May 12, 2008

We are a mile out of Papeete at 5AM. We are awaiting light to go in to the bay, everything is well lit with beacons but we are still not comfortable going in. Plus it will be easier to see where to tie up in the light. Stu called the Port Authority on the VHF radio and they cleared us to enter the harbor. The harbor is quite big with several big ships, a US ship called “Bear”, two large Tahiti/Moorea ferry boats among other yachts. We had to Med moor at the quay, which we had never attempted before. Stu said it would be easy. We backed in and drop an anchor and then tied our stern to two bollards. After we were all set we realized we should not have dropped an anchor, there were lines on the dock that you are to hook to each side of your bow. But our guide book said to drop an anchor, now we think our anchor may be hooked in ‘hurricane cable’. Getting on and off the boat may be difficult, since we have the Monitor on the back, we can’t get as close as would be nice. Mike and Stu have no difficulty, stepping on a tire and then to the dock, but it is just too far for me. I have to put my knee on the tire and pull myself up, doable but not too fun. Getting back on is just as difficult. We will only be here a few days, just need to do laundry, we have water here, yea! And it is potable! We also need to find a few parts and some groceries. We walked to town and most everything seems to be closed. We find out it is a holiday – “Pentecost day” but we did find a McDonald’s and it is open. We decided to have lunch here, a quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a coke, about 900 Francs, about $11 each. We miss having hamburgers, so they were very good, just what you would expect from McDonald’s even in another country. Stu arranged for a taxi, he had a 10PM flight. He would have had plenty of time to check out the city if it weren’t closed, too bad. We signed up for Internet and I emailed Letty for him “I am on my way home”, I also let her know that she might not recognize him, he was tanned, thinner and longer hair now. She emailed me back, saying he came back in PERFECT condition. After we down loaded our email, the Internet just quit working, this always seems to be the way. At least we got our mail and it seems that people are worried about us, it is nice to be missed. We explained that we were just unable to get an internet connection for a month. I worked on getting laundry started today, I had lots with Stu’s sheets and towels and ours too. And I want to get it all done before we leave, as it takes lots of water to rinse things enough where they feel clean. I made one last meal for Stu before he left, pasta with chicken in Alfredo sauce. Stu had been packing all day, he had only 2 bags and I am sure it was mostly dirty clothes. He caught his taxi at close to 7PM. I hugged him good bye and Mike walked to the taxi station with him and carried one of his bags. We will miss Stu. When Mike got back we smelled diesel and noticed a film on the water. Hope it isn’t us, Mike is checking the engine room. Our generator is leaking diesel, although not much. We don’t think that would account for the film on the water.

May 13, 2008

Very nice day and more laundry. The Port Captain stopped by and said we had better check in by 9AM. So we walk to the Port Captain’s office and they say Laurent from PYS has to give them the paper work. So we email Laurent when the Internet comes up. He says he will meet us tomorrow morning at our boat. We walked to the market and we found those foot long green beans that Kristen had cooked for us one night. We bought the green beans, cabbage, carrots and bananas, limes and papayas. We walked all over the market, it was very interesting. Much like the Mazatlan market, only they were really cheap, here it is very expensive. We also bought a small loaf of bread (Mike likened it to two hot dog buns) for 120 francs, baguettes are only 47 francs and much bigger. We bought a sandwich and coke to share also, but there was no where to sit, so we walked back to the boat to eat them. It was such a nice night, cooler, no clouds and lots of stars, so we took a walk down the water front. Tahiti has lots of hotels, many of them seem very run down. There was a plaza, it was empty this morning but tonight there are many snack trailers, with Chinese food, pizza, crepes and more, we will have to eat dinner here one night before we leave. Besides the hotels being run down, the park had lots of trash around, not what you think of when you think Tahiti. The boardwalk on the waterfront is clean, but it is rather short, maybe a mile long.

