It seems like one other
page of our diary is going to be written, Nuku Hiva and the Marquesas
are nearly disappearing behind the 13 knots of speed of Lazy Jack. As
usual, when the sun is falling behind the horizon and the dark is
renting the sky, I slowly start to mix together some ingredients
while enjoying sea's cuddles. Being 8 people on board was honestly
tiring, however worth. Guests on board are breaking the balance and
the habits we all have. So I guess we need them sometimes. Living
together on a boat is an unusual experience that allows us an every
day challenge. Find the key to survive, enjoy the places and make our
work looking good as gold. For everyone we are living the dream, for
the ones who know, we are just taking advantage of our decision,
fearless of the time that is anyway making us look older than when we
started backpacking around the world for the very first time.
Right yesterday we had
one of our Italian friend leaving a message on our whatsapp, he was
stoned and happy... telling: “i don't really know if you understand
completely what you are guys doing as a couple...the only thing I can
say is that you are living the extraordinary making it looking like
an ordinary day”.
He told us even something
else about how happy and cool he feels to know that his ex girlfriend
now is meeting an other guy... ;-) He also said that he's going to
buy the ticket to come and visit us in Australia. Perfect pictures
while with the sunrise I see the first motu. We are going in. Kauhei,
one of the largest lagoons with the easiest pass for the boat. Two
little waves on each side of the pass and the perfect landscapes for
a postcard. Looks like everybody is taking information for the same
places on the internet because, as it was backpacking Australia and
South America, even here we are meeting nearly every day the same
boats and same people. It's actually a nice feeling, sometimes you
can get really close to people a lot faster than any other occasion.
So we recognize the boats from the radar, call them on the radio,
chat for a while and build some programs for free diving, dinner or
swimming session. It's like a moving circus. The interactions that
made us becoming friends are very different and often weird. The
friendship with Day Break, Megan and Matthew's boat was made
in the water, in front of a big shark that appeared in front of us,
so Megan got a little scared and our Captain was very happy to take
her back with the kayak and made her a good cappuccino. She suddenly
fell in love with him ;-)
The boat Axiom
with his German crew was trying for three times to anchor not more
that five meters close to us in three different bays and each time
for excuse themselves they gave us some fresh fish just
caught...after the third time we decided to become friends, so at
least we could talk about fishing. The Pied a Mer's crew with
their ritual happy hour every Wednesday, inviting every other boat
for eating and drinking on board. Ali di Gabi, an Italian boat
with Alex and Guido, met for the first time in Galapagos island
seemed they were following us everywhere just with a few hours
difference. Our friendship exploded when they gave Alice an Italian
coffee machine after we broke down ours. Even small contact with
Leeward and Family Circus were interesting and fun. I
could continue for hours to describe how many interesting people we
met during the last few months.
The first touch of Kauhei
is very intense. Everything you could imagine as beauty and
underwater animals, here is more and more. We anchored probably 200mt
from the shore on a 5mt sand bottom and everything looks really too
perfect. No houses, no cars, only blue sea and coconuts everywhere,
the corals are reflecting their colors through the water and
different kinds of fish are everywhere around the boat. At every hour
of the day, the sun is giving different power to the shades of blue,
green and rose of the sand. I guess that for some moments I thought
we found the paradise. Swimming here is a big deal for the ones of
the Spielberg generation. Jaws twisted our mind against
sharks, but when you see their beauty and the curiosity they have,
you nearly feel like to touch them, playing with their tail. With
some of the friends we talked before, we went snorkeling on top of
one of the coral reef in the middle of the lagoon. That was
extraordinary for real. Everybody were a bit scared of sharks but
honestly the feeling was not fear but more excitation, looking for
adrenaline. And here we go, not even the time to launch the anchor
and already two sharks curious as little dogs, coming close to the
boat waiting for the first one to touch the water. Deep blue sea,
colorful coral and hundreds of fishes. We spent so much time playing
with them, chasing and escaping when they were coming a bit to close.
The dead line for us in the water was when some little sick fish came
closer to us attracting the attention of a small sharks who suddenly
hunted him. We thought to have a great shot on camera, with the shark
chasing the little prey. Then we realized that he probably thought we
trough that little fish in the water for him. From the ground to the
surface we saw the little shark smiling to us and forcing his tail on
our direction. They were only a few seconds but he was coming always
closer and he really didn't need to talk to say that he wanted more
food!! When I must hit him on his head with my gopro we decided to go
back on board and keep this snorkel adventure on the wicked part of
our memories.
But if we thought that
Kauhei was the Paradise, so then Fakarava jumped straight on top of
our best places in the world. A big blue lagoon with dream beaches
and the mythological “South pass”. If in the last few months we
were exited when during snorkeling we could see a shark or two, now
while we are visiting the village before going to the famous pass, we
are already trying to keep our-selves on the ground for the
excitement, before to go and free dive on the SHARK WALL. I had
honestly never seen anything like that in my all life. The water so
clear with the colorful coral reef as a stage for the daily show.
Hundreds of sharks swimming trough the light current of the channel,
it took us a few moments before to be confident and try to dive deep,
right in between of them. Breathing constantly, calm your mind, feel
the oxygen in your lungs, and head down. Slowly feel the pressure of
the water pushing the mask on your face. Give yourself a moment to
relax while your body moves to the bottom of the sea. Suddenly we
take a look around us and we are really guest on someone else house.
Sharks are everywhere. They have no fear but they are not even
interested in us. Looking at the surface of the sea, in the middle of
the Jaw's family, we try to accept the fact that there are unique
places in the world. Places where you feel welcome, where you can see
the world from other point of view and where one of the biggest man's
fear become fear of men. If places like this one still hardly exist,
it's because some men understood the mistake that all the others are
doing. The more I travel, the more I understand how dangerous we are.
To my dearest friend at
20mt depth:
“Now I need to breath
again my friend., I well understood you'll never throw a plastic
bottle on my garden. And even if sometimes you might think I look
like a sea lion while I'm surfing, I decide to respect you, I have no
more fear of you, I hope one day you can do the same if you already
didn't.”
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