French Polynesia, Thailand, Croatia, Fiji, Indonesia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Seychelles, Greece, or the Caribbean? It turns out that’s a really, really tough question to answer.
Praslin and Cousin
My friend Travis (if you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll remember him from my time on the TMB) had planned to charter a boat this summer. Originally, I was just going to stop by for a week or two to visit, but when he realized that I was going to get my certifications, he invited me along to skipper for the length of the trip.
Lazio Beach
Travis initially planned to sail in French Polynesia but ultimately decided it would be worth investigating other options. With the early plan out the window, we spent several months talking about the trip, researching the world’s best sailing destinations, negotiating with charter companies, and having regular Skype calls, as we both bounced around different corners of the world.
La Digue Harbor
We have similar travel styles and both like to keep our travel options open as long as possible so, unsurprisingly, we found ourselves with time running short and no decision yet as to where we would sail. To nail things down, I popped over to Seoul, South Korea to meet Travis and spend several days ironing out the details.
Sunset on La Digue
Squall off Mahe
Ready to Chow Down
Grand Anse, La Digue
Hiking on Cousin Island
On our first stop, we ran into Stefanie, an interesting and knowledgeable French expat whom Travis had been exchanging emails with for several days. We had a great conversation with her laying out our needs and by late afternoon the next day we were booked on the Julienas, a 47-foot Jeanneau Sun Odyssey located on Praslin.
Sunset on La Digue
We arrived at the marina in Baie St. Anne in the late morning, stopped by the local market to provision, and then headed aboard for the boat and navigation briefings. With all the details taken care of, we headed out of Baie St. Anne to begin exploring the tropical Indian Ocean paradise.
