Bastille Day in Papeete - Who? What? Je ne sais pas!

by Nancy Knudsen, Cruising Editor on 15 Jul 2007 For the crew of Blackwattle, arriving into Papeete is a visual and ear-splitting shock after so long trailing a route through the islands of the Pacific – suddenly there are blaring discos, manicured lawns, traffic noise, pedestrian crossings, vast department stores, buses, cappuccinos, superb food – we'd half forgotten....

So we go to find Bastille Day, and instead find that the locals are hardly aware, or care. We get three different times for the parade, we're told there is, is not a fair tonight, there are, are not fireworks – given winks and told to go to the Museum instead – there are cultural displays. But you can't get there because the buses aren't working as it's a public holiday and there are no taxis. - so Polynesia has its own very distinct way of being French – French without the French....

Great cross section of news from across the world this week – You'll be interested to read the latest piracy report, but the good news is that old hotspots of piracy on yachts are either not hotspots any more, or there are significant improvements in the trend. In the Malacca Straits there has been no piracy activity, and in the Gulf of Aden Yemen is paying good attention to their coastline, and the International Maritime Organisation is trying to reinstate via the UN Security Council the ability for foreign warships to intercept pirates in Somali waters. The Coalition in the area is also actively assisting yachts.

Would-be polar circumnavigator Adrian Flanagan is back in the water, there's a report about the Summer and Sea Festival in Lithuania, and some tall ship news, good and bad.

At a more practical level, technology for the sailor is reaching new heights – soon you'll even be able to find that scary floating container at night! From Garmin, similarly amazing technological advances, and from Blackwattle, we share our own personal Ten Rules for Tropical Seamanship.

Lots more, so read on, enjoy, and

Sail Safe