With hindsight, I’m not sure which was harder: starting or stopping. 

Deciding to start: to quit our jobs, sell our house, buy a boat, wave goodbye to friends and family and then set off into the big blue wasn’t easy. It required a leap of faith and confidence which was beyond anything we’d done before. Thankfully we were both equally committed to making it happen, so when one of us got cold feet the other was there to carry the load and be a steadying voice. It would have been impossible to do it alone.

And then we found ourselves sitting on our unfamiliar yacht, in a damp marina in Mallorca, surrounded by exploding bags, belongings piled up everywhere, in a boat which needed a bit of work, wondering what the hell we’d just done. So we got stuck in. Fixed what was most urgent, found homes for our stuff and after a couple of month of boat jobs and finding out feet we set off around the coast of Mallorca.

We didn’t meet many people at first, but those few cruisers we did meet may have saved our souls. First were Mark and Nikki (Mezzo Magic) who, even before we left the marina filled our lives with laughter and friendship. Next were Jim and Karin (Victoria) who showed us that anything is possible. Then Brian and Kathleen (Pelorus Jack) came with moral support and cookies. And Stuart and Anne amazed us with their generosity. And. and… it is an impossibly long list.

We decided when we set off on this adventure we’d give it six months and see. That we’d take stock on a regular basis to see if we were enjoying it and if not either stop or change something.

But only six months into our adventure it wasn’t working and we were ready to throw in the towel. We weren’t meeting kids boats in the Western Med, we missed friends, the boat jobs were proving too challenging and even simple tasks were exploding. It seemed insurmountable. We contacted a friend and mentor, Leon (Ragina) who told us to stop mucking about in the Med and go find the kids boats in the Caribbean. Possibly the best single piece of advice we received – go find the kids.

Then things got better. And every six months we’d discuss our plans for the coming season, discuss what we enjoyed and what we needed to fix. We debated if we should keep going or if we’d had enough. Every time we’d come to the conclusion that we still had more to do and wanted to give it another six months. And that’s how we ended up in French Polynesia three years later – sitting on a beach discussing for the last time if we wanted to continue or stop.

Sitting on that beach back in March 2019 we decided to stop. 

It seemed like an odd choice at the time and it certainly wasn’t a decision of the heart. We were enjoying the cruising life more than at any other time. We’d spent the previous few months in the company of an incredible group of boat buddies, not only for Teo but for us too. The cyclone season in the Marquesas was one of the highlights of our entire adventure. So coming to the conclusion we should stop wasn’t obvious or natural.

The reasons for stopping were varied and numerous, but basically they came down to this question:  Do we want to do another four years? 

It a strange thing to say, but for us sitting watching Teo play with his friends in the surf, we only had two real options. Sail to Australia and sell the boat or finish our circumnavigation and spend the next few years sailing back to Europe. The latter would take (us) four years. And while we enjoyed our life on Itchy Foot we didn’t want to spend so many more years doing the same. We missed family who were starting to feel very far away from us. We wanted to give Teo a taste of mainstream education so that he has that experience. I (Jon) missed my career: missed working on interesting ideas with people smarter than me.

We also noticed that we’d stopped watching the sunsets. Paradise was becoming normal.

We’ll be releasing blog posts over the coming weeks with the details of how we ended up selling the boat, our time in American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, California and finally returning to the UK.

But for now, it’s enough to say that we’ve sold Itchy Foot and we’re back in Europe.

Time for a new adventure. 

We visited Tonga for a couple of weeks in August 2019 – here is our log from that time.

When we made the decision to continue on from French Polynesia we had a few options and one of the reasons we continued sailing, rather than trying to sell in Tahiti, was so that we would get to visit Tonga. We’re not sure why, but Tonga has always been high on Mia’s bucket list of places to visit on Itchy Foot. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to our expectations and on the whole, was a bit of a letdown – but not all the blame can be laid on Tonga’s shores.

Tonga is one of those place you can divide into three groups of islands and in fairness we only managed to make it to the northernmost group: the Vava’u group. These islands, and especially the main town, felt just like the Caribbean with everyone wanting to make a buck and sadly the worst offenders were mostly ex-cruisers. Going out for lunch is a rare treat for us and the first three places we tried was all served with a snarl and very much priced for charter boat holidaymakers; too rich for our blood. 

