We are still in Moorea. Our friends have left so we are catching up on school, snorkeling, going to the beach, which has great trees for climbing, and just chilling out. There is also a fresh water tap so that we can do laundry..ugh. I do believe that one of the worst parts of cruising is laundry. Usually I take it to be done but there is nowhere to take it here and it is HELLISHLY expensive.
Oprah sometimes poses this question to her guests:
What is one thing you know for certain?? Well, I finally have the answer...clothes never get as clean or smell as good as they do when the come out of a washer/dryer. This is a myth created, I think from sentimentality or nostalgia but it is NOT true. There is NO JOY derived from washing twenty pounds of clothes. O's clothes get much cleaner than mine. He scrubs them while I subscribe to the "soak" method.
Yesterday we took the kids over to feed the Manta Rays and black tip sharks. As soon as you drop the dinghy anchor the rays swarm around the boat. O took the kids in the water and they all swam amongst them while I took photos from the safety of the dinghy. After I saw that it was safe I went in as well. A boat from a nearby hotel arrived shortly after, dropped anchor and fed them. We joined in with the hotel boat until the sharks came. The boys stayed but I swam back. We can't all be heroes!!!! It was fun to see the boys in their giddy excitement... the kind of excitement where you are also a little scared.
It has been mellow here but nice. Not really a whole lot to report.
O and I have been struggling to decide where to go for hurricane season. The plan had always been New Zealand, but we are pretty far behind and I just do not want to rush through the Pacific after making the trek all the way out here. Some could argue that there is no such thing as Indy and rush in the same sentence but. You know what I mean. Indy NEEDS to be hauled out of the water and spruced up so it is a matter of where. We need the place to economical, safe, and easy to obtain parts and skilled labor around. We could haul out in Raitaia but it is expensive and getting parts takes quite a while. There is nowhere in the Cook Islands to haul which then leaves us with American Samoa..yes, the armpit of the Pacific, as it is so eloquently referred too.
However, as of this month all of the fish canneries are being closed for good. The government is putting a great deal of money into cleaning up the harbor making it desirable for cruisers and mega yachts. A new sheriff is in town I guess you would say. They have the facilities to haul Indy and from what we have heard a great mail system with flight to the States so getting parts would not be a huge hassle or break the bank (I don't think). Another perk is that since we are American, we are thinking we may possibly be able to work too! If the rumors are true, there should be lots of opportunity and now would be the time to get in. I have not checked out the schools but they are in English and if they are terrible we would just continue to home school. SO, that is the plan du jour. The problem is that nobody will respond to our emails. except the yacht club..their pizza chef went back to Italy but they still have cold beer, or so they say. This place sounds like it needs some organization Otis and Jenny style! We shall see. If we don't like it we can mad dash to NZ. So those are the thoughts at the moment.
picture of O and Carlos in the MArquesas. One downside to Moorea is that it is much harder to meet the local people. I miss that.

Comments [1] | | More

Just a quick Happy Birthday to my Grandmother!!
Happy Birthday Gram!! You are, and continue to be, a beacon of dignity, strength, honesty and kindness that guides us all. I hope you have a wonderful day. Please know that you are in my thoughts and, as always, in my heart.
I love you.

I will post a blog tomorrow

Comments [1] | | More

We arrived in Moorea yesterday after a five day sail from the Marquesas.
It was sad to leave the Marquesas but hurricane season is marching toward us faster than we would like.
The first thirty six hours of the trip were fine then the squalls rolled in and it just got nasty. Twenty five kt winds and ten ft seas for three days..ugh. I am starting to think that whoever named it the Pacific which means passive was having a bit of a joke. We have been duped in the Greenland/Iceland way. From what I have experienced thus far, Neptune does not knock first he simply blows the doors right off!
My foul weather gear is severely lacking too. O went with the nice gear which at the time I thought was overpriced and unnecessary but after three days of standing out in the rain soaking wet I realized very quickly that I should have just buckled down and bought the better stuff....lesson learned. The hard way, of course.
Initially, we had planned on sailing to the Tuomotos for a few days and then to the Societies to catch up with our friends Steve and Kath on Uliad before they leave for six months. However, there was no way we were going to navigate through the narrow passes of a low lying atoll in squally conditions. Many a boat have seen their demise at the hands of these nasty atolls and Indy was not going to be one of them. We changed course, fell off, added two more days to the trip and carried on. The upside of the trip was that we only used our engines to charge our batteries which is a relief when fuel is $5.00 a gallon.
I had nothing planned for the kids because I did not know that we would be out for six days. I felt bad because I did not spend much time with them on this trip. They happily played legos and watched movies. I think because we were not prepared it seemed like a really long trip.
It is wonderful to be back in Moorea. This island holds very special memories for us. This is where O asked me to marry him twelve years ago. When we were in the South Pacific with Carmac we spent a lot of time here. We were giddy and nostalgic when we dropped anchor. We look forward to showing the island to the boys.
After anchoring our friends on Gallivanter came over which was fun because we hadn't seen them since Grenada!!!! Finally we have caught up with them which is unusual because we travel so slowly!!! Of course seeing Steve, Kath and Em on Uliad was like seeing family again. I am going to miss them very much when they leave.
I have to run because Ben has to go to a birthday party on the beach.

Comments [1] | | More