May 14, 2008

Woke up early this morning, before 6AM, unusual for me. Good thing though because Laurent came at 7 vs. 9AM. Mike made Oatmeal and bananas for breakfast while I continued to work on getting laundry finished. We had to run the generator all morning. Afterwards we planned to walk to the marine store and auto parts store to look for a fuel pump for the generator. But our neighboring boat was going to dive and he said he would check out our anchor. So we had to wait for him. Our anchor was stuck and he unhooked it for us and we got it pulled out. God’s favor again, he sent an angel to help us. The interesting thing is this particular boat had not been friendly all along so it is a surprise that he would help us. After that we had to wait for Laurent to bring back our passports and then it was too late to go after parts. Good thing there is always tomorrow. We decided to use some of our internet minutes and call Mom and Dad, and we called Videen’s. It was so nice to talk to friends and family again. Mike hooked up the video camera and Videen’s could see us and we could see them. It was really nice. We had planned to go to dinner but it poured down rain so we had a bowl of soup on the boat. Mike worked on the boat log, map. And I read my book.

May 15, 2008

It is a cloudy but so humid this morning. I brought in most of the laundry from outside, surprisingly they are dry. Now only the clothes on our backs need washed before we leave. This morning we walked to the marine store, and we met Angus, from New Zealand. He had his propane tank filled and told us where to go. We invited him over to the boat tonight. The marine store did not have what we needed but suggested another place might. We went to the auto parts store and they didn’t have what we needed either but once again, they were friendly and suggested another place, and the next place suggested another place and after 5 places, and miles of walking in the hot sun we finally got the part. It cost $300 in Tahiti and in the states we doubt it would have cost $50. but we are in Tahiti where nothing is cheap. In all our walking we found a store called “Cost and Co.” it mimicked Costco but was just a mini warehouse, with no refrigerated items. It did have Kirkland brands. We didn’t buy anything today but we plan to come back another day before we leave. Once back at the boat Mike installed the electric fuel pump first thing. It was leaking diesel but he finally got it to stop and was able to charge the batteries and refer. Angus came at 5PM and he brought some flavored crackers and we had some pop and enjoyed talking. We talked with Charisma at 7PM, Mike let them think we found Costco J. And then Angus, Mike and I went to the plaza and had a Chinese dinner for $37.50, a little pricey for two and you didn’t get enough to share. We ordered Coke and they brought a liter of Coke to our table. It was a very nice night. Angus is waiting for his wife and kids to arrive on Sunday, then they plan to sail to Hawaii.

May 16, 2008

It is very hot this morning! We made pancakes and called Charisma, no answer. We are walking to town to get propane, it is about a mile away, we are not looking forward carrying the tank back to the boat. I tried to carry the propane part way, but it was very heavy, I might of carried it all of two blocks. Half way back we stopped at a computer store where Mike tried to find a cable for our high gain antennae, but couldn’t find exactly what we wanted, so we didn’t buy anything. Now to carry the tank the rest of the way back to the boat. Next we went to Api Yachting, which we past yesterday, but forgot to stop for the turnbuckle we needed for the safety line. They didn’t have it because we need U.S. standard fittings and they only had metric. The guy offered to replace the whole safety line, but that would be too expensive. So now we walked to Cost & Co. and bought syrup, tang, trail mix, cold cereal and coffee creamer. We still need to go to the grocery store but it is near the anchorage at Mavea Beach/Marina Taina. We went to the market to look again for baguettes but couldn’t find any but we did see two guys leaving with a barrel of baguettes. I asked if I could buy some but they said no, finally I guess I looked pathetic and the guy gave me one. God’s favor again, even though I didn’t need it. I just want to have some bread on the boat to make a sandwich or something. After dinner we walked to McDonald’s for ice cream sundaes.

