Well, perhaps this is the last day in the water, but perhaps not. We have been planning to get pulled today, and have worked in the heat with that in mind. The deck is stripped of items that will be stored below and all the other on-deck items are stowed for the pull.

Evidently, there was some kind of holiday on Monday, so a lot of locals returned to moorings at the last minute. Last night a big catamaran found a mooring, perhaps its own, that was just too close to us. It'll be a difficult task to maneuver past them to pull the anchor when we're called. Drat. The wind continues to move us around quite a bit, adding to our concerns of collision with the cat. At least they're aboard so can help if we get too close.

It's hot and humid again, so we sit below with the fan on. We go on deck when there's an identified task to complete, but otherwise we find things below deck to do. The wind still won't moderate enough to pull sails and we're hoping that when we're on land, the proximity to the hills of Raiatea will drop the wind enough to complete this task.

We have a long list of tasks that we're hoping to leave in the hands of some capable person. There's engine work, sail repair and cleaning, and a few other tasks.

At some point, we should hear from the Raiatea Carenage to call us to be pulled. "To careen" a boat is an old term that means to allow a boat to ground when the tide leaves. Of course, this is done so that successive tides are higher, removing doubts about the boat's eventual re-floating. Properly done, the boat is allowed to sit at high tide so that at ebb tide when the tide is lower, the boat is high and dry, allowing for repairs to be completed below the waterline. In the old days, show holes below the waterline could be fixed, growth could be removed, seams re-caulked, any number of important tasks could be completed on any suitably safe, sandy beach. Cook and other explorers did it all the time. That's not how this place operates, we sincerely hope, and they're supposed to have a "Travelift", a large four-wheeled device that uses straps fore and aft to lift a vessel and place her somewhere else. They're supposed to have a 25 ton Travelift, more than adequate to lift Wings.

We're living on some solar during midday, and charging with the Honda the rest of the time. The Honda runs a few hours each day to charge all of the batteries. The engine start battery must be charged, obviously, as well as the windlass battery that powers the device that lifts the anchor. Both must be fully charged and we're happy that the Honda is aboard, since the regulator is broken and we can't charge the batteries with the engine. A diesel doesn't need a battery to operate like a spark ignition does, but all of the engine lights, gauges, and such are powered from the engine battery, as is the starting process. At the end of a long day of motoring, there's not enough juice in the engine battery to keep the gauge lights lit! We're planning on buying a top-of-the-line Balmar replacement regulator to replace our failed unit....in fact, two of them.

So, we've got fenders inflated and ready, some dock lines ready to deploy, and are ready to jump start the engine and get the anchor aboard.

We were just out in the cockpit enjoying a Hinano beer, a local Tahitian beer, and we could see the rain moving toward us. It was a momentary deluge but enough to cause us to fetch a few of the drying and vulnerable items on deck and hurry them below.

While we've been awaiting our call, we've been able to catalog a lot of our lockers of gear, making notes on what we have and need. We each keep a "Write in the Rain" notebook to catalog items that we need to bring next time, need to replace or repair, and ideas for improvements. I started mine on Leg 1, so it's gotten a lot of use.

I think that we're going to be forced to replace our SeaCow, the outboard re-named after John Steinbeck's famous outboard from the book, "The Sea of Cortez" that had many of the same frustrating behaviors that ours has. It's a 1980s-vintage Sears outboard, so buying parts is problematic. We keep it because I can keep it running, most of the time, new motors are very expensive, and VERY heavy. Keeping it running past its built-for five years has been a running fight. It was not a great motor when it was new and now it's a constant battle to keep it running. I love a challenge.

I need some aerobic exercise! In the wind accompanying the rainstorm, one of our fenders went overboard and was 100 yards from the boat before Conni yelled to me. I dropped the laptop, dove overboard, and swam after it. I reached it and sidestroked back to the boat, but I'm a bit tuckered. I need a cocktail!

As you can tell, I've been writing, working, and waiting today. It's almost 1700 and no call, so I'm sure that we'll be here tonight, too.