We arrived in Raiatea on Tuesday after an overnight sail from Moorea
As we entered the lagoon and were dropping the sails, we quickly discovered that our main would not come down. Half an hour later we had it down, but it was a pain. Thankfully, and surprisingly, it was not blowing 30..that seems to be the norm for us!! Anyway, we still do not have the new bat cars that slide the main up and down. We have since ordered them...oh, and the main ripped too..naturally.
We thought we could hold off on hauling Indy until Samoa or New Zealand but we need to do it now. We contacted the yard in Samoa and they quoted us 4,800.00USD to haul for four days, any day after that was an additional 150.00USD. Wow, business must be booming to charge thos prices!!! The repairs simply will not wait until New Zealand. Not to mention our sails are in a sorry state of disrepair!! They can haul Indy here at a reasonable price, plus there is a sail loft so we can fix all of our sails. The problem is that there is not much on the island to do for me to do with the kids while we are in the yard, when O is working on Indy. There are no beaches here and the main town is quite a haul. I am going to snoop around for a hotel with a pool to loiter during the day. Normally if I buy lunch they let you swim..I hope!!!
The weather has been overcast, rainy, windy and cool. We have been kind of holed up on the boat since arriving which is never good for the family. Too much time in close quarters makes me a little nuts. I get short and irritable which then feeds on itself and goes rapidly down hill.
Today we left for town but it was raining pretty hard so O and the kids went back to the boat and I hitched in. I was surprised everyone wanted to go back to the boat as it was the last place I wanted to be. I got a ride pretty quickly and walked around town for the afternoon just delighted to be alone and off the boat. It does not help that I have not had any exercise. Have I mentioned that some sorry slob stole my sneakers in the Galapagos??? I hope he/she has foot rot. See, the mood is not full of joy and happiness.
I was up the majority of the night last night. We are currently on a mooring that belongs to the yard but a nasty storm blew through this morning which brought forty kt winds, and I was a little anxious about the mooring holding. The boats all around us were dragging and surprisingly we did not get hit!! That may be a first. I was nervous about the mooring, but also really happy that we were on the mooring and not having to do anchor watch. It seems so out of character for us!!!
That's all for know..

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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.

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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

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