Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

French Polynesia: Rikitea Harbour

Zeke in Rikitea harbour
Zeke in Rikitea harbour

Quick! Let me grab the moment and describe the feeling, as it's a succinct summary of the sub-tropical paradise of anchoring off Île Mangareva. The date – I have to check this electronically as I have absolutely no idea what day of the week it is, let alone what date – is Monday 26th May, and it's 9.30pm, after dark.

Pearl farms in Rikitea harbour
Pearl farms in Rikitea harbour

1 A quick course in yacht types might be handy. The most common is the sloop, of which Zeke is an example: a sloop has one main mast, with one sail on a boom behind it and one sail in front (the mainsail and jib, as previously explained). If there's one mast and two sails in front of the mast, it's a cutter, like Teba. A schooner like Jan van Gent has two masts, with the front mast being smaller than the back. A ketch has two masts, but the other way round to a schooner – the front mast is taller than the back – and a yawl is a ketch whose rear boom hangs over the back of the boat (normally the boom is totally inside the lines of the boat). So now you've got enough info to hop on down to Great Yarmouth and sound knowledgeable... and interestingly, at one point in our visit there was at least one of each of these types present at Rikitea, something of a rare occurrence in such a remote spot as the Gambiers.