May 17, 2008

This morning we are leaving for the anchorage. Mike washed the boat deck and I finished laundry and dishes and took a shower. Trying to do everything that needs water and then top off our tanks and head for the anchorage. We walked to the Port Captains office, it is Saturday and they are closed. We told the security we were leaving and he seemed find, but didn’t want us to turn in our key. I found an address to the Boulangie, I talked Mike into trying one more time to find it. We looked and still didn’t find it but on our way back through the market one of the snack counters had them for sale, we bought 3 baguettes along with sandwiches for lunch. Mine was a chicken sandwich, it had the skin and fat and no mayo, it was not great. Mike had a crab sandwich, which was ok. Now back at the boat, we need to figure out how to get out of this med moor situation. But my Captain is very smart, first started the engine, put it in forward with a little power, then he let the bow lines go, and we each let a stern line go and we were off with no problem. Our timing was great as we were able to follow a boat named Scratch, as you come to the airport along the channel, you have to call the Port and they have to give you permission to pass. Scratch did all the communicating and we were just able to follow. God’s favor again! We anchored on the far side of Marina Taina in the channel. After we anchored we realized this may not be the best as there are lots of power boats passing by, so we get all their waves. We may move tomorrow, we will see. We had dinner, just leftovers and then watch a movie, the Phantom of the Opera’.

May 18, 2008

Mike was up early, he just couldn’t sleep. It was raining pretty hard and we had to close the hatches which makes it stuffy in the boat. Mike made us coffee and pancakes, they were very good. He started the generator and he ended up having to bleed it again and it was leaking again. He needs an O ring and can’t get one today, it is Sunday. We ended up using the main engine to charge the batteries. The spray nozzle for the hose broke and we can’t seem to find one here, also the antennae broke off the mobile VHF, bummer. Seems like so much is breaking, I guess it is true ‘forever fixing yachts in exotic places’, good thing we have God’s favor. And I realize that things break in everyday life too. Okay, I will try not to complain. Today I have finally gotten the written log updated. Now to do the photos and Mike is working on the Map. With any luck at all we will get our website updated and be able to email family and friends to let them know.

May 19, 2008

It rained all night and most of the night so we worked all day organizing data for our website. Photos, daily log and maps.

May 20, 2008

Beautiful morning, I used vinegar and tried to wash all the rust off the boat. We were told vinegar worked on stainless, well if it did anything, it wasn’t much. It did get all the salt off the boat, the chunks of salt the water leaves on the boat is amazing, its like sand. Mike rewired the solar panels as the wiring corroded in half, no wonder they weren’t charging. Later we walked a few blocks to the grocery store called Carrefore. It is the first decent store since Mexico, although expensive, it was not as bad as the smaller islands. We met the crew from Argonaut again today, we had pizza with them in Nuka Hiva. Nice people!

May 21, 2008

Today I used Naval Jelly rust remover on the stainless, it works really good, although it is pink and whatever it drips on is stained pink. It rained last night and our dinghy had about 5 gallons of water in it, so I used it to wash the deck of the boat. Birds seem to do their duty on our boat each night. Mike put of the spinnaker and the staysail to dry them out so we could stow them away. We shouldn’t need them for awhile and since the forward cabin isn’t being used they might as well be in there. Mike also fixed, we hope the VHF antennae. I emailed Linda, my sister, it is her birthday today!

May 22, 2008

Charisma should be here this morning, we heard them check in with the port Captain. They will go to the quay so we won’t see them until tomorrow. We tried to call them on the VHF but for some reason we hear them but they can’t hear us. Mike didn’t feel great today so he didn’t do much. Today I worked on polishing the stainless, too much for one day. In fact it could take a week, there is still so much to do. We bought eggs when we went to the store, I forgot to look at the expiration date, I was so excited that they only cost $5 vs. $7 in Nuka Hiva. The date on the egg carton is the day we bought them. They don’t look great, not sure they are good. Next time I will be checking the date before I buy them. I cooked them anyway and they seemed fine.

May 23, 2008

Today we are going to take the “LeTruck” to downtown to meet Charisma and go to the market. It is 130 francs and the bus is 200 francs. The LeTruck is a truck, with a long covered bed and wooden benches and stops at several places over about a 5 mile course picking people up and letting them off just like the bus. Mostly women and children seem to ride them. It took about a half an hour to go the 5 miles to town. When we got to Charisma, Alan had an O ring just exactly like we needed, yea! We went to the market and had baguette sandwiches and showed them Cost & Co., we shopped for board shorts for Kevin and Mike bought some too. On our way back to Charisma we bought Milkshakes, boy these people do not know what a milkshake is, it was thin like chocolate milk and tasted like slim fast! Later we went out to pizza, went to the plaza where there was a band playing. Very fun atmosphere. Mike and I took the LeTruck back to the anchorage later that night.

