Sunday 5 April 2020
Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Ariel rests stretched from the traps and moorings while a tired residue of an oceanic breath arrives in the lagoon, held back by a reef fortunately extended to act as a barrier and does not understand why the oceanic dance is already over. Our house in Papeete, where the days light up from 6 to 18, respecting the equatorial mathematical model of 12 hours of light and 12 of darkness. Our rhythms adapted to this model by anticipating each activity by a couple of hours. We therefore get up no later than a quarter to 7, when the sun is already a good span above the horizon, for the usual 3 km walk before breakfast. The marina is large enough to satisfy our needs with a double loop comprising almost all possible docks, hamster model;but we live it as a great fortune in this moment that closes the planet in an ever tighter grip. At breakfast we plan the day by finding a reason for being for each one. Ariel takes us a couple of hours a day for extraordinary maintenance where we check the wear, all the equipment, the hydraulic and electrical systems, the rigging, the sails, the deck, the engine and the generator, trying to do what you send back always and in the end you never do. She seems to enjoy pampering. Two of us take turns preparing with masks, gloves and anti-covid hydro-alcoholic disinfectant to reach the supermarket for the two-day provisions. And it arrives in a moment noon. Our Ceci, helped in turn by Beppe and Margherita, coordinates an impeccable cuisine in quality and variety,so much so as to make the moments of lunch and dinner priceless occasions for sharing, as in an extended family that had to prolong the conviction, although no longer forced to cross an ocean. For this I must say a great crew, at sea as on land. The afternoon seems very short. We did not understand why, but it is immediately evening. The terrible hours are from 1 to 3 where the sun is relentless and the heat is really oppressive. Fortunately, the air conditioner also makes these hours pleasant.The terrible hours are from 1 to 3 where the sun is relentless and the heat is really oppressive. Fortunately, the air conditioner also makes these hours pleasant.The terrible hours are from 1 to 3 where the sun is relentless and the heat is really oppressive. Fortunately, the air conditioner also makes these hours pleasant.
Then we take an hour of fresh air; we have in fact dubbed a controlled escape in the lagoon with the tender, to steal a glance of a listless race or that of the trumpet fish that many look at you curiously entering and exiting like crazy from their small shelters in the coral heads of the reef. A dead coral, only recovering in some places. It is the water temperature that has risen a little too much in recent years. Even here in the lagoon, as in the streets there is silence. There are no boats in circulation except for some shy rubber dinghy that does not respect the rules, perhaps to reach the marina to let a child get off to play ball, as is the case of a French couple, stuck with their catamaran, or of two English gentlemen who they come to fill the water tanks. The lagoon is full of boats at anchor,some sadly abandoned and others brightly inhabited, but all unable to move. At 5 we return home, shower and everyone is dedicated to fitness, some in the on-board gym (myself), some on the quay (Maurizio), and some in the gentle shade of unknown tropical plants, on the wooden flooring, raised as if a stilt house close to the ground, of an uninhabited restaurant bar, also a victim of the covid (Cecilia and Beppe), while Margherita goes for a run. When it gets dark we find ourselves on board for an hour of descanso, a non-alcoholic beer, a perrier, (finished alcohol and no longer on sale until April 15), while everyone opens the door to the world of their smartphone. We never miss the 19 (7 o’clock in France) French news, although not always relaxing for news related to the pandemic,but necessary to remain confined, but informed. I will not describe the dinners, but always of great quality, and we pass from seared tuna steaks on broccoli cream, to grilled fillet, or to pasta with pesto, potatoes and green beans, an original Genoese recipe from Margherita. The evening, which is morning in Italy, is most often dedicated to communications with those who are not here with us, at least for an hour, because then many times we go to the “Ariel” cinema, even if we are now at the end of the our film library and we hope to be able to download some new films using the slow wifi of the captaincy, so a job that must be planned with patience (it will take 2 hours per film).or pasta alla with pesto, potatoes and green beans, an original Genoese recipe from Margherita. The evening, which is morning in Italy, is most often dedicated to communications with those who are not here with us, at least for an hour, because then many times we go to the “Ariel” cinema, even if we are now at the end of the our film library and we hope to be able to download some new films using the slow wifi of the captaincy, so a job that must be planned with patience (it will take 2 hours per film).or pasta alla with pesto, potatoes and green beans, an original Genoese recipe from Margherita. The evening, which is morning in Italy, is most often dedicated to communications with those who are not here with us, at least for an hour, because then many times we go to the “Ariel” cinema, even if we are now at the end of the our film library and we hope to be able to download some new films using the slow wifi of the captaincy, therefore a job that must be planned with patience (it will take 2 hours per film).even if we are now at the end of our film library and we hope to be able to download some new films using the slow wifi of the harbor master’s office, therefore a job that must be planned with patience (it will take 2 hours per film).even if we are now at the end of our film library and we hope to be able to download some new films using the slow wifi of the harbor master’s office, therefore a job that must be planned with patience (it will take 2 hours per film).
But our Italian fantasy does not end here, and given that the stay promises to be long and for an “indefinite” period, as we receive news every day of a world that is closing more and more, we decided to make available to the community of blocked sailors here a free medical consultation service, ultrasound and color doppler echo (in fact we have a portable device on board, which was already used on one occasion in the Galapagos to ward off a suspicious thrombophlebitis of a tourist), to help the scarce opportunities that a resident in port like us may have to hear the opinion of a doctor; the second project, no less ambitious, is to propose an “Ariel Gourmet” with a take away entirely made in Italy organized and prepared by Cecilia, Margherita and Beppe, with reservations 24 hours in advance and supply of ready meals. I know they are working on the cookbook and we will keep you posted.
At the moment there is little information on how this adventure will continue, if and when we will be able to return to the sea, and for where! The goal of the ARC organizers is in fact a hope of obtaining the possibility of being accepted in Fiji or Vanuatu in order to at least reach Australia, certainly a safer destination to avoid the cyclone season, which runs from October to March. /April. By the way, in fact, a powerful late cyclone is forming (we are in fact at the end of the season granted to them), which is currently in Vanuatu, and then heavily passes over Fiji and Tonga to go to extinguish north-east of the New Zealand coast. Fortunately, Tahiti is not in the trajectory, however we will expect a very consistent swell (ocean wave),which could overcome the reef and make mooring unsafe. In light of these weather reports we have in fact asked the harbor master’s office to move us, if possible, into the port and not to the breakwater quay where we are now. Even in port, when you go to sea, you must never neglect the safety, if not the crew, especially for Ariel, in this case. Last news of the day is that tonight we started the broadcast tests withLast news of the day is that tonight we started the broadcast tests withLast news of the day is that tonight we started the broadcast tests withRai 2, in fact, we have been contacted by our broadcaster who will dedicate part of the episode of “Fatti Vostri” on Tuesday 7 April at 11 am on the issue that has affected us: the world tour interrupted by Covid ( click here for the episode in streaming on RaiPlay, at minute 1:42:27 ). Everyone in front of the screen on Tuesday! Radio Rai Radio 1, on the other hand, has already interviewed us for the broadcast “Radio on board” which was broadcast on Saturday 4 April at 10 am and is now available on RaiPlay. Minello, our Press journalist, teaches us that they are constantly looking for something particular to transmit or write, and especially in this anomalous period of collective exile and lack of news, apart from the covid, everything can make a show, we too.
See you soon from Ariel,
Paolo & Crew
