Sunny and warm
07/03/2011, Papeete

It's time to get caught up on what has been happening on board and ashore while we have been here in Papeete as well as Moorea.

Well, it took a week but we finally tracked down some people that could fix our poor alternator. It's the one that charges the batteries for all the house electrical needs--lights, refrigerator, fans, etc. It took a lot of walking and asking questions and help from the kind locals to get just the help we needed. In the end, it took two companies to get the job done. One rewound all the stator wires in the alternator(don't ask me what it does) and the second to put it all together again and test it to make sure what the first company did worked and fixed the problem.

Now here is the real problem here in Tahiti. No one uses address nor in many instances puts signs out in front of their business. Their business cards only list a phone number but not where they are. Street names change every now and then as you walk down them. If you call and ask for directions, they tell you to go to a particular round about(big intersection) and turn right, go past a certain store and on the right is a branch of a bank, turn left at the next corner and go 100 meters and you will be at the store. They can't seen to grasp the concept of "We're located at 1700 Remparts Ave." Most times, with no sign out front(there may be a sign inside the store) you have to look in windows and doors to see what some places do. The people that rewound the stator wire couldn't give me an address as to where to go to get the alternator put back together so they took me in their car(not going to happen in the US). Sure enough, no sign out front, just a bunch of tour busses. In this country, you have to know where to go to get things fixed.

So anyway, the alternator is fixed and stowed away under the port settee cushion. As a good cruiser, I keep a spare on board at all times and with the old one out, I installed the new one so we could at least start the engine if need be. Since there was a party and rally set for June 24th through the 26 both here in Papeete as well as over in Moorea, we needed to make sure our engine would start so we could get over there. There was a big party at the Mayor's office in Papeete on the 24th for all the "Puddle Jumpers" that made it across from the mainland. Drinks, talks, stories as well as dances put on by "natives" put on a heck of a show. There were well over 100 of us that showed up for the festivities.

On Saturday, a "Rally" was held for all of us that wanted to go over to Moorea for more partying and games as well as to experience lots of the native culture(food and dancing). Now it wasn't a "race" but they sure ran it like one. Tracy and I have never been in an organized race in all the years that we have been sailing. It's just not our thing. Here we were in a crowd of 39 boats all floating around near the mouth of Papeetes harbor waiting for the horn to blow before we could take off. It was a mad house since they changed the start times without telling most of the cruisers. We got there an hour before the race was to start so we just sat. There was just about no wind so everyone was motoring around in circles just trying to stay away from the other boats. Once the "Rally"(race) started, we all took off---in the wrong direction. The wind was right from Moorea so none of us could head for the island and with it only being about 3 to 5 knots, we were going the wrong direction slowly. After about 90 minutes we, as well as the majority of the rest of the boats. gave up and started our motors again and just headed to the island. Nine boats held out and actually sailed all the way. It took them the rest of the day to get there.

The party was great with lots of dancing by the "natives" as well as a big spread of food that is typical of the islands. God help them if this is what they have to live on. Most we couldn't identify. There was a pumpkin dish that was more of a gelatinous goo that you had to cut with a knife and was tough to get down. Hard to describe everything that was served. Games--canoes races, stone lifting, banana carry races were held through the afternoon with everyone retiring to their boats for a late dinner.

On Monday, we headed back to the Yacht Club since we had made arrangements to get our new "start" batteries on Tuesday morning. As will always be the case, the wind was right at us so we had to motor all the way back to Papeete--21 miles, in 25 to 30 knot winds with water coming over the bow. That was tough but we couldn't put up the mainsail as while we were on the way to Moorea, I found that the bottom two grommets that hold the sail to the mast had begun to tear out of the sail. I was going to have to take them all the way out and stitch in two new ones. I'd learned how to do it while we were in Port Townsend three years ago. Now I was going to get to put into practice what I had been taught. That is one of tomorrows projects.