May 24, 2008

Today, now that we have the O ring, Mike fixed the generator. He also moved the autopilot controls to an easier place to use it at the nav station. Charisma anchored near us today. It is nice to have them back.

May 25, 2008

Today is Kevin’s last day to crew for Charisma, he will be missed. We all walked to Carrefore today. When I first arrived I decided to go to the restroom, all of a sudden I got so sick and threw up for about half an hour and then I was fine. The restrooms, just like in Mexico have no TP. Ok back to shopping, we ended up buying so much that we brought the shopping cart back with us. There were a lot of carts already at the marina and we found out the store picks the carts up, once a week. That saved our backs trying to lug everything back to the boat. We still had to put the groceries in the dinghy and up on the boat and then down in the cabin, too much work. In the Society Islands you have to have your own bags and bag your own groceries. And before you go to the check out you must take your produce through another line to have priced. All the produce is signed with the country it comes from. That is kind of nice. The cabbage we bought came from the USA. We bought 3 chickens today because it was the one meat item we could identify. After shopping we went on one last snorkeling adventure with Kevin. It ended up that there was not much to see under water but we went out to the reef where huge waves break and watched surfers do there thing. It was kind of fun! Afterwards we had dinner on Charisma and Kevin cooked his last meal for all of us, Thai mahi mahi. He is a great cook and we enjoyed it all. Kristen made a dump cake, yum! And Alan brought out a bottle of wine that was special, over $100 cost and shared it with all of us! Nice send off for Kevin. Stu and Kevin will be missed.

May 26, 2008

Today I have a sore throat, I have heard other cruisers have been sick, hope mine does not last! Today we invited 3 couples over for appetizers. Argonaut with Liz and Mike, they brought sushi, Horizon with Mary and John, they brought crab dip, Charisma with Kristen and Alan, they brought my favorite crackers with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes and then Mike and I made little pizzas out of baguettes. We had a great time. It is fun hearing other cruisers stories.

May 28, 2008

I think I lost a day somewhere, I guess today is May 28^th, how time flies when you are having fun. I woke up with a sore throat again. Mike got up and made coffee and pancakes. He is really good at that. After breakfast I cleaned up from last night. This time I cleaned and polished our stainless steel stove, it looks so much better. Mike went over to help Alan on Charisma with their water maker. They are coming over to help us eat the rest of the pizza from last night. Myah emailed and said they are on their way to Tahiti and should be here tomorrow. We are just about ready to leave. In fact that is our topic of conversation tonight over dinner. I emailed everyone that the website is updated now, but actually we have one more file to upload of pictures, we can’t seem to get a great connection to get it done.

May 29, 2008

We went to town with Charisma on the Letruck to look for boat parts, we walked all over. We also went to Cost and Co and bought Bisquick, which is really nice to have to cook with. On the way home we went to Carrefour and bought ice cream cones.

May 30, 2008

Today Mike was helping Alan with his watermaker and Kristen and I took our dinghy and went to Carrefour to do more major provisioning before we left to circumnavigate Tahiti. We decided to bring our carts back to the marina so we did not have to carry so much heavy stuff so far. But it was so hard, the carts would not push straight and the roads were not level or flat. We were both exhausted when we reached the dock. Then we had to lift cases of pop and everything else down a ladder to another dock and then into the dinghy, then up the boat ladder once we motored quite a ways and then down into the cabin! On our shopping trip we met Prairie Oyster, 59^th Street Bridge and Vari. It must be the social thing to do. Later Mike and I met Myah on the dock, Dan is leaving for home next week, we will miss him. We called Mom and wished her a happy birthday two days early, she was happy!

May 31, 28

We pulled anchor at 9AM and headed for Maraa Beach on Tahiti, leaving our anchorage via Taapana Pass. The surfers were already out having fun. We arrived at Maraa at 1PM after sailing downwind about 10 miles. We went to shore to check out the Grotto. Our guide book said you could swim in fresh water but it was roped off due to falling rock. It was a really pretty little park along the side of the road. When it was time to leave the dinghy anchor was stuck on coral, Alan needed his mask so he could see underwater to free the anchor. But his mask was on the boat, so Kristen swam back to the boat to get it. She brought the kyak back so she didn’t have to swim so far. Tonight it poured down rain.

