Everyone should travel by sailboat, once in their life.
This is one of the many personal experiences from over the years that have fundamentally changed my perspective of travelling and the power we have when we travel to and for the communities, we visit rather than just for ourselves.
I was lucky enough to meet the sailors of S/Y Qi while I was in Colombia. We were strangers, having only spoken at meals during a grueling, rain-soaked four-day trek to Ciudad Perdida.
Months later, they were planning their Pacific crossing when G and T invited me to meet them in French Polynesia to live on their boat, their home, for three weeks to explore the islands. I did not know what I was getting myself into. I was told to pack a mask, snorkel, and fins - easy. Then given the directions to “hitchhike from Papeete airport to the Pink Coconut, we will be there for sundowners, if we aren’t there, just ask where Qi is, someone will dingy you out to us". So I said, “OK see you…”
This was not the first time that I spent time on a sailboat. I was sailing around the British Virgin Islands for a summer job for six weeks the previous year. Before that, I worked in the superyacht industry. Spoiler alert: I also get very motion-sick on everything. I will throw up if they do not pressurize the plane properly on take-off. And yet, I still agreed to go.
Three weeks living on a sailboat means:
Water is a scarce commodity; it is either desalinated onboard or filled up at marinas occasionally
Electricity is a scarce commodity captured by wind, solar, and charging through the generator.
Internet was only available on land if you were lucky.
Everything has a purpose and a place on the boat.
Which meant that I learned:
How to shower and wash my hair with less than 1 litre of water
To love reading because a headlamp can recharge faster than a laptop for movies
To rise with the sun and to sleep with the moon
That #1’s need 10 pumps of the toilet and #2’s need 30 pumps
And that I want to live on a boat the second I can buy one good enough to circumnavigate the world.
I like to think of living on a sailboat like living on Earth, except living on Earth as one person. It takes years to finally see the effects on Earth-scale proportions. I apply everything that I learned on the sailboat to my everyday lifestyle.
The biggest thing I learned was the impact that we had as cruisers (those living on and travelling by boat only), and the lack of impact. It was hard to ignore that the only interaction that we had with the local Polynesians were just grocery store clerks when we needed to stock up on baguettes, those selling fresh fruit and veg from their little outriggers and paying to rent bicycles for island exploration.
As cruisers, we were choosing the free options - beautiful outlooks, self-guided visits of maraes, dropping anchor in free public spots, and “coincidentally” sneaking onto guided tours to see rays and mantas.
When you think about French Polynesia it is usually Bora-Bora, ladies in grass skirts, and bungalows over crystal clear water. It is so much more and also so much less. I would compare French Poly to Maldives - island/atoll nations whose natural beauty and landscapes have been fully exploited and privatized by foreign investors. There is so much more to French Polynesia that I missed. To be fair, when I was there the internet was not the beast that it is now. Searching for things to do in 2014 yielded much less than if I randomly searched for things to do now. And when I say it is so much less, what I mean is that the local communities should be wealthier and healthier, as pictured in any google image search.
But I found that many of them are fishing and farming, trying to make ends meet. I did not know the term tourism leakage then, but I do now, and I cannot ignore it. So when I finally make my way back, I will make sure that I engage with the local community as much as possible, just like I do now for everything Chickenfeet-related travels.
This eye-opening experience truly shaped the way that I wanted to run Chickenfeet Travels. It was also because of my chance encounter with G* and T in Colombia and one of the best three weeks I have ever had cruising around French Polynesia.
*G is a school teacher from Australia/New Zealand. She does her part by teaching English as much as possible in the offbeat places she and T continue exploring. She is one of the shiniest people I have met, spreading love and light everywhere she is.