In general, where we found an extensive charter business we noticed higher prices and worse service. And Vava’u was all about that. It’s not just the restaurants and other shore-based services but also the attitude of trying to get as much money out of the charter boat people as quickly as possible. With the bays being deep and often full of coral, so there were many mooring balls to help out yachties. We don’t mind paying for a good mooring to protect the coral. But being charged to go ashore to the beach is not so cool.

We weren’t in the best frame of mind when we arrived in Tonga. The reality of selling Itchy Foot and returning to land was plaguing our thoughts. The most painful part of the process is saying goodbye to old friends. We were all still heartbroken after leaving Panacea and decided to spend a week by ourselves and regrouping as a family. After a bit of searching we did manage to find a few nice quiet anchorages. 

Even though the water was cold we snorkelled a bit and we did find Nemo: we spotted our first clown fish! We also took the dinghy to Swallows cave and enjoyed swimming in the sapphire water with hundreds of shimmering fish. We enjoyed beach bonfire BBQs a few hundred meters from the pounding Pacific. We had a glorious anchorage to ourselves (I think it was number 30, anchorages shouldn’t be numbered in my opinion) and loved walks along sheer cliffs with mesmerising views of the pounding surf and blowholes. Teo even had a close encounter with the one of the most venomous snake on earth – it’s venom is 10x stronger than a Cobra. Thankfully they aren’t dangerous to humans as they have small mouths so can’t really bite anything as big as a Teo. The Vava’u islands are undeniably beautiful and quite different in topology to others we’ve visited in the Pacific.

We were stressed about preparing the boat to shine for her viewing in Fiji so we probably didn’t give the place a fair shake. The weather wasn’t good for us to get the Haapai group so we missed that, missed meeting with good friends who were down there and also missed swimming to whales, and can not claim to have gotten to know the country well.

We were left feeling that something was missing from Tonga and I’m pretty sure it was our dear friends. We were bad company even to ourselves. We did get a lot of stuff sorted and off the boat and we got lots of school done and we played lots of board games. 

Next stop was Fiji, and our final ocean crossing between the two.

We were in American Samoa early in August – this is our log from that time.

Our passage to American Samoa was rough. We had high seas and we had big waves and we had LOTS of rain. And we arrived in the dark so we tried to find a place to anchor or to heave to (set the sails so you move very very slowly). We were very happy to arrive and it was lovely to have friends waiting for us (we were last to arrive in Pago Pago). And as we approached everyone started singing Happy Birthday to our captain and Riikka made us breakfast on Panacea as a treat. And there were homemade cards and small gifts of fresh produce (Sonia from Calle II even wrapped an orange in tissue paper). It was outside office hours and we had to wait to check in to the country. All four boats (Panacea, Calle II, Caramba and Itchy Foot) were rafted up, tied to the tug moored next to the harbor master’s dock. It was still raining but it was cozy to all be tied up there together and being rafted up is quite a novelty. It gave us a lot more freedom to move around without the dinghy and the kids immediately disappeared onto different boats.

Another bonus of being at the harbor master’s dock is that we saw everything that was going on and had a good view of the comings and goings of all ships. We saw the exploration ship called Nautilus and they even gave us a tour. It was incredible to see their toys and hear of their plans and adventures. You will not be disappointed if you use some time and internet to check out their website at nautiluslive.org in fact they are releasing a NatGeo program that is based on their coverage. And they usually even have a live feed of their deep sea submersible unit, called Hercules, which can dive up to 4000 meters. The whole organization is a non-profit foundation, with funding from NOAA and also the guy who found the Titanic. Now they are off looking for Amelia Earhart’s crashed plane. 

American Samoa is great for shopping and chores. There are MANY Chinese-run food shops, hardware stores and laundromats to choose from and sometimes that is just what the doctor ordered. In fact, the doctor was on our list too as this is a place with a great hospital and possibility for a dental visit, too. We dove right in and it was perfect timing especially after a month and half in the Cook Islands where it was slim pickings in the case of shopping and the most expensive powdered milk and fresh eggs we have seen so far. Unfortunately, we need some very specific things to solve our problems and to complete the boat jobs on our list and “almost the right thing” just wasn’t good enough so this was just not the place.