June 1, 2008

Mom’s birthday, so glad we were able to talk the other day and we mailed her a special post card. We decided to leave today for the next anchorage about 3 miles inside the reef. We had to watch beacons there was lots of coral and shallow, the charts show some places at only 8 feet. Once we arrived we dropped our anchor and went out to snorkel at a nearby reef. We tied our dinghy to a piece of coral. It was awesome snorkeling with lots of colorful fish and no sharks. Today was the first time I was able to get back in the dinghy all by myself! We spent the evening over appetizers, debating which pass to leave the lagoon by. There was one nearby that was shallow but doable on a good day per our guide book. In our minds it was questionable, so we decided to go back 3 or 4 miles to a safer pass.

June 2, 2008

Today is beautiful out, so I worked on cleaning rust while we were waiting on the generator to finish running. We went to shore and walked about 1 ¼ miles and found grocery stores, churches and of course a snack shack where we had cheeseburgers and frites (fries), yum, we miss burgers so much! On the way back my flip flops gave me a blister so it was not a fun walk. We went snorkeling and later Kristen made spaghetti and I made dessert.

June 3, 2008

This morning is sunny and beautiful, so we decided to go to the pass Rautirare about 15 miles away. We had 22 knots of wind on the nose and big rollers. We had to motor and the auto pilot couldn’t hold a course so Mike and I took turns at the helm. Once we arrived the pass was wide and marked with beacons. We motored another 3 miles and anchored near the museum we read about. We went ashore to visit the Paul Gauguin Museum, he was a famous artist, painter and sculptor of the late 1800’s, the cost was 600 francs. Next door was the Botanical Gardens that we had planned to visit too but it would be another 600 francs, that was just too much so we passed on that excursion. Before going back to our boats we decided to check out a local waterfront restaurant, but they were closed. They had what we thought were dinghy docks but they were fish pens. They had several large sharks, and two other pens with other large fish, they may have been dinner. The fish swam over to us as we walked on the dock, it was really fun to see but I would really hate to fall in!

June 4, 2008

Today is Lyn’s birthday, I sent her a post card too, hope she got it in time for her special day. This morning it was raining as it did all night. At 9:30 Charisma picked us up in their dinghy to go check out the waterfall Vaipahi. The grounds were well kept and beautiful with lots of flowers and it was Free! The guide book said you could swim and do your laundry here, but the sign said no swimming. Since it rained all night and was still raining the waterfall was very muddy. But with the rain we were soaked and didn’t need to stand in the waterfall. We walked farther down the road to a strip mall but there weren’t any very interesting stores. On our way back we stopped by a natural spring. There were some locals there who were very friendly and told us that the pool was said to have healing qualities. All you needed to do was leave flowers on the rocks around the pool as an offering and make a wish. They even gave us flowers. Since we know God is our healer we just swam, it was so refreshing and such a pretty little place.

June 5, 2008

This morning we left for Port Phaeton, it is the only true hurricane hole around. It was a very short motor from where we were. It was a shallow bay with a small marina that only seem to have local boats. They also had a boat haul out that we would never be comfortable with, it looked a little risky but we didn’t see it in operation. They had a dinghy dock we could use, before we could go ashore Mike had to bail 15 gallons of water out of our dinghy. We were so excited to have the water to do our laundry, sick huh? After being ashore we didn’t find anything too exciting, except an Ace hardware store that Mike says is even better than back home, he found a spray nozzle for our hose. We also bought a few groceries on the way back.