For this last week, we have been doing other projects as well as going into town to get more parts and supplies. On Tuesday, I walked into town to buy the much needed "start" batteries. I'd found the store with the help of our agent here in Papeete(got us checked in with Customs). Again, no address was given. She drew an X on the map as to where they were(sort of). I'd visited the store the previous Thursday to see what they had. The salesman that helped me even promised that he would deliver them to the yacht club since he saw that I was walking. He even gave me 15% off the cost of the batteries!!!! I was at the store promptly on Tuesday morning and bought the batteries. He loaded them into his truck and delivered them and myself back to the club. Good luck getting that kind of service in the United States!! I got the batteries changed out that afternoon. Unlike the US, there is no "core charge" for the batteries. You take the old ones ashore and some one comes by once a week or so and picks them up and takes them to the recycle station.

I strapped on our scuba tanks on Wednsday and headed down to the propellor to replace all the zincs on the prop as well as the rudder. They had been replaced while we were in Puerto Vallarta and needed to be replace again. They are good for about four months. These little jewels(cost a bunch) help keep the sea water from attacking the stainless steel parts of the boat that are under water. It's lots cheaper to replace a zinc than a big hunk of stainless steel. While diving, we found that both of our inflatable vests that hold the air tanks had developed leaks so now we get to fix them. It just goes on and on fixing things out here but that's just the way of the cruising lifestyle. As soon as you fix one thing, another will break. You just hope that what breaks is small.

Our plan is to take an off road 4 X 4 tour today up into the mountains to see the back lands of Tahiti and swim in one of the mountain lakes. It's an all day trip so it will be fun to see some of Tahiti other than the down town sections of Papeete.

With luck, we hope to be out of here and on our way back to Moorea(to really see the island) on Monday. We still have a few repairs to do plus topping off our fuel tanks(for what we used on the trip to Moorea) as well as filling the water tanks again. Add in a trip to the local grocery store for the last minute supplies of food and we will be ready to get out of here again. Westward again to see more of the Society Islands. We've already checked out with Customs so we just have to let our agent know where we are from time to time till we "officially" leave their islands by August 8th(when our visa expires).

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Still warm and sunny
06/21/2011, Tahiti Yacht Club

As I said in my last post, it's expensive here. We just got back from a trip to Cost & Co for stuff from Costco. Here is our tally. If you have time, the next time you are at Costco, take a look and let us know how they stack up against US prices.

1. Kirtland Tellic Pepper Grinder $10.00
2. Kirtland Tortilla Strips $10.00
3. Nabisco Oreo cookies $12.50 These come in long tubes, not the small packs that hold 8 cookies. These look like Ritz crackers.
4. Bisquick 96 oz box $15.62
5. Country Time lemonade mix $13.12
6. H.K Anderson Peanut Butter Pretzels $15.00

All in all, it totaled to about $76.00 for those 6 items. It takes a lot of money to get stuff to the islands and boy, don't we know it.

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Sunny, warm and blowing.
06/21/2011, Tahiti Yacht Club

Some observations about Tahiti. First, it's EXPENSIVE!!! We stopped in at the local McDonalds(2 on the island). It was packed with customers. A Big Mac combo--not the super size one--runs over $9.00US. Now that might seem outrageous but that is on the cheap side for food here in the islands. The "Snack"(what they call restaurants here)at the marina charges 1400 francs for a decent meal. At 80 francs per dollar, that puts it at $17.50 for a meal. Now that included six small ribs and some French fries. Drinks(Pepsi) at 280 francs comes in at $3.50. Lest you think that because it is near the marina that it is expensive, yesterday, we ate at one of the "Snacks" that is no where near the main roads of Papeete and it was 1300 francs($16.25US) for two chicken wings and a part of a thigh plus a good bit of stir fry rice. Tracy had a beef stew sort of thing with mashed potatoes(same price). With two cokes, the bill came to just under $40.00US and that was just for lunch. Books say that to save money, eat where the locals eat. Well, this place was full of locals. Hardly a table was empty.

Grocery shopping here is sort of a hit or miss expedition. They have two Cost & CO's here. Put it together and it works out to Costco. Well, sort of. They are quite small but carry lots of things from Costco so it's like being home--sort of. The selection isn't that good and the prices are higher but it's all things we are used to from home. The local Carrifor markets are just like being home but again, we're on an island and everything has to get shipped in so not only is freight involved, but the government tacks on a healthy chunk of taxes to help support the local infrastructure.