As soon as we were checked in (apparently it was not American to make us wait till we had checked in to go to MickyD’s so they allowed that on Sunday night) and were allowed to explore. Our fist priority was ice cream which Teo sorted within the hour of arrival. The kids aka illegal aliens went for double scoops in waffle cones within an hour of arrival. As soon as we were legal, we were headed for CostULess which is the equivalent of CostCo and a promised land for us cruisers. We took the bus and it was such a fun experience I wanted to take the bus more and more. They are basically flat bed with bus sections built on and they are almost as individual as the ones in Panama, in fact I think the interiors were the most creative we have ever seen. And the views from the bus to the food shopping were incredibly beautiful. Another day we grabbed a bus to the cinema to see Lion King, what a treat! We haven’t been to the cinema since Star Wars in Colombia.

We liked being tied to the dock for a change and all four boats being together was really nice. We would have loved to have a BBQ. But the tug boat was going to have to move as some point so they asked us to leave for the anchorage. We were able to fill water with a super long hose and this was a godsend as the generator is being a diva and demanding attention (and parts) again. This anchorage has a horrible reputation for being dirty, smelly with bad holding and that is all very accurate, in fact every 15 minutes it was gag worthy. It was miserable. The mood onboard smelled as bad as the air. All of a sudden we had a very hard decision to make, like the Clash always say, “Should I STAY or should I GO?!” On the STAY side we’re sharing the anchorage with Panacea, more provisions/chores, doctors visits,  and time to explore the island. And on the GO side was the SMELL, our already limited time in Tonga slipping away, a very nice set of conditions for the sail to Tonga and the forecast showing a long time to the next good weather window.

The decision was a hard one, and we were all too soon saying goodbye to Panacea and we set off on this passage with tears in our eyes and heavy hearts. We have been anchored next to them for nine months solid, long enough for banana tree to bear fruit and long enough to grow a human baby and that is even before you factor the dog years (each year of marriage on a boat counts as seven). We will miss them SO MUCH. This lifestyle requires an open heart to make new friends quickly and intensely and the goodbyes are so much harder.

Itchy Foot and her crew spent ten days on Suwarrow (on some maps is is called Suvarov which is the name of the Russian after which it was named). It is an uninhabited atoll which is a nature reserve belonging to the Cook Islands and at the moment is looked after by two rangers. They get dropped off and spend six months at a time living on Suwarrow with a satellite phone to connect them with the outside world. While we were there we read An Island to Oneself in which Tom Neale tells his story of moving to this desert island and spending years there on his own. The story is worth a read and we loved his retelling of his adventures including the growing and cooking food, the chance visitors and all the chores he completed with hard work and applied practicality.

We had our refuge with Itchy Foot nearby so we were sitting pretty out there in the anchorage. There were 15 boats there at one point during our visit and that is more than Tom had visit him in many years. It is a gorgeous place with lots of coconut palms, the most amazing colored water and coral sand. There are hammocks and picnic tables and three swings which were enjoyed by all, this big adult child included.

We had a couple of pot luck dinners ashore with the rangers and the other cruisers. These events are wonderful and give us a chance to socialize together. It was really nice to hear what the rangers had to say about the trends in weather and sailing and they tell interesting stories about past visitors. They even told us they had heard of our visit to Penrhyn and all the time we spent with the schools there. Our Cobb portable grill always comes in handy at pot lucks (thanks a million to Clive!) and so do the catches Calle II make. They do a lot of spear fishing and often bring fresh tuna to the beach.

We went out snorkeling with Calle II off the reef as they were spear fishing and it is amazing to see how long Robert can hold his breath at the bottom waiting for the right fish to come along.

Another day we went out snorkeling to look for manta rays at the cleaning station. Suwarrow is  full of impressive sea animals. One day there was a humpback whale inside the atoll and there were tales of turtles not to mention the rainbow of tiny tame reef fish. We have even come to love the black tip reef sharks swimming around the boats at all times. They are like puppies, and in my head I hear them saying “You like me right?” “Don’t you think I am cute?” and “Look at my smile.”

