It seems that we had a lot of sunsets on the way to the Gambiers that looked like this. The heavy clouds on the left threaten rain and squalls. This is not comforting, Particularly when you know it's going to be a long trip. Surprisingly, even though the sky was dark and nasty looking our trip wasn't that bad. It was truly what they call "robust." Meaning, it wasn't a sail on Santa Monica Bay, but we were able to carry on normally and nothing got broken.

We were at sea for the forth of July. Here's the color display we had on the left! You've probably figured out why there are so many sky and sea photos on the web site - That IS the view when you're at sea. At least in this photo the seas are relatively calm!

When traveling on long passages, in addition to day-to-day safety concerns, one of the worries is entering an unknown atoll with questionable charts.  After almost three weeks at sea captain Scott times our arrival in the Gambiers so we would enter the south east pass in the morning with the sun at its optimum angle (for visibility of underwater obstructions). Throughout the passage we had studied the charts and read the accounts of entering the Gambier Islands. WELL...our entrance could not have been more of a non-event!!! We think (in retrospect) that we had a mile wide entrance of about 75 feet!!! If you can't navigate that you'd better not be out there. Anyway, We had a great entrance on a beautiful day. One of the things you do when you're "out there" is study the charts and cruising guides. So everyone has an idea of what's going to happen when we arrive. That way you have four pair of eyes instead of one or two.

This is Annie's photo as they came in on the plane. The Quest is in the group of four boats furthest left. We are the boat furthest right. You can see that good visibility is required as you get close to the anchorage. The corals are shallow, but the pass is well marked. The island from the previous photo is in the upper left of this photo. It's kind of fun to have this perspective.

Michelle does a little dance while Scott secures the dinghy. It's been 18 days and 3,000nm since we set foot on terra firma, so we have reason to dance around. We had a great trip with a super crew!

We were immediately impressed with the neat and orderly appearance of Mangareva. The main road is paved and has streetlights!

Most homes are beautifully landscaped with colorful native plants. You see a lot of pride in this community! Throughout Polynesia we saw this same kind of pride in community and culture. We'll show you more later.

After checking in the first order of events was to find ice cream! We aim to keep the captain happy! Notice his svelte figure! Our check-in procedure was pretty interesting. The first question the gendarme asked was, "Do you have a visa?" When the answer was "Yes" all was fine! You MUST get a visa to enter French territory if you want to stay for any period of time. As it was, we needed to stay over 90 days in French Polynesia and that was quite a bureaucratic trick.

Some of the historic structures were fun to see! This isn't what you expect in such a remote area.

The missionary priest literally killed off people trying to build this cathedral.

In spite of the terrible sacrifices the church is a fabulous structure.

AND, the people are very proud of this fine holy space.

Later, we went on a hike up to Mount Duff. We were happy to hitch a ride to the top!  (right)

The view from Mount Duff was pretty spectacular!

While we were up the mountain Scott watched the supply ship unload. This is a REAL community event! (right)

Here's the main dock the next day. (left) The orange barrels are filled with diesel. Without diesel nothing happens on these islands. It's needed for transportation, lights and other electrical needs. Not too dissimilar to the U.S.A. however, because this community is small and the U.S. is big we don't always see the whole picture.

The lady standing with us is the mayor. She is the one responsible for the 100% employment and the clean neat community. She suggested that the Legionnaire would take us on a tour of the island. The Gambiers are not set up for tourism. There are a total of six rooms available for visitors on the entire island group.

The next day Michael & Michelle had to leave on the airplane. This also seems to be quite an event! You see the fork lift getting the diesel to the boat that will take passengers to the airport across the lagoon. You see Scott in the grey shirt and white hat, Michael in the blue-green jacket and Michelle in the gold jacket. There's a priest in this group also. A man we were talking to about some Bibles!

The plane that picked up Michael and Michelle brought Tom & Annie! They did recognize each other as they were the only four non Polynesians at the airport! Annie was a little worried that they wouldn't find us in the harbor. We were anchored very close to the dock. Scott and I are coming ashore in the dinghy - that's how hard it was to find us!

The next day we found someone to take us around the island. Since this community has a 100% employment policy only this retired legionnaire was free to drive us around. (left) We connected with him with the help of the mayor and some French cruisers whom you'll see later.

How scary are these guys!!! Here's Captain Scott, our guide from the French Foreign Legion and Tom, the Quest's crew. Fortunately Tom spoke some French. It's a real handicap in these islands not to know French.

The views were spectacular! (left)  can see by the color of the water that it would be impossible to sail the Quest all around the main island.

This home is the center of a black pearl/jewelry operation. You can see the manicured lawns, solar panels, water collection. They also have a wind generator, solar hot water, dish TV and other communications antennae. We got a few of our Christmas presents here.

The pearl farms look like these structures over the water.

As we rode around the island, one view was more beautiful than another.

Here are Annie and I in the back of our "touring car." The guys sat on a wooden bench that was tied down.

Even on the other side of the island, outside the "city" homes were well kept up. Notice the solar panels, TV dish, banana trees, ornamental plantings.

Our legionnaire guide got us some wild pamplemouse (it's a lot like grapefruit). He started dropping them like rain on top of Annie. It was rather funny unless you were Annie who was dodging these large yellow missiles. If you look closely you can see our legionnaire's feet! It's ok for a visitor to take fruit from "wild" areas that are not obviously someone else's property. Otherwise, You don't just start picking fruit from someone's yard!!!

This green fruit (right) is called noni. It has become a health fad in the U.S. So, the locals are being paid very good money to propagate and harvest these fruits. The Noni has brought quite a bit of prosperity to these islands. (Notice all the new trucks!)

Here's a good shot of our "touring car!"

Mid-July is a time of celebration in the Gambiers. Here the local dancers are dancing in the street!

It was so much fun to see the local dancers.

All ages participate in these celebrations.

These kids were terrific!

The costumes were fantastic!

The dancing in the Gambiers was special in this regard: The dancing was NOT performed to impress tourists. The dancing was the same as perhaps cheerleaders at a local U.S. high school. The performance is part of a general celebration or local event -  NOT like dancers in a hotel whose purpose it is to entertain strangers.

The singers and musicians were great!

What made it unique is that you experienced all this celebration in the context of the local community.