A sample text widget
Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis
euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.
Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan.
Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem,
suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.
|
by steve, on June 29th, 2010 ( A Cappella, Bristol Rose, Callisto, Imagine, InnForAPennyII, Inspiration Lady, Leu Cat, Lilith, Sea Mist, Society Islands, Song Line, Whoosh) Before the morning SSB net was over John and I headed ashore. I had a date with our agent, Laurent, as he had received a letter containing my bank card. Our old one had expired and we really needed this one. Once we had this we headed off to the Carrefour to pick up some beer for the evening. The local beers had an offer going where the price for 20 was reduced. We picked up 40 bottles only to find the offer was over. I figured what the hell and bought them all anyway. John picked up some Magnum ice cream for a birthday present.
Back on the boat we go into the business of stuffing the beers away into all corners of the fridge and freezer. Later in the morning Helen cooked up an artery busting fry up for brunch which we followed up with the intensely chocolaty magnums.
We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat up and then reanchoring (four times) as we were a little too close to one of the other boats. The anchor seemed to have a lot of trouble setting. We were in 60 feet of water so we weren’t lifting it up off the bottom each time. At one point I asked Helen to raise the anchor out of the water just to make sure we still had one.
At 6pm the evening’s festivities began. We had invited the folks from A Cappella, Bristol Rose, Callisto, Imagine, Inn for Penny II, Inspiration Lady, Leu Cat, Lilith, Sea Mist, Song Line & Whoosh for a combined birthday (for me)/farewell (for John) party. Helen had been concerned about the boat being too crowded but in the end we comfortably held 27 people aboard without people having to spill forward. The weather remained perfect for the evening. With that many people it was impossible to chat to everyone but everyone seemed to have a good time.
About half way through Helen called for quiet so the ladies could enact a scheme they’d come up with (inspired I understand by Sheilah from Imagine). They had put on fresh lipstick and in turn they each sang to me then kissed me somewhere on the face. I ended up, of course, with lots of marks on my face.
The evening went very well. It was good for John to meet up again with a few of the folks he’s got to know. For us, it may be almost the last time we see a few of these folks. Out of Tahiti everyone is heading towards Bora Bora but from there they’ll head off in different directions and on different timetables. While we wait here in Tahiti for the next two weeks, many will move on and we may never catch up. Those going to New Zealand we’ll see but those on their way, like Whiskers, to Australia will be too far ahead of us. However, we’ll meet some new people who are on the trail behind us which will be good.
Helen and I are looking at the various anchorages around Tahiti so we have an idea of what to do over the next couple of weeks. Things are going a bit crappy with some of our internet orders. If we can sort these out we can get out of here the day after John leaves.
After the morning net three dinghies headed south to the end of the bay rendezvousing with two more from vessels further in. Soon we had folks from Whiskers, Callisto, Jackster, Sea Mist and us on the road for an easy hike to Belvedere. This was a lookout with views of both Opunohu and Cook Bays. The hike started off very cool in the shaded valley but soon became quite humid. Fortunately the hike wasn’t too strenuous. My cold was really setting in and I wasn’t up for too much exertion. A lot of cruisers have colds at the moment. I think it was mixing it up with the crowds in Pape’ete has exposed us to all the latest strains.
Back on the boat after lunch Gerald from Whiskers as well as Tom from Emily Grace showed up to discuss our leak. There was concern we may have corrosion which would be quite serious. To be on the safe side the immediate remediation was to use epoxy to seal the leaking joint and then seal that over with a layer of self bonding tape. I did all this and upon testing we are again dry.
Somewhere along the way I managed to aggravate my wrist which is now extremely painful. I suspect it may be related to the sore throat, etc. I have but can’t be sure. There are a few medical professionals on nearby boats who I may consult today.
Not sure of our plans for today but right now I don’t feel up to much.
