Cruising by the Cabin in Polynesia

For sailors from all four corners around the world, French Polynesia is something of a nirvana, a holy grail for circumnavigating cruisers. I’d been enthralled by the stories of Bernard Moitessier, Paul-Emile Victor, and Alain Gerbault. But is it true that French Polynesia no longer resembles the description given by Bougainville in the 18th century? The only way to find out for sure was to go and check it out for myself. The problem is that the call of the South Seas comes at a price, and chartering a private catamaran is not within everyone’s budget. So when I saw…