I would only see the beauty of this bay the next morning, when I got there it was pitch dark except for a few lights from the sailing boats anchored up during their long crossing of the Pacific Ocean from South America.
The crew of one of the sailing boats was still awake having just arrived after 24 days at sea. Intrigued by my journey they offered me to sleep on the boat so I didn’t have to find a spot for my tent on land in the middle of the night. After my 17 hour crossing, I happily and tiredly accept.
The next morning I paddled ashore and asked some locals where I can put up my tent. After they found out I paddled and windsurfed across, the word went around town and I received many interested visitors. The people here live next to the ocean and most of them fish every day but at the same time they have a huge respect for it; I’m told I’m a sea warrior with a courageous heart. They felt sorry for me that I slept on the beach in a tiny tent and every night I’m offered a stay in a house or hut with good and water.
I take plenty of kit when I’m on expedition. Apart from the board, paddles and sailing rig, I brought waterproof bags with clothing, navigation equipment (two compasses, two GPS units, phone with navigation maps, satellite phone, satellite tracker, a solar panel) plus a tent, sleeping bag and pad, water and some food. The satellite tracker is a nice way for my family to follow where I am, although sometimes it is a cause of worry when it doesn’t work or I forgot to charge the batteries.
My Wife Dagmar wrote the following on Facebook while I was doing this crossing: “A lot of you might have checked his tracker during the day and realized that it didn’t work. Actually as I knew he would start in the morning, after 10 hours not seeing his tracker and knowing he would be out there on the ocean in the most remote in the South Pacific, I got really worried. Being married to this guy for almost 20 years I’ve learned to live by his mantra ‘We worry when we have to worry’, which through the years, I must say, rescued me from a lot of anxiety attacks I might have suffered while he was on one of his expeditions. So I tried to stay calm and tell myself if I won’t hear anything by the time it gets dark, I should start to worry. Time difference from here on Maui to the Marquesas is only + 30 minutes. Finally at around 9pm, two hours after dark, he calls and tells me that he is safe and close to the island. What a relief!!!!”