The kids have spent a lot of time together and they are getting to know each other really well. The daily routine includes boat school in the morning and then various fun things in the afternoon. In Suwarrow there was a day learning about sextants, dinghy sailing, dinghy slinging, snorkeling, kayaking, board games and card games.  

Suwarrow will always be special to me for one reason. Anna, a lovely Glaswegian from the boat Noomi, did yoga sessions on the beach with us most mornings and then taught us to belly dance, with veils and all. It was good for body and soul. I miss her already! We are hoping to connect again in Tonga and finish learning the moves enough to have a performance. Stay tuned!

Itchy Foot and her crew spent a lovely short week in Bora Bora as we tearfully bid French Polynesia a fond farewell. We spent exactly a year in this amazing place and could easily have stayed a few more. I don’t think we saw nearly enough and yet would have liked to spend longer in the places we were the longest. So, we feel very lucky that we had such a treat in store for us. Our passage to the Cook Islands was smooth and we arrived in Penrhyn with good light to maneuver through the bommies to get to the main town of Omoka to check in to the country. The sea conditions were bouncy and we had six visitors before the anchor was properly set. The officials from customs and immigration are pretty standard as we move from place to place, but this time we also had a nurse join them as they are very concerned about keeping their country free of diseases. For example, at the moment there is no Dengue Fever on the island and they work hard to keep it that way. At regular intervals there is a day when everyone goes out together and dumps out any standing water that could breed mosquitos. It made visiting this island an extra nice treat. The paperwork was completed quite quickly and we were free to go ashore. And we checked in on a Saturday and were cordially invited to church on Sunday.

We were a collection of kids boats in Penrhyn including Alondra, Calle II, Caramba, Liza Lou, Luminesce and Panacea. Both Alondra and Liza Lou had been in contact with the schools and we came equipped with school supplies and sports equipment to gift them. There is one school in the main town of Omoka and another smaller one in Tautua on the other side of the lagoon. It was an emotional experience to visit the schools and to introduce ourselves and spend time with them and hand over the treats. They were all very welcoming and friendly and we were encouraged to stay as long as we liked.  Each school invited us to an amazing kai kai feast and there were yummy things to eat, coconuts to drink and we were all given a lovely cowry shell necklace. We felt like royalty and there was SUCH AMAZING singing and drumming which of course caused us all to dance. The boat kids easily made friends with the local kids and everyone was giggling and playing. Everywhere in the school you saw traces of how much the teachers care about the kids learning. Spending time at the schools was a huge treat for us. And because we cannot boast enough about our son, I have to add this little story. At the kai kai at the TeTautua school we all held a short speech thanking them for the lovely evening and visit to their island home. Jon and I were very proud that Teo wanted to speak for Itchy Foot and did a wonderful job, telling everyone what a special place Penrhyn is and how nicely we had been treated. He was complimented by many of the adults.

We loved walking around the villages and soaking up the atmosphere and just chatting with people. This is so much easier in the Cook Islands who learn English as a second language. We heard that the last crime in Omoka was in 2005, long before Teo was born and it was something as innocent as stealing something from a government building. Jon made friends with one man called Lu and he was working with the shells and has lots of power tools to do the hard job of polishing them up.

We were invited and encouraged, probably expected to come to church. They are very religious here and have their own Cook Islands religion. There are churches in places with large Cook Islands populations like Auckland and Papeete and the reverends come and stay for three year terms. The church in Omoka is stunning with gorgeous stained glass and has painted highlights to match. It also has a unique architecture with the congregation sitting facing the main doors which are closed during prayers. Ladies must wear hats and dresses that cover knees and shoulders. Men wear their best shirts and slacks or suits and everyone attends. They attend three services on Sunday and additional ones during the week. It is important not to do any work on Sundays, in fact swimming and snorkeling are also forbidden. One day after church in Omoka we were invited to have lunch with Noa and her family. It was spur of the moment and still this was a feast of a lunch. We know Noa from the school and her wonderful, giant smile and friendly outlook are electric. It was a wonderful afternoon and we were touched to be invited to her lovely home. There were bright colors everywhere and it was wonderful to see all the family photos on the wall in pride of place. We had a lovely chat over our yummy meal and they were telling us about Omoka (there is an Old Town and a New Town). The New Town is more like the burbs with everything more spaced out. We assumed that moving to the burbs with more garden and space would be a good thing. But they were telling us that they preferred the Old Town where you can hear your neighbors laughing. They told us how much happier they are that they decided to leave New Zealand and return to Penrhyn, but they are looking forward to their trip at Christmas when they will visit all their family members.

