In the Spotlight

Last Tuesday was definitely one-of-a-kind.
While the episode with our friend Felipe was by far the main event of that day, it was’t the only one.
We still managed to be interviewed. And not just once !

As it turns out, Pesto happened to be the first yacht flagged in the Cook Islands to call this port in a long time, and that didn’t go unnoticed. The crew of Maritime Cook Islands, the agency that manages the flagging affairs, gave us a warm welcome and eventually asked to shoot a brief interview with us as part of their marketing efforts (we understand they shall publish parts of it in their newsletter). That Tuesday morning, the time set for the interview, and before we’d learned of Felipe’s situation, we stood precariously on our dingy, bouncing across the harbor, and trying as best as we could to not drench our “interview-attire” in seawater, as it has been usual here in Avatiu harbor. Only once before had Adriana and I been taped on a video interview for a fellow cruiser’s blog, and that was two years ago, in San Diego. But this time here in the Cooks it was special in that the kids would have an opportunity to speak ! And Both Adriana and I nearly exploded with joy as we saw them, particularly Paulo, talking in an articulate manner about their experiences full-time-cruising.

That same day, while trying to help Felipe organize his boat for his extended absence, I met Renata, another Brazilian who has been traveling around the world, in a different way. The Cook Islands are such a small place, not exactly on the “beaten path”, and almost half-a-world far from Brazil. And still Felipe, Ourselves and Renata happened to “collide” at this same place, at the same time, traveling very different paths. While we chit-chatted about our different perspectives of traveling, she shot a quick, impromptu interview with me as part of the material she is collecting to set up a video journal of her experience.

I often find it difficult to establish what a Typical day looks like for us out here, cruising. But last Tuesday was certainly even more not-Typical than most others !