We started the morning with my waking John up a little earlier than he’d have perhaps wanted to go to the supermarket for fresh baguettes and some more beer. There was an offer on the local beers as long as one bought 20 50cl bottles which made the price come down to somewhere close to decent.
We munched our fresh bread and made the boat ready to sail. As we waited Sea Mist arrived from the anchorage on the other side of the airport and ended up rafted up against us while we waited for the 9am departure for the start of the race (no – it was a rally !!).
There was a buzz of excitement as nearly 40 boats made their way outside of the harbour ready for the official start of the race (no – it was a rally !!). The race (rally) started at 9:30 in light winds. We cheated a little and pushed ourselves along in the light air keeping in the middle of the pack. Soon we hit the winds coming from the SE and were flying in 20 knots of wind and creeping higher. Dignity loves the high winds and we were flying along between 9 and 11 knots. As the winds reached the high 20s we reefed the main. Most of the monohulls around us were wetting their rails – one or two wee almost flattened against the water.
The end of the race (no!!! – rally) was exiting. I’d noticed that the regen had been on for a while so I made sure it was off and we suddenly gained pace on the boats around us. The line to the finish was tighter than most boats could make, including us, so most of the boats were making a tack or two in close quarters right between the buoys. As the boats made it into the anchorage it became quite packed. We found a good spot on a sand bar in only 8 feet of water. With stronger winds predicted I dove on the anchor and found it buried in sand – perfect. I did later ready a second anchor in case we dragged over night.
INSERT_MAP
In the five years the Puddle Jump has been run this was by far the most wind they’ve had. As far as we know everyone was fine and no boats were damaged so that made it a perfect start to the day’s festivities.
With the wind being so strong and every one arriving early we had quite a wait for the evening’s fun. At 5pm we went ashore to witness more Tahitian dancing (very erotic I think). A few gifts were given to random people. Helen received a basket woven out of palm leaves. Then came the BBQ which we’d paid for earlier which we ate under a large marquee. We sat with Whiskers and Callisto but throughout the evening we chatted with many of our other friends made along the way.
Overnight the winds continued to blow strong. If anyone dragged it happened without waking us up despite our having the radio on overnight. The wind gen really earned it’s keep. It has rained overnight but now it is quiet. Hopefully the weather will improve for today where there are Tahitian canoe races to participate in and other events.
We had a reasonably easy day of it yesterday. At 10am four dinghies (Soggy Paws, Jackster, Sea Mist and us) headed out the pass and off to the east to a dive spot. The dive was a wall dive with drop offs going down hundreds of feet followed by sandy pockets and overhangs – all giving plenty of places to investigate and look for sea life.
Back on the boat we had our lunch before doing a spot of reading. I went ashore to talk about having an evening meal there. The Jacksters were keen and relayed the fact that Jack on Anthem and the Imagines were on their way and had expressed a desire to book a slot to eat out too. Valentino, the local who runs the little restaurant here was initially reluctant to cater for an additional eight but after consultation with her husband relented.
We then snorkeled the nearby reef. We saw a number of large parrot fish as well as the largest trumpet fish we have ever seen. We examined the nearby fish trap which, true to it’s function, had trapped a large number of fish including an immense parrot fish.
I did do a little work which was half pleasure. I wanted to reverse our Code Zero halyard as it was damaged when the Code Zero last blew. Having reversed it I wanted to inspect the pulleys at the top of the mast in case they’d been damaged too. John manned the winches and hoisted me up. From the top of the mast – higher than any land around – I could see over the trees and could see the atoll curving around in each direction. The pulleys were ok but I stayed a short while to enjoy the view.
Then came some hammock time for me. I started to read but decided just to rest and watch the sea rippling in the sunlight.
The net we’ve been running in the morning has gathered a lot of listeners. We recently agreed to extend it for a few more months as most of the boats push further west. As four of the current net controllers were in this tiny anchorage we all got together aboard Dignity to kick the net up a gear agreeing a script, formal rota, contact into and guidelines for adapting the net as we all head west. While we were all together the sun set quite gloriously.
