Farewell French Polynesia... Two Tuna To Go!

At noon today we made our way from one of the most delightful anchorages in French Polynesia, through the amazingly blue lagoon, along the well-marked channel and out the "infamous" pass to the open sea. We could easily have spent a lot more time in Maupiti. They say the small island is what Bora Bora was before it was "discovered", unspoilt. We enjoyed our time in Bora Bora and all the islands we visited in French Polynesia but Maupiti will probably always be a little special to us. So many people pass it by on their way to the Cook Islands or Tonga. Some people tried to talk us out of going through the pass because it's narrow and impassable when the wind is from the south or southwest. We're glad we made the stop at Maupiti, just 27 miles west of Bora Bora.
From here it's farewell to many of our friends and the beautiful islands of French Polynesia and on to Niue, about 1,000 miles from Maupiti. From here the cruising fleet spilts multiple ways as cruisers head for the final destination for this cruising season, New Zealand or Australia where they'll wait out the cyclone season. We met Gary and Jackie of Inspiration Lady and Jack of Anthem by radio in the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos over a year ago. They're heading to New Zealand along with Jacqui and Dave of Jackster so it will be at least another year before we see them again. We met Gerald and Di (and Beatrice) on Whiskers, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas almost 18 months ago and will be trying to catch up with them at points along the way to Australia in the next few weeks.
Just to start us off on the right "foot", or is that keel, Elliot landed two beautiful yellowfin tunas simultaneously this afternoon. That was exciting. Plenty of fish to go on our way.