GOOD PEOPLE MAKE GOOD DAYS (PART 1)

Where have all the good people gone? They're in Tahiti!.Between my friend prep frenzy and the non-stop south swell, I've ping-ponged from one awesome human to the next.
Today started at 7:30am with a one-thumb hitchhike to the Air Tahiti office to make some airfare changes for my arriving friends. I had hardly even made it to the roadside when a teacher on her way to school stopped to pick me up. The ticket changes went smoothly. I sat under the airport awning to wait for my new friend, Pacome, to pick me up on his way to town. Families flowed back and forth in three and four generation herds. I happened into conversation with an old Tahitian pastor from the a Seventh Day Adventist Church who stood waiting for the passing rain.
Pacome arrived and we loaded my empty fuel cans and sped off to the gas station, it just so happened that all fuel prices were all going up the next day. Then off to stock the boat with food for the girls. I got in the in line at a market and happened into a conversation with the man behind me, who much impressed by my mode of travel, he invited me to come eat at his Chinese restaurant. After the market I wandered over to the fruit stand, where after loading up with everything from papaya to passionfruit, I asked the woman her name.
"Elizabeth, " she said. She put two extra pamplemousse in my canvas bag seeing that we shared the same name. The day was topped off with an evening session where I didn't hit the reef and putt slowly back across the lagoon to Swell in the dark paralleling the stripe of the milky way. I have to remember days like these on the morning when I hit my head getting out of bed!

GOOD PEOPLE MAKE GOOD DAYS (PART 2):

I woke to whitewater crashing on the reef.wind light.sky blue.the majority of pre-girlfriend prep done. I loaded the dingy: two boards, 'masksnorkelfins', a fishing handline, camera, water, a few Clif bars, and a VHF radio. Hiding from the sun under my oversized 'man-shirt' and baseball cap, I flipped up my collar, threw on my headphones, and zoomed off across the lagoon to see how the day would unfold.

Four hours later, I found myself relaxing aboard a luxurious 50-foot catamaran after an incredible morning surf, eating a sashimi and avocado salad, and learning the therapeutic benefits of Tamanu oil from, Laura, one of the lovely and knowledgeable guests aboard the charter yacht, 'Apetahi'. I'd met Sonny and Dim in the water the day before, and after sharing waves all morning, they invited me aboard for lunch. The three couples from California and the French charter crew were radically welcoming, intelligent, and fun. After only an hour with the girls, I felt more than comfortable divulging multiple recent embarrassing incidents that I couldn't possibly contain until my California girlfriends arrived. (Thanks Tina, Malia, and Laura for laughing with me through my verbal geyser!)

The afternoon morphed into a cartoon-like surf dream. The late sun fortified the greens of the already awe-inspiring mountainous backdrop, spinner dolphins twirled and leapt outside the line-up, rainbows arced across multiple parts of the sky, while lefts wrapped around the reef and the magic of Tahiti pulsed in a breathtaking three-dimensional display.

I ended up staying that night aboard 'Apetahi'--clothed, fed, and in the finest of company. They sailed off the next morning, but we met up a week later and shared a last meal before they flew home. Dr. Lolole patiently explained the contents of the heap of first aid supplies that he donated to my trip (the three men aboard were doctors!). He subsequently released a life's worth of tension built up in my neck with two quick chiropractic adjustments and offered to put together a private first aid seminar when I am in California. Thank you, Amir!

A triple highfive 'THANK YOU!' shout out to the crew and guests aboard 'Apetahi' for taking me in off the lagoon backstreets and allowing me to soak up your ridiculous generosity and good spirits! (Check out Laura's luscious skin products at (www.lavanila.com)