The bus system is again, sort of hit or miss. Most are smaller style trucks that are all independently owned and operated. They start when they want--normally about 0630 and quit when they feel like it. There is no schedule. If you see one and it seems to be going where you want to go, get on. It's 100 francs($1.25)for a non air conditioned ride. If you wait for the bigger buses, they run 130 francs($1.62). The drivers are great and will normally ask you where you are going since they figure you are a tourist and they don't want you getting lost. Our driver yesterday stopped right beside the Yacht Club on the trip out from town since we told her where we were headed. Some of the other cruisers just hang out a thumb and hitch rides.

Boat parts are tough to find especially if you know what you need or want. When we pulled into the Tahiti Yacht Club(where we are currently moored) the alternator that charges the house bank of batteries decided to up and die. It would only put out 13 volts and about 8 amps. No where near what we need to keep our system up and running smoothly. Now the great folks here at the club had told us that when we hooked up to the mooring ball, we were good till Saturday. We'd come in on Thursday so we were set for two days. Then we found out that the alternator was dead. With that being the case, we were dead in the water. We talked to Dave on SV Soggy Paws about our problem. He fixes everything on his boat--even alternators. He offered to fix ours!!! We met at 1600 at the local hangout and started taking it apart to see if we could find out what the problem was. Tracy was the first to see that the stater wires(help make the power) was charred in one spot. It is supposed to be nice and shiny like it's covered in lacquer. Ours was not. We checked the diodes and they were fine so we knew there was no way we could fix that kind of a problem. We stopped in on Friday morning to let the office know our problem and that there was no way we could leave our mooring. They were very understanding and had to make allowances because of that. They had numerous reservations from other boats that were coming in but things happen. Friday morning, we had an appointment(at 0900) with our agent that is to get us "officially" checked into Tahiti. There was a breakdown in communications so it had to be put off till Monday(yesterday). We'd taken off the old alternator and headed into town to get it rebuilt. We read in one of the local guides that there was a shop in town called Dieselec that specializes in alternators. Now the busses only take you to the center of town. Their shop was way out on the North side of town so with the alternator in my backpack, we started hiking. Please keep in mind that it's about 85 degrees, sunny and the humidity was at about 85 percent. I sweat like a pig as it is so I was dripping during our hike. When we got to Dieselec, he said that he couldn't fix it as he didn't have any of the stater wires BUT, I could hike over to their retail outlet where they did have boat alternators. Off we went, getting there only to be told(he spoke some English and I some French) that they don't carry boat alternators. Say what, the last guy I talked to even checked with one of the people that works there that they did have boat alternators. Oh well, I got directions to another shop(Ocean 2000) that was just a few blocks down the road. We got there just as they closed for lunch. Here's the way shopping works in Tahiti as it does in most of the islands. The stores open at 0730 and close at 1130 till 1300 for lunch. There is no way to shop on your lunch hour and a half. Everywhere is closed, except the restaurants(Snacks). We walked down the street looking for a Snack since we had plenty of time to kill. We saw some smoke coming from under an awning and headed over to see what they had. We bought a half of a chicken along with fries plus two pieces of chocolate cake for 1440 francs. That works out to $18.00 for a great lunch. Add on two soft drinks from the local grocer at $2.12 each and this lunch came in at about $22.00. That makes it the cheapest meal since we arrived and one of the best tasting.

At 1300, we made it back to Ocean 2000 only to find out that while they did have alternators, they didn't have one that works on a 12 volt system with an external regulator. They recommended another place for us to try. Off we went, getting to pass the first store we had already stopped in at. I stopped in again to discuss their stores lack of boat alternators. He assured me that they did have boat alternators and couldn't understand what the confusion was. With that being said, we took off for the next recommended shop getting there just as they were locking their door. They were nice enough to let us in seeing us soaked through in sweat. While they don't fix alternators, he know a guy that knew a guy that he felt sure could fix it. With that being said, I handed him the alternator and we turned to leave. Seeing that we were walking, he offered us a lift back into town. Not a tough decision to make. He dropped us off right at the bus stop. A short time later, we were back at the Yacht Club and on board Zephyr. Unfortunately, I made one mistake. The pulley for our alternator was still attached to the alternator. I needed it. As a cruiser, you never leave home without a good supply of parts. One that we carry is a back up alternator. If I had the pulley, I could put in the replacement and we would be up and running. Rats!!!