June 6, 2008

It rained all morning but we still decided to go to Toouo Beach, a white sandy beach where ships used to tie up. The pass was wide and easy, we tied up just inside the pass and it was rather rolly. I cleaned the dinghy out, there were 2 little dead fish in it, don’t know how they got in. I am trying to keep the dinghy clean so we can use the water it catches since it has been raining so much. We went to shore where the beach was black sand and had lunch at a snack shack called La Plage de Maui on the white sand beach. We had a great time as the restaurant owner spoke English and was so friendly. We ate cheeseburgers and French fries again while he told us about the island and showed us books on surfing, apparently this is a surfing area and we just missed a big surfing contest. And he had books and articles on ships that had tied up there. He also told us about the people and how the French government paid the people lots of money due to the nuclear testing and now the people were lazy and a lot of them did not want to work. They import 100% of what they need, food, clothing and lumber. Very interesting lunch, which we ended with a $10 bowl of ice cream with caramel sauce. His wife gave us each a bag of bananas to take with us, very nice! We walked down the beach a little farther and found outdoor showers but we had no soap. L

June7, 2008

We pulled anchor at 9:30 and headed for Vairao again not too far. We went to shore where there were some nice docks and we walked to an archeological site where there were rock platforms with several different areas where people worshipped their gods. We found a papaya tree and picked a couple, which later rotted before they ripened. Bummer. We decided to go to the next anchorage and not stay the night. So I took the helm and weaved my way through beacons and coral while Mike changed the anchor to the other bow roller so he could replace the broken one The anchor was heavier than he thought and it was a difficult job. We arrived at Teahupu at 2pm, a very small anchorage but there were no other boats around. I was glad to be anchored as the wind was blowing 20 knots. We went to shore where there was a dinghy dock. We walked along the road and came to a surfers park. The name of the town was shown on a surf board. We walked across a bridge that took you over the river to a path, that was also marked by a surfers boat. While walking over the bridge we saw huge eels. The walk was beautiful and fun, there were lots of locals out playing games and laughing, the people seemed very friendly. We turned around and walked the other way and stopped by a shrimp farm. We walked down the road to the marina, which we could see from where we are anchored but it would be tough to get into with all the coral reefs. Then we walked home in the rain.

June 8, 2008

Today is hot and no rain. Kristen and Alan went to the Catholic church in town. I wasn’t up to it, we have walked so much lately my hip was hurting. Mike did boat repairs and I made Banana surprise and invited Charisma over for dessert, to share photos and plan our next anchorage.

June 9, 2008

Today we are headed out pass Havae to pass Vaiau near Vaipoiri Grotto. Our wind meter reads 27knots with 3knots of speed on the nose and large rollers again. On our way out of the pass our GPS quit working so we were glad we could follow Alan. I took the helm and Mike tried to get GPS back, we certainly didn’t want to risk going into another pass without our GPS. Mike fixed that and then the tail off the wind generator broke off. Mike had repaired it once with Stu on the crossing but now the other side broke. Luckily it was tied on so we can have it welded or fixed somehow. Mike went below to pump our head and the handle broke, this is just not our best day! Once inside the pass we anchored near Charisma. They were having a hard time too, the took a wave in an open hatch and things were soaked. We all went to shore and hiked up to the Grotto, along the way we saw a great swimming hole but we just weren’t in the mood to swim. The Grotto, the cave wasn’t very far and once there Mike and Alan went inside, it was dark and wet, it wasn’t for me. Kristen decided not to go in either but ended up falling near the cave opening and really hurt her hip and jammed her finger. Alan went swimming and Mike took pictures. We didn’t stay long since Kristen fell. On our way back we took lots of great pictures, it made the day fun.

June 10, 2008

We pulled anchor at 9am on a beautiful morning and headed to Aiurna pass, Paofai Bay. The wind was about 15 knots and the rollers were not quite as big as the day before. Once through the pass we almost hit a coral head, it was cloudy and poor visibility. Just in the nick of time Mike put it in reverse and saved the day. There was no town or roads but there were quite a few homes on shore. In the morning a school bus boat stopped and picked up kids. We took our dinghy around the bay and took pictures.

June 11, 2008

Today we arrived at Tautire Basin. There was a small fishing boat marina where we tied up our dinghy and took our trash. We walked down paved streets through neighborhoods, through the park out on the spit. We stopped at the grocery store and bought limes. We walked back to the marina to a snack shack and had Chinese chow Mein. Then there was an outdoor shower and I had shampoo so Kristen and I washed our hair. We also filled our water jug so we could rinse out our sheets.

