Fare Thee Well, but Fair... Well?
07 August 2010 | En Route to Rarotonga - Day 2
Biking Maupiti
August 6
Snuffed the drifter at 0400 as breeze began to freshen under overcast with distant flashes of lightning. When wind died at 0530 in torrential rain and engine did too right after starting and didn't immediately restart, boat was actually going backward in half knot eastward current. After checking various potential culprits and noise of rain decreased, restarted initially stumbling Westerbeke which then ran OK. Suspect coking from running too lightly. This was sum of excitement for a day which was primarily spent reading back issues of Latitudes and Attitudes magazine and napping with periods of sailing at from .5 to 2.5 knots without disagreeable clatter. Torpid brain has congealed into Crisco.
Due departing French Polynesia, will soon haul down $3 blue, white and red courtesy flag-on-a-stick and begin flying equally chintzy one for Cook Islands. Having lasted through St. Martin, Guadaloupe, Martinique and FP, it should be forgiven for having tattered away all red. It now represents either a backward "H" or international distress signal, "I've fallen and can't get up".
Polynesia was such a delight, fear that future stops will be disappointing, but am told it gets even better. Like many Kiwis, Aussies, Brits and some Canadians, who are often intelligible, with effort, to people in the U.S., islanders now will be using, as their second rather than third language, English. By the way, it seems wrong that England should name a lingo that they can't even speak without an accent. Of course, I don't suppose many Americans are embarrassed about having hogged the word that describes an entire hemisphere. Life just isn't fair.
Jack