Saturday morning, we took off for town again to get to the shop that had the alternator to get that pulley off. Tracy stayed at the big downtown market since she didn't need to make the long hike to the shop. When I got there, another gentleman that worked there got the alternator and I went at it. To get the wheel off, you have to stick an allen wrench into the end of the bolt and a big wrench then unscrews the nut. At least is a perfect world it does. Not this time. I pushed and pulled. Banged on it with a hammer. Put it in a vice and banged on it all with no success. I gave up after a while and thanked the man as he had tried to help me get it off also. Back to down town(another hike) to meet up with Tracy and have lunch. This time, we stopped in a one of the local food vendors in the market(there are dozens to choose from) and got our food. I had a sort of lamb stew(bones included) with rice and Tracy had a chicken dish with rice also. While the food was great(as was the price) it was one of the slowest meals I have ever eaten as I had to pick out the bones with each mouth full. Back to Zephyr we went.

Sunday, we did more chores aboard as the bus service stops for the sabbath. Monday, we took off again to the shop that had our alternator. He'd made his contacts and told us of a place that could rewind the stator wires for us and it wasn't too far away. We got the alternator and took off again. After some conversations with some locals at one of gates, we found the place. Three people were working on one really big alternator while a fourth was sitting at a table winding wire around someone else's stator. No one really spoke English so it was sort of point and try it with hand gestures as to what we wanted to do---get that darn pulley wheel off the alternator. He showed us to a big vice and we went at it. He would have helped but he was tied up with the other alternator. We banged on it again, even adding some lubricants to get it to come undone all with no success. We left them the stater and took off for the first place we had visited last Friday. They stuck it in a vice and used an impact driver and it came right off. Now we at least had the pulley wheel. We were making progress. We dropped off the rest of the alternator at the fix it shop and headed off again. We had other boat supply stores to visit. After an afternoon of more walking, we made it back to Zephyr late in the afternoon.

This morning, I started in at getting the replacement alternator installed. An hour or so later, it was all installed and up and running and making amps and volts like it is supposed to. It's blowing in the high teens again as I type this so the DuoGen is loving it making lots of good volts for the batteries. We'd run our Honda generator earlier since our batteries were low but now we are letting the wind give us power and get the batteries charged.

Time to stop. I've ranted long enough. We will pile into Puff and head to shore to make a run to Cost & CO for some supplies. We will probably get wet, but that's the cruisers life for you.

More to come.

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Bill Hudson
06/15/2011, Point Venus, Tahiti

We've finally made it to Tahiti arriving in Point Venus about 1300 today after a 48 hour trip marked by numerous rain squalls as well as some big blows and some times of no wind at all. A real mix of what Mother Nature can throw at you. We got hit yesterday by one really nasty swell that came out of no where and put us just about on our side. If it wasn't tided down or wedged in, it came our flying across the cabin. I can't remember a time where we got pushed over further and the weather wasn't that bad at the time. It was just one of those "rogue waves" that everyone talks about.

We've now covered 4238 miles since we left La Cruz, Mexico back on April 9(I think) and logged over 960 just since we left the Marquesas. Last year, we were about to leave San Carlos, Mexico for Colorado and two years ago we were just about to arrive in Juneau, Alaska. Time flies and sure do the miles under our keel. We're coming up on 13,000 miles since we left Port Townsend in early April of 2009. Take off the time we spent in Colorad last Summer(almost 6 months) and we've squeezed a lot of miles into just a bit over 20 months.

There is a party thrown by the French government next week for all the Puddle Jumpers and a sailing rally from Papeete to Moorea to add to the festivities. It will be fun to see all of the other boaters that left La Cruz for the jump.