At 7pm we went ashore for dinner. We were served fish and lobster dishes which were quite delicious but a little expensive – understandable given the remoteness of this place. As ever, the company made it all the better.
It looks like we won’t be able to have dinner here on our anniversary as it turns out it’s their anniversary too and it’s also Sunday which they prefer not to work. We’re thinking of possibly having dinner again tonight which although being a day earlier here would be our anniversary in England where we were married.
We woke this morning to the sound of the wind gen turning which it hasn’t done too often for the last several days. We’re thinking of leaving here on Monday but we may go tomorrow if the wind picks up. We’ll see.
Today we’ll probably dive again and maybe go for a walk. The bottom of the boat needs a scrape as it’s growing whiskers in places which will affect our passage.
There was little wind to speak of yesterday and once underway we were reluctant to stop so we made it all the way to the village. No surprise but there were quite a few boats in the anchorage of which we recognised most.
INSERT_MAP
We were soon connected to the internet and struggling through the slowness of it all to get a few things done. Two of the key tasks were to book Ben’s flight to join us (now set for July 13th) and Sam’s flight to South Africa to visit his family there.
Later we went ashore to have a look around. We bumped into Jackie from Jackster who was on a similar mission to ourselves. We found Gunther who provides free visits to his pearl farm and set up a trip for the next day (this afternoon). We then visited the dive shop and set up a dive for this morning on the incoming current at the northern pass.
We parted company with Jackie and headed down the main drag (such that it was) and visited the three stores along the way picking up some rather overheated croissants left over and some raisin bread. Outside one of the stores we met Brian and Jodon from El Regallo who we’d known from the radion. It was nice to meet and get to know them. Soon we were back aboard internetting again before settling down to sleep.
This morning I was ashore at 6am to pick up fresh baguettes and croissant for breakfast. Shortly before 8am John and I dinghied to the dive shop for our dive – Helen wanting to pass on this one as it was a little technical. We met the Jacksters there as well as John and Ian from Sea Mist along with some others who we didn’t know. It didn’t take long to get out to the dive site 5nm away in their powered RIB. We were separated into groups of 4 with a dive master with each group. Our group went second. We were dropped into the water and had to head down fairly quickly lest we be swept beyond our target in the strong currents.
Our first stop at around 110ft was on the rising reef. Here we saw thousands of fish and hundreds of sharks all milling around each in their own place in the food chain starting with the small life being swept up over the reef by the current. We soon hand to handed over to coral to a spot about 90ft deep where we waited another 10 minutes before letting go. We were swept over the reef and through some canyons for around 10 minutes before arriving at a dip in the reef called Ali Baba where sharks and fish took refuge from the current. The other two divers in our group were running low on air and needed extra from the dive master. Presumably they’d not been able to relax in the deep part of the dive and used up too much air.
Forty minutes into the dive it was time to rise and take a 5 minute safety stop to allow some of the nitrogen to fizz off. After that we were on the surface being picked up by the RIB. A great dive.
Back ashore it was back to internetting, this time ordering parts to be sent to Ben to bring to the boat in a months time.
This afternoon we went back ashore to visit the pearl farm. We didn’t get the full show as the technicians were out in the lagoon fixing things but we were shown an oyster being opened and a black pearl within. We also had explained the whole pearl making process which was pretty interesting. The end of the trip, inevitably, was where we could buy some pearls. Helen found one she liked and John bought a few.
That’s about it. The wind has been non-existant today and the lagoon consequently flat. From others I understand the forecast for the next few days is about the same. We’ll stay here until our online work is done and then head to Toau even if we have to motor.
In the meantime I’ve put together our tracks of our big crossing and our stay in the Marquesas. You’ll have to zoom out to see the bigger crossing.
View 2010 Marquesas in a larger map
With any minutes left I’ll try and uploading some more pictures.
|