See Previous 2005 Voyage Logs

14th July 2005 Bastille Day in French Polynesia

Soren Larsen has departed Tahiti and is started her journey west through the Society Islands towards Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.

The Voyage Crew for this 17 day trip all arrived on board on Monday morning and while they stowed their cabins, signed on ship's Articles and were shown around the deck and rig - the Captain and Purser set off around town to complete the various bureaucratic necessities with Customs and immigration. This is always something of a challenge in Tahiti that can neither the rushed, circumvented or avoided and often takes most of the business day in Papeete. French officialdom remained professionally polite (except of the unnecessarily discourteous and unhelpful official at Air NZ who we crossed swords with in the Tale of Vera's Ticket - the saga of which we shall not go in to here. Perhaps he was having a personal commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the sinking of the Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior..)

Captain Tony remained good humoured throughout, not mentioning Crecy or Agincourt (out loud) once. It was decided to spend that evening at the ship's downtown wharf and then set out for a blustery passage across the Sea of the Moon to the island of Moorea

Anchoring in Baie de Cook the voyage crew went ashore to explore, gaze at the Belvedere lookout, and settle in to the bar at Le Club Bali Hai, from where the Purser Carol phoned in to report that 'Some Enchanted Evening' was already being sung and the lads were in the rigging doing 'There is Nothing Like a Dame' . Long time Soren stalwarts Stinge and Vera were already enjoying themselves - Vera snorkeling on some marvelous coral in the Bay and Stinge making firm friends with a local canine.

Soren Larsen weighed anchor after supper and transited the pass through the reef before setting tops'ls and laying a course downwind to Hauahine. Reinforced trade winds gave them a moonlit sail downwind in what Captain Tony described as a "Fantastic sailing! Making 8-9 knots in perfect conditions - the best sail I've had with the ship in several years!!" .

Having arrived mid morning they intend to have the Bastille Day public holiday in Huahine before setting sail for Riatia on Friday.

All are well onboard - we welcome back Eric - Mr Highlander himself, as First Mate to replace Mikkel who is about commence his new career with the Danish police (running the deck crew on Soren is as good a training for crowd control as one can imagine).

During the last voyage we said cheerio to Lee, Eddie and Nick and Carol Hayes, a UK Voyage Crew on the Easter Island voyage, takes on the Purser job and Alan Campbell (already called Big Al) takes over in the engine room and Tony hands over command to Capt. Barry Nisbet in Rarotonga.