One of the Puddle Jumpers ended up on a reef at the South pass of Fakarava(one of the atolls we visited. They were lucky enough to get it off but we haven't heard what damage they had. Hopefully very little. There aren't too many place out here where you can just pull in for a quick fix. We were lucky today and avoided what could have been a really big problem. As we were pulling into Point Venus, I went forward to get our anchor ready for dropping. Here is the way our anchor is set set up. You have the anchor attached with a shackle to a swivel that attaches to the chain with a pin held on with a cotter pin. As I looked down inspecting the entire assembly, I saw that there just just about nothing left of the cotter pin. It had rusted away to just about nothing. I went below and got a box of our collection of cotter pins and headed back to the anchor. All I did was tap on the pin and it fell right out on the deck. If this had happened while it was in the water, the pin that holds the chain to the swivel would have most likely fallen out and we would have been left adrift in the water. With most places we have visited in the last few weeks being nothing but water and big coral heads and reefs, it would not have been a happy ending. It's the little things like that that can really ruin your day if they aren't caught in time.

So here we sit putting things away and cleaning up and washing with fresh water many things on deck that have some salt water in them so they won't smell after being put in storage till the next time they are needed. We will probably stay here till Friday and then up the anchor and head into Papeete and get formally checked into the islands. Getting checked in in the Marquesas isn't good enough I guess.

We've finally made the dream trip of many sailors and I know that there is no way I could have made it with out my wife being there by my side. It's more that just a trip, it's an endurance test not only for the equipment on your boat, but also for for the people involved in the journey. I'm just glad she was there for me.

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Bill Hudson
06/14/2011, En route to Point Venus

We dropped the line to the mooring buoy yesterday afternoon at 1300 hours. We left so late because the trip typically take about 40 hours and we didn't want to get in too early. We've been making good time though the winds pushed us farther South than our projected course. We just gybed (too the stern of the boat through the eye of the wind) and changed course so that we will be on a better course to Point Venus. We will still have to gybe again before sunset but it's no longer such a bid deal with as many times as we have had to do it over the last two months.

Last night, I was on watch from 1900 to 2300 when Tracy came back on watch. We've had intermittent squalls through the trip but that just cleans Zephyr's deck. With a good 10 to 12 foot swell running at our stern as well as our side, we have been rocking and rolling all through he night and into today. Today is about the last good wind for the voyage so it's a good thing we left when we did. Buoy Weather(or weather information center) sent us a weather email telling us this and it was confirmed by another member of the morning net that we have going out here.

So today, it's just another day on the water, watching where we are and looking our for other boats. I did see a mast head navigation light on another sailboat during the early morning watch(0300 to 0600) but there were miles ahead of us.

I'll let you know how the rest of the trip goes. My next post should be when we are anchored off the coast of Tahiti!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will have finally made it to the sailor Mecca!!

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Bill Hudson
06/05/2011, Anse Amyot, Toau

We have changed our plans again. We decided late yesterday that we would stay one extra day here in Anse Amyot and take off tomorrow for Tahiti instead. The Puddle Jump get together is coming up and we don't want to miss it. With today being the 12th and the party set for the 24 and it takes two days to get to Tahiti, we felt that it would be better to leave the Tuomotus now. So tomorrow about 1100, we will cast off the lines from the mooring buoy we have been attached to for the last 8 days and get the heck out of here. It's still blowing in the high teens but we need some wind to get there and now is the time. Another boat took off today for Tahiti and fours boats came into the anchorage. So as of tonight, we are back up to seven boats.

One boat--a catamaran named Yolo ("you only live once") came into the anchorage with 30 loaves of French bread. Dave on Soggy Paws had told them in a earlier radio call to bring as many as they could. At that time, the anchorage had 17 boats in it. When they pulled in today, there were only 4 left. I greeted them at 0600 as they entered the anchorage. They made a general call through the anchorage about the loaves and within an hour, three of the four boats had pulled along side to stock up. What ever is left, Valentine and Gaston will buy as the supply ship only gets here once a month and their only other option is to go over to Rotoava on Fakarava and get supplies there. I'm sure they were happy to get what ever they could from Yolo. We snatched up three loaves our selves. Yolo had picked them up on another island right off the plane that flew them in from Papeete (the capital) on Tahiti. If they had gotten here a day earlier, they would have been swamped with other boaters.

We spent the day cleaning and getting ready for leaving tomorrow. Stowing and tying down everything that isn't nailed down. Tracy made chili for the trip so there will not be any big cooking along the way and did a Pad Thai Red Curry dish for tonights dinner. It's about 220 miles or about a day and a half to get there so it's not a big trip. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes along the way. At least we will have the better part of a full moon to keep us company along the way.

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