June 12, 2008

We left this morning at 7AM for Tahiti yacht club. The winds were lighter than expected and we still had some swell but we were able to motor sail about half way and then just sail. Today the preventer shackle ben, do things ever quit breaking? Once we arrived we anchored in calm water in 60’ of water. We went to shore and tied the dinghy in the marina where there were lots of bugs on the sea wall, yuk! There was a fuel dock that seemed to narrow to get to, you would need to back in and then the dock was shorter than it appeared as a rock was sticking it out making it impossible to use the whole dock. We noticed a women doing what appeared to be the restaurant dishes right on the dock, like she was camping, I don’t think the health department would have liked that. We were able to get internet, although a poor connection, it took for ever to down load email and 28 were junk mail. It was great to hear from our kids, family and friends.

June 13, 2008

Today we planned to go to Marina Tahaina but there are reports of 25 knot winds and high seas. It hardly seems possible since there are calm seas where we are which is not far from the Marina. We pulled anchor and decided to go anyway. But once leaving the channel we heard several boats on the radio telling about 9’ swells in the anchorage. So we turned around and anchored near the yacht club and Charisma moved near to us until a boat came and told us this area is not for ‘yachties’. So we moved back to our original spot. Then we took a bus with Alan and Kristen to downtown and then took a Letruck to Marina Tahaina. We went to see Laurent but he wasn’t there so Michael helped us. Actually he needed our passports, which we did not bring, so it was a wasted trip. Charisma was able to get their mail so they were excited. We then went to the Pink Coconut for happy hour and had a great drink. We then took the Letruck back down town to the plaza and had Chinese dinner. It was very good. There was only a private show for entertainment, so we were disappointed. We went to the bus stop and waited for 45 minutes, when no bus came we found out they don’t run at night and we had to take a taxi. The taxi was $42 to go less than 5 miles. What an expensive night. The taxi driver spoke english said he had twelve kids, by the same women, he said we were lazy for just having two kids.

June 14, 2008

Tomorrow is Father’s Day, we wouldn’t have known except the taxi driver told us. So I emailed Dad and Mike planned to call Bud. We watched lots of outriggers come and go in the bay and boats with crew taking sailing lessons. It was nice being here. Mike went to shore and got 4 jerry jugs of diesel. I helped him get it on board and pour it in our tank. We walked to the store for a few things and bought cheese, crackers and wine and stopped at Charisma on the way back.

June 15, 2008

Today is Father’s Day! We left the yacht club for Mavea Beach so we could take Laurent our passports first thing in the morning. As we were getting ready to leave we watch lots of boats go out the channel to participate in a regatta. It was a beautiful sunny light wind morning, great for a sail or sailboat race. When we rounded the point it was a different story, we had up to 24 knot gusts and 9’ rollers. As we neared the pass it calmed down quite of bit, which we were really glad to be able to enter the pass in calmer water. The pass was very busy with party boats, ski doos and surfers, that we had to watch out for in the narrow passage. We ended up anchoring on the opposite side of the marina as before. And we could still get an internet connection. I made Mike a nice Father’s Day dinner and Julie emailed him, so he was happy.

June 16, 2008

This morning our main agenda was to get Laurent our passports so we could get our departure papers. We stopped by the laundry since I had heard there was a book exchange, however they were all French and one Spanish. We walked to the store again, we remembered a couple of things we were out of, plus we needed change to pay PYS. Mike called his Dad to wish him a happy Father’ Day and he seemed really happy to hear from him. On our way back to our boat we stopped at the fuel dock for ice, it was a huge bag and looked more like ice fishermen might want but we made it work. We also invited Dorothy Marie, Glen and Sally over for a glass of wine. We had a nice time and we were able to trade a couple of books. PYS had our papers ready late afternoon, so we are ready to leave. Tonight I made rice for dinner and discovered that it had a soapy taste as I had stored it near the Oil of Olay. And I have so much rice, I hope I can figure out how to still use it.