Goodbye and thank you, Rapa, Australes

2021-12-01 Blog

Goodbye and thank you, Rapa, Australes

Since yesterday morning, we have been anchored in the magnificent lagoon of Raivavae in the Austral Islands after 48 hours of sunny and downwind sailing. December is off to a good start!

The girls received many gifts for our departure! Thank you!!

Fruit buffet after sports! School outing

Diane dans la cour de l'ecole

Nina et ses camarades de classe

We spent 4 nights in the pleasant anchorage of Lagoon Island in the company of our noisy and smelly neighbors; the elephant seals. We better understand the usefulness of earplugs during our visit to the small refuge on the island; an annex of the British base Rothera, located 2 miles from the anchorage. We take advantage of these few days to walk around the small surrounding islands, including Anchorage Island, from the summit of which (57 meters…) the purity of the air allows us to glimpse Alexander Island 80 miles to the south! Some occupants of the Rothera base come to greet us, and upon returning from one of our little excursions ashore, friendly gifts await us on the deck of Libertaire. On Monday, January 29, we weigh anchor to reach Horseshoe Island 25 miles to the southwest; skirting the south of Pourquoi Pas Island, we cross a slightly denser ice zone and with the residual swell from the katabatic winds of the region, a growler hits our depth sounder, damaging the probe… The only part we don’t have a spare of; we will therefore continue our journey the old-fashioned way with our little manual depth sounder….

The girls received many gifts for our departure! Thank you!!