We were in Tautua for three Sundays as well and the reverend came to each boat to personally invite everyone to church. in Tautua also invited us to a kai kai feast at the church hall when we joined them for church. His wife cooked for all the guests and what a spread she put on the table! We were a lot of boats visiting and everyone was made to feel very welcome.

We did some snorkeling during our visit and one day in very clear weather, a few dinghies even went outside the reef to visit a bommie for the afternoon. We enjoyed a trip to the bird island where there are nesting boobies, noddies and terns. They were loud but stayed on their nests. The kids were collecting feathers that were left behind.

We were there a full month, and it just zoomed by and we were envious of a boat called Euphoria who were there for six months. We organized a couple of events. Panacea hosted Penrhyn MasterChef, a cooking competition between the boats and judged by the local teachers. Another day the kids at the school and the kids on the boats has a bake off and the judging was done at the school. Teo was ecstatic to be on the winning team! We had a bonfire on the beach to forge knives and another on the 4th of July. The boat men went local and collected and husked coconuts for very exotic rum cocktails, YUM! The Tiki Tuesday tradition continues!

Art, a teach at the school invited us to learn to do some weaving and I was later invited to visit her at home. We exchanged earrings and I am so excited to say that I was trusted to help weave a fan. They make the most amazing fans using mother of pearl clam shells as the handles. I was excited to try my hand at the handicrafts you see all the ladies doing around the villages. And then she gifted me two of them, one was for Teo because her daughter admires him. We spent lots of time together. 

Everyone was friendly and welcoming and generous and felt that this community really spoiled us rotten with their time and cooking and gifts. They all knew us by name. They have guest books in each village and every boat writes in them and it feels like they are proud of their visitors and how well they treat us. This visit is definitely a special one for us and we will hold it dear in our hearts.

Just like Tiffany has her own gorgeous blue, so does Bora Bora, well it is more of a color range. Amongst the cruising community, big tourist destinations tend to be a big disappointment. They are usually full of cruise ships, hordes of tourists in socks and sandals, expensive restaurants and shops crammed with stuff that you think you need when you are on holiday. Bora Bora is no different with her 1000’s of hotel rooms, most being suspended over the sea, and her hundreds of honeymooning couples. We were prepared to be quietly disdainful. And then we got here and she is very very VERY pretty. It has water of a color to rival Bonaire and we were blown away on our approach to the mooring field. As soon as we were secured, we were all in the water.  The towering mountains seem very proud looking over her island. It is easy to understand where the legend of Moana’s Tafitii comes from. 

We went to the police station to check out of the country and it was the friendliest exchange we have had with officials. Everyone seems to be very happy to be here. On our way back, we were buzzing around the motu and we zoomed past (we zoom these days) the Hilton resort. The place was so beautiful it made us giggle. The water around it is all shades of incredible. Teo was yelling, “The rooms all have their own jacuzzi’s, that man is sitting in a jacuzzi!” A quick check on the internet tells us that those King Suites with a pool cost $1500 a night. We were joking that we should see if anyone is checking out early so we could go for just an hour… all of us were daydreaming about the plunge from the private swim platform, the dip in the jacuzzi and the showers (or would there be a bath tub with a view?!?) with those little mini Hilton bath products…As we turned the corner we saw the multi/storey Presidential Suite with its 300 square meters which goes for $squillions a night. It’s like in the fashion magazines, “price available on request.” 

Also this place feels like a bit of a family holiday as we are here on our own having left everyone else in Huahine. The three of us have been going everywhere together and spending lots of time in the water. There has been a boat school break as we only have a few days here and are trying to cram a lot into them.

