Panama to French Polynesia – Introduction to French Polynesia? – Day 31

Position: We have just under 900 nm to go to get to French Polynesia. Our position is:

07 30.45S 123 49.98W

*Note: I am told you can copy and paste these coordinates into google earth and it will show you where we are.

Mileage: 1050 – 900nm = 150nm

Number of miles to go: 900nm to go of approx. 3850nm. French Polynesia is getting closer.

Fish count: The count remains the same. 4 Mahi Mahi, 2 Cero and 6 tuna. One Marlin that we were happy got away! No fishing rods out still. It is much too rough out here to fish safely off the back of the boat, let alone try and clean the fish we catch. So fishing on hold until the waves calm down.

AN INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH POLYNESIA
I thought you would like to know a little about the islands we are heading to. First thing, you have all probably noted, is they are very, very far away from everywhere else. You guys all have access to the internet, so you can look up lots of information on French Polynesia. But for those that are a little lazy, here are some basic facts.

SOME BASIC FACTS
*The 118 islands and atolls of French Polynesia cover an area of the South Pacific the size of Western Europe.
*When combined, the total landmass of all of French Polynesia is only slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.
*Not too many people venture here. In one year, French Polynesia receives the same number of visiting tourists as Hawaii does in approximately 12 days.
*French Polynesia has the largest chain of atolls in the world, The Tuamotu Archipelago.

ISLANDS YOU WILL HAVE HEARD OF?
*Tahiti, the capitol of French Polynesia, is where the crew of the HMS Bounty mutinied. Made famous by the book ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ 1932 and the movie adaptations of 1933, 1935 (Best picture), 1962 (Best picture nominee) and 1984.
*Bora Bora, which claims to be the most beautiful island in the world. It is definitely a picture post card island with its high peak surrounded by lush jungle and white sandy beaches. All surround by a blue lagoon in cased in a protected ring of reef.

FAMOUS AUTHORS AND ARTISTS
HERMAN MELVILLE author of Moby Dick, jumped his whaling ship off Nuku Hiva in 1842 and wrote ‘Typee’ about his adventures in the cannibal valleys.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON spent 6 months here in 1888 later writing ‘In the South Seas’ about his voyages across the South Pacific.
JACK LONDON, authour of the epic ‘Treasure Island, sailed to Nuku Hiva in 1907 and wrote the popular adventure book, ‘South Sea Tales’.
JACQUES BREL, the popular Belgian poet of song, composed his last works on Hiva Oa.
PAUL GAUGUIN brought the beauty of Tahiti to the world with earth-hue portraits now considered priceless. He first moved to the island of Tahiti and lived his last years on Hiva Oa ‘to give new life to my imagination’.

More on this group of islands and atolls tomorrow.
END