Originally posted on October 15, 2015, by cruisingrunner
Arrival Euphoria is a very real condition experienced by cruisers when they arrive somewhere after a long or difficult passage and especially when the arrival marks a bit of a milestone along the cruising journey. The main symptom of the euphoria is that no matter how tired you are or what things are thrown your way, you just can’t shake an overwhelming sense of joy and relief. Smells are sweeter, drinks are tastier, and people are nicer. Arrival Euphoria is why I didn’t freak out when the Tsunami Alarm started going off within hours of us setting our anchors in Atuona and it’s also why I gave all of the meat, vegetables, dried beans, etc. that I had left on board to the officials in New Zealand with a smile on my face, thanking them like THEY were doing ME some sort of favor. You are just so happy to be where you are, nothing can get you down.
In all, I think I have experienced this Arrival Euphoria five times:
1) Ensenada, Mexico. For obvious reasons: it was our very first foreign port.
2) San Felipe, Mexico. After a night on passage in 45 knot winds, San Felipe was the city of my dreams.
3) Atuona, The Marquesas, French Polynesia. Twenty-two days at sea from Mexico to The Marquesas. Huge milestone getting to The South Pacific.
4) Opua, New Zealand. Daunting passage from the tropics to the temperate latitudes without even a hint of drama. Another huge milestone.
5) And most recently, Savusavu, Fiji. The sights and the smells were so reminiscent of our arrival in Atuona it felt like we’d been here before. It was lush, green, and HOT. We basked in the success of making it to AND from New Zealand without getting “hammered.” We enjoyed the feeling of being in a totally a new place again, totally different than where we’d spent the previous six months. We looked forward with tempered excitement to the months we would get to explore Fiji. We were grateful for our decision to save Fiji until this year so we could spend maximum time in both Tonga and Fiji, and we couldn’t wait to say our first, “Bula!” The whole season was in front of us and the safe arrival drinks couldn’t have been sweeter.
I’m not sure where we will get to experience our next euphoric moment. The Marshall Islands? Perhaps.
Gresham Family Exodus 