Sailing French Polynesia, The Societies 1, Ep 50A, Off the Starboard Hull

[@Adippen]

Beautiful places, definitely bucket list. Thanks for sharing.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Adippen thanks! Hope you can visit Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Tahaa and Raiatea. They are amazing but our favourites are in the next video.

[@graeme-sailingskeptic]

new go pro is great! great video Laurie and Scott thanks for sharing.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Graeme, yes the Hero 7 is fantastic. However, this video was filmed in July and we got the Hero 7 in December. So the Societies is all Hero 6 footage.

[@brieneaton8578]

Another nice one folks.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Thanks Brien

[@Anthony-rp1qc]

Way Cool, we have been following you guys since you left Canada.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Thanks, Dan. Glad to hear that you have stuck with us through Mexico and across the Pacific. The next video will include our favourite place so far, Maupiti.

[@brieneaton8578]

BTY. Great shots of our flag . And not covered with snow .

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Yes, we have reverse season here and it is 5he middle of summer. Canadians are received warmly throughout the world, we have found.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Sorry about the misspelling of Moorea in the title and cover instead of covers in the postscript. Tried to get it out too quickly. Laurie

[@jwrappuhn71]

Great vid ya'll, sure is beautiful there.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

It certainly is, jwrappuhn71.

[@petertarantola786]

Really enjoyed the video. Almost thought you were going over the falls!

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Thanks Peter. It was really high up there but absolutely gorgeous!

[@scouterandrew8888]

Thanks for sharing all these videos. I wanted to ask about trading for local food and other goods in FP. Are there things that you can trade to locals that they are in need of. Also are there things you brought that you could get there cheaper than you thought. Happy sailing.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Hi Scouter Andrew888 Trading for food in French Polynesia was not as common as it once was. It is definitely cash transactions and the atm was well used there. Bartering for food only happened in markets but not very often. Fish hooks, school supplies, chocolate, good quality tools, Coca Cola, beer were well received as gifts. Food is generally expensive especially when you are coming from Mexico. Common food items were carrots, green peppers (capsicums), potatoes and onions and you could sometimes find good prices for these. Food is more plentiful in the Societies as compared to the Marquesas or Tuamotus. Delicious Baguettes were only about 60 francs (50 cents us) and found everywhere! Cheers!

[@scouterandrew8888]

Thank you !

[@traceraley9249]

You leave out to information.

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Trace Raley we can only cover so much in a 15 min video. It covers the highlights for us. Others would find other things important. This is our perspective. Sorry you find it lacking.

[@jasonkoslow4174]

Would you have stayed in French Polynesia for the entire year even during cyclone season??

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Yes, our insurance covers us as far west as Tahiti. So we could still romp around the Marquesas, Tuamotus, Gambiers and the Australs and be out of the cyclone zone. Even New Zealand has cyclones sometimes, so even here is not perfectly safe.

[@bill4nier]

Great video! Could you explain a little more about the visa in regards to visiting French Polynesia? If you already talked about it in an earlier episode - point me in that direction (I think I may have missed a few episodes). Thanks for sharing! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😍⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Hi Bill When you visit French Polynesia, you get an automatic 3 month visa before you have to leave for at least 3 months. If you are from the EU, you can stay as long as you like. Your boat can stay for 2 years. In order to get an extended visa, you need to apply from your country of origin and have to produce bank statements, tax documents, etc. which makes the process very time consuming and difficult. However, we wish we had taken the time to extend the visa as we felt rushed going through French Polynesia. I hope that answers your question.

[@jimanderson2518]

Bora Bora has always been on my bucket list.... I understand that the cruising in these areas are quite difficult. .maybe you could give us a run down on your navigational recommendations of this area. Really enjoyed this thanks for sharing Fairwinds from the @captains.chair

[@offthestarboardhull8913]

Jim, We will cover Bora Bora in our next video. It is not that difficult to cruise there. You just have to go around the North area through the markers to access the gorgeous sandy beaches on the SE side. The west side can be explored but the south portion is too shallow, though can be explored in a dinghy. Cheers