main town of Mangareva). We arrived the day after the supply ship came so we were able to stock up on fresh fruits and veg, replenish staples, and catch up on sleep. As excited as we were about the fresh goods and sleep, we really did have an awesome Christmas in Taravai.
The winds dropped and the water was glassy. We had stunning sunsets and sunrises.
Then as usually the case, we high tailed it out of the main, crowded anchorage and headed toward Tauna.
Tauna
This is a small motu on the South East side of Gambier. It is known for its shallow sandy shelf and great winds which makes it an ideal spot for kiteboarders. I do love to watch the kiters but it takes away from the beauty of this little slice of paradise so we tend to not visit this motu when it is crowded. We got lucky with a few days of very little wind which meant we had the anchorage to ourselves for 4 days!
We rested, explored the motu, swam, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. After we were well rested and caught up on a few boat repairs, we made the move to Taravai.
We had super light winds coming from behind us so we put up the parasail and enjoyed a leisurely 3-hour sail. If you zoom in the photo you can see our instrument showing 3.0kts of wind and our boat speed is 3.2kts (we had a little help from the current).
Parasail downwind run
Taravai
As you know, Valerie, Herve and their two sons (Alan and Ariki) live on Taravai. They are 4 of the 12 people that inhabit this island. They’ve become good friends of ours and we wanted to celebrate Christmas with them. We arrived at Taravai Christmas week. Everyone greeted us with huge hugs and warm smiles.
I spent several days preparing and baking Christmas cookies. I made well over 600 cookies including gingerbread, sugar, peppermint, white mice, and toffee. It was a labor of love, but it was fun to pass out bags of sweet treats to our cruiser and local friends.
We enjoyed several happy hours onshore with our friends and spent Christmas morning celebrating the holiday over blueberry muffins. They are such generous and loving people!
Herve, Valerie, Ariki, Alana
Our Cruising Christmas card
Coral Spawning
In mid-December the coral spawn emitting a gazillion eggs. Huge patches float and gather all over causing a pretty bad smell and really gross mess. The wind blew trillions (at least that is what it seemed like) of these eggs to the shores of Taravai. They leave a trail on the waterline of the boat as well. Hopefully, some of these eggs actually make it to coral.
Coral Spawning
For some reason, there are lots and lots of jelly fish. These are the non-stinging kind, but it still gives me the willies!
We see man beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Love the top left photo with the blue shooting out of the mountain in Mangareva. The cat’s name is Shasha and she is 5yrs young.
After our eventful passage to Gambier (see passage post), we truly enjoy our time in Gambier. Events from this blog post occurred just before Christmas 2021. Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.