The wildlife like it here, too. We saw a turtle as we arrived and a family of sting rays swimming by the Hilton. There is a cleaning station for manta rays on the other side of the island. Other types of fish munch on unwanted stowaways and the manta might also be spoiled by treats from the tourists. They are probably loving the Bora Bora spa with snacks. 

We attempted to climb one of the double peaks to get the majestic view, but we turned back without much of a view. It is a hard hike and it was quite wet underfoot. There are some parts that require ropes and the third set were too daunting. The climb down was just as hard as the way up and we still feel we earned our ice cream. I think the boys could have made it to the top. Jon has had lots of practice with his brother and Teo has a great disposition for this type of thing. Once he gets over the mind trick at the start he just plods along.

We took the dinghy out for the day and went all the way around the island. It was a stunning trip and we had a wonderful time. We were unfortunately not early enough to see the manta rays but  we swam with eagle rays. The eagle rays are so graceful especially when they turn. It was gorgeous. A little while later we jumped back into the water to snorkel with the little fish. These fish were expecting food and were very friendly if not a bit disappointed in us. The coral is in bad shape but the fish seem to be getting big on baguettes from tourists. It was lovely to see the fish so close up because it became clear how much more detailed their features are. We have seen lots of these types of fish before in different locations but never this close. Teo said he felt like he was “swimming in a sea of fish!” Our last stop was the main beach of Matira and since it is Saturday it was full of locals. We used the last of our francs on lunch and got back to Itchy Foot to had a lovely swim before watching the glorious sunset.

The sunsets have been incredible and we hear ukeulele music from the shore every evening. It isn’t coming from the Hilton, I can picture an older, smiley man in his Hawaiian shirt enjoying the cool evening air on the porch of his beach hut. Thanks Bora Bora for this unexpected parting gift. This is magic, indeed.

Itchy Foot and her crew love Mo’orea and we snuck in a short visit before heading to Huahine. Mo’orea is like Tahiti’s younger, friendlier and much more beautiful sister. My parents visited  many moons ago and said it was magic then and it is still magic now. We couldn’t help but visit a few of our favorite places, including the Allo Pizza truck. We had a wonderful day of adventuring when we took the dinghy to Sting Ray City outside the Intercontinental Hotel. It is wonderful to swim with these gentle and graceful creatures. And our visitors Clive and Fi will be amazed to read that we got there in ten minutes (it took us 45 minutes last September). We had to replace our outboard and now we can plane around which has made a huge difference. So, sometimes when stuff breaks it does you a little favor. On our way over to swim with the stingrays, we were delayed by the dolphins who really liked our improved bow wake. I think they might even have clapped. But seriously, watching them from the dinghy was amazing! Seeing dolphins always makes me squeal like a little girl and it was extra special to see them so close. The sting rays would not be outdone and we seemed to get lots of cuddles. It might have been the sardines but I can’t be sure. We revisited the cute village of Tiahura for lunch and treats, there is a divine dress shop I spent my birthday money from Jon’s parents there. The last day we were there we finally managed to track down the blacksmith and got to visit his workshop. They were very friendly and loved chatting with Teo. Airborne spoiled us rotten and fed us yummy lasagne and salad. When we got back to Itchy Foot we were set to set sail for Huahine. 

The passage was smooth and we were happy to arrive at lunch time the following day. Our friends on Larki came and picked up Teo so he can play while we got a very indulgent nap. Those one-to-three night passages are always hardest as the body clock seems to finally learn what it should do around day four. And there always seems to be quite a lot of tidying to do once we get settled in a destination. 

Huahine is a beautiful island and very laid back. It reminds me of a California surf town. There are lots of breaks on the reef and lots of surfing to be done. The surfers always bring with them a quiet enthusiasm for the nature of a place. It has lots of unassuming establishments whether they are the pharmacy, post office or tourist shop. We enjoyed the happy hour ashore, the decent free internet outside the police station and the well stocked hardware store and food shop. On Fridays there is live music at the yacht club and we danced our socks off, well we danced our flip flops off.

