We visited Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti with Zac, Sylvie and Dan from the SY Ustupu. They rented a car and Dan managed to drive us all around, and although I wouldn’t say he forgot how it works, I’m sure he did that a little smoother while living in Canada. Together we went looking for fruits near the streets and checked every surf spot of the island… They also started surfing in Galapagos and we where all keen to have a look at Teahopu, the legendary break. On that day the waves where not as impresive as during the Billabong Contest, but it was nice, there are very positive vibes on that whole area. I’m shure I’ll be back some day…. but it could take a little while…

The last time I  took my board I got such a mighty wave, that it made me think about my kamikaze nature. It went rrrreally fast and was a massive fun the first seconds ! I was enjoying the speed with all my body and soul, but at the moment I realised I should start getting up and try to get out of there, I saw the reef aproaching. Coming in … three… two… one… SHIT !! I crashed full force into the coral and the only thing I could do was to grab my board as tight as possible and hope for the best. Well, I’m not dead, and got only a few scatches, so I guess it did went for the best ! Yeah, that was a wild ride. So, let’s face the facts. My next surf is going to be at a SANDY beach, with little waves. No harm done.

Ich war vorne an der Ankerwinsch und sehe wie wir uns doch auf einmal mit vier Knoten Richtung grosse schwarze dichte Wand bewegen. Spooky. Ich fange an zu schreien “drehen, drehen, DRE-HEN!” Aber bis David die Genoa raus hatte (um das ueberforderte Grosssegel auszubalancieren) waren wir nur noch ein paar Meter vom Fels entfernt. Und dann waren wir schon da. Ich habe uns erstmal weggeschoben, da haben wir angefangen zu drehen, alles knapp 20cm weg vom Stein… ich dachte, uff ! – Wir schaffen es. Aber nicht. Es gab noch ein miserables Stueck Stein an der Wasseroberflaeche … Krach ! Krasses Knacken. Das war nicht gut. Das war echt nicht gut. Kurz habe ich gedacht, mmmmm, jetzt geht es ab nach Hause :( Aber unsere Rancho Relaxo hat uns mal wieder gerettet. Wir haben nun zwei schoene Schrammen und eine nach innen gewoelbte Beule am am steuerbord Bug – aber Loch gibt es keines. Hey, jetzt freue ich mich, dass wir ein Stahlschiff haben !

So hat unsere Reise nach Hiva Oa angefangen. Danach war alles ok, ausser dass David den ganzen Tag nicht gesprochen hat. Wir sind dann -natuerlich- in der Nacht angekommen, und David hat den Motor waerend des Trips wieder zum Leben gebracht um hier rein zu kommen – zum Glueck, da es die letzte Meile in den Hafen rein ueberhaupt keinen Wind gab. Wie es sein muss, in dem Augenblick als die 20 Meter Kette runter waren, hat sich der Motor von selbst wieder verabschiedet. Der Anker hat gluecklicherweise sofort gehalten. Spaeter hat
David noch den Heckanker und 35m Leine ausgebracht. Aber eins ist klar: ohne Motor gehe ich in keine weitere enge Bucht rein !

Am folgenden Tag sind wir ins “village” gewandert und haben uns Steaks, Salat, Burger, Eis und M&M’s gegoennt … ouhh yeah ! Ah ! Und wir haben auch Alec mit dem gruenen Pick up getroffen. Ich habe schon so viele unglaublich schoene Tatoos gesehen… dass ich getraumt habe, ich haette eins wie ein Liane vom Fuss bis zum Hinterkopf.

Since there is not much to do here in Golfito, exept for buying parts for the boat… well, we stayed inside quite almost the whole time. Every evening we had a little chat on the bench in the terrasse, wondering what do people actually do in this lost corner of the world, at the border between Costa Rica and Panama, with heavy humidity and heat the whole day and the whole night. But the good thing is, we worked a lot on my label Coquito the time we where together… we discussed new ideas for the coming collections and skyped a lot with Annette, our college in Berlin.

And of course, Bruno and Viola where extremely happy to have her near and spend 24h/24h with their “memé”. That made also the farewell a little sad, and they cryed a lot, saying they wanted to go back to Argentina with her – their plan was that we would come and pick up them a couple of days later-  :) So, mum, it was great to have you here, even you didn’t put a foot on the Rancho Relaxo this time !

And I have to confirm what I so often read in other sailors tales, that even though when in the middle of it I was wishing for a Deus Ex Machina to come and get me out of there (NOW!) … after all it was a cool ride. I want more.

The best of it: at the end getting to port and, completely soak and ice cold, use your last strength to mooring the boat, get out of that sticky foul weather gear and finding a last pair of clean dry socks. Ahhhh. Enjoy a beer in the cockpit, look at each other with proud and relief and just go-have-a-good-sleep.