This year I didn’t plan any journey to French Polynesia. I planned to visit this part of the Earth, but on a different itinerary. First Samoa (two islands), then 20 days of cruising on a small yacht, Bounty Bay. Itinerary: Samoa – Swains Island (American Samoa), Tokelau, Phoenix Islands (Kiribati). The cruise was supposed to end in Tuvalu (I was going to stay there for a week and celebrate my birthday). From there a flight to Yasawa Islands (Fiji), then Wallis and Futuna Island. At the end of the voyage one week stay in The Kingdom of Tonga. The whole trip was planned to take 45 days.
A month before the excursion, Graham Wragg, owner of Bounty Bay, cancelled my dreamed-of cruise. Next day I found Aranui III on the Internet. It is a cargo ship that supplies Marquesas Islands with almost everything: cement, wine, cigarettes or cars, etc. I made my decision straight away: I’m going.
With Aranui III I reached beautiful islands on the Marquesas archipelago (and two atolls on the Tuamotu archipelago). I have dreamt about Marquesas Islands, since as a little boy I read a book “Fatu Hiva” by Thor Heyerdahl. I visited this island as well.
Graham Wragg owns now a sailing ship, S/V Southern Cross, and until now hasn’t returned money that I paid for the cruise cancelled in May 2009. I warn all travellers of him.