We did go and visit the shell museum with the very lovely collector and curator, Frank. He took the time to share his collection with us and tell us about the gems in his collection and he also gave us some safety tips as there are a handful of cone shells that can kill you if you mistreat them. We were there for a couple of hours and very much enjoyed ourselves. Some of the kids even traded with him and others gifted him shells he didn’t have yet.

There were lots of kids boats anchored in the bay and the VHF radio was busy most mornings. A blog post about how different kids use the radio and organize afternoons is forthcoming. I might even be sneaky about getting some audio clips. As the group gets larger, the group splinters a bit and the social exercise of finding the way begins. Transmitting on the VHF should  follow certain, strict rules and focusing on that often leads to some very funny exchanges. With the lack of body language, it is much like be misunderstood in a text message.

We unfortunately did not do a lot more sight seeing. We had lots of projects on the go and after boat school each day there was a flurry of excitement. The sewing machine was out and getting lots of attention. We have new fender covers and Itchy Foot has had a cockpit upgrade, too! Plus lots of small mending jobs are completed. Jon finished a project for an upcoming 50th birthday and we even got to the post office. There were lots of trips to the beach. The dads and boys even had a barbecue there while there was a ladies night happening onboard Calle II. I love those evenings! Teo was thrilled to hang out with the kids from Panacea and Alice from Moody Fin. It was hard to tear ourselves away but Bora Bora awaits, we simply couldn’t just skip it.

There is nothing quite like a boat kid’s birthday! Each one is as individual as the boat kid itself, since they get to make the important decisions. These celebrations usually include a special spot, a favorite meal and cake, some games and an eclectic mix of guests, and hopefully lots of kids or at the very least adults that act like them. And these events have some important elements in common, too. There is usually a beach or at least a swimming spot or a beach, a hard to get treat to eat, and my favorite part has to be the hand made cards and gifts. The cruising community go all out for these events and Teo’s birthday was no exception.

Teo was very excited to turn eight because his favorite number is four and “eight is two of them!” We asked Teo about his wish list and they included a bonfire on a beach in an atoll and sausages over a fire and cupcakes with lots of frosting. And there would not be a party without his friends!

Boat kids look forward to their birthday breakfast which includes either eggs and bacon or pancakes. Teo asked for banana pancakes and we had a pile of gifts waiting for him and the bunting up in the saloon as we have have a family tradition of opening gifts at birthday breakfast. We very much appreciate the effort family members make to make sure the Little Man is spoiled on his day! It is not easy to get physical things to us in these locations, but they go to great lengths to make sure Teo knows he is remembered and loved. There was even a very generous gift from Teo’s good friend, Clive which magically appeared in the bank account. Teo was a VERY happy boy. And Itchy Foot showed everyone we were celebrating as the hand sewn bunting was up the forestay too.

Panacea and Itchy Foot were anchored off the Kauehi Beach Club, please refer to the marketing press release for details on the location. In the early afternoon there was a pirate party on the beach. The Jolly Roger was flapping in the breeze, two bonfires were being prepared, the archery was set up and the hammocks were accepting potential relaxers.

We started with cupcakes with frosting and Aarre had baked cinnamon rolls to die for so we were all happy. There was singing and presents. Panacea had made Teo a lovely card with fish and wonderful message and they had etched three mother of pearl shells for him. He also got a necklace to wear, and a hand made shark. Martta made a card with stickers, Kerttu braided and band from yarn and Aarre made an online card in Minecraft. After running around and burning off the baked treats we enjoyed a cool dip in the clear turquoise sea. A few hours later we had sausages cooked over the fire. The adults might have enjoyed steak and a bottle of red. And the big event was the three story inferno that was lit once it was truly dark. The timing was a subject of great debate, “Is it time yet?” “Let’s wait til it’s properly dark” “Well it’s pretty dark” “It will get darker” “Now?!?!” “Almost…” “All right, it’s time!” “WAHOOOOOOOO!” It didn’t burn very long because it was mostly dry palm fronds but it was impressive and caused a lot of excitement.

On the way home to Itchy Foot Teo sighed and said “that was the BEST birthday yet!” Our work here is done.