No one gets to say, "back to Tahiti!" We can. We know our way around, know where the showers and laudremat are located, know the harbor master by name.

We've earned our way here.

A few hours after splashing Wings and bending on her sails, we motored out of Raiatea Carenage and toward Taha'a. We hadn't traveled more than a few hours out when some poor work by the Carenage caught us and Conni sailed as best she could while I tried to solve the problem on the engine. We were no more than 200 meters from a reef, so it was hair-raising. I was unable to make a repair, so we sailed into the nearest bay and dropped our new anchor. I worked several more hours before finding the solution and effecting repairs. Jeez, what an ordeal!

The next morning, after getting the anchor un-stuck from a coral head (cause of a great concern when the thought of cutting loose our new anchor was considered), we delicately motored out of the coral reef and toward Tahiti.

There's a leak somewhere in the cooling system, and I had to drop engine RPM and pour in a few cups of water every hour for most of the night, but we motored all the way to Tahiti, there being almost no wind and our being under some pressure to arrive before STH closed for the weekend.

As you might remember, STH is a local purveyor of things maritime, including Mercury outboard motors. Our old, and somewhat beloved Sears Gamefisher was on its last legs and buying parts had become problematic, as was its failing dependability. Buying locally had many benefits over hauling one from the US, and we had been assured that the motor would be ready to get by Friday afternoon.

Well, you guessed it: it had barely been ordered and was still in the US. What? After "reframing" and simply dealing with the situation, we decided to buy a Mercury 2-stroke, 5 HP engine. As it turns out, it's 12 important pounds lighter and will probably do just as well for us. Still, STH had never told us the truth about what was happening, so we wrote them a "nastygram" and sent it to everyone who had an email address at STH. What bozos.

We're in Marina Taina again, just outside of Papeete proper. We've showered, we've had our Hinano beer, the local Tahitian beer. All in all, we've gotten a lot accomplished today.

Tomorrow, our crew mate, Nathan, arrives at 0530, and Conni will fetch him to the boat while I complete some chores. I've got to find and fix the coolant leak, of course, and have some other important chores for the day.

Plans are to leave Tahiti on Monday mid-morning and get to Moorea, the island that shares Tahiti's reef. We'll spend the night and then travel to Bora Bora, an island that many think is the most beautiful in the world. We'll see about that.

I don't know when I'll get some photos posted, but perhaps Sunday. We went shopping are Carrefour, a French grocery chain. Why did I go, too? It's AIR CONDITIONED! I didn't sweat! There were some local women just freezing as they traveled up the aisle and one of them said as she passed that the store was too cold. I told her that I was an American from Alaska and thought that it was heavenly. She looked surprised at first, then burst into laughter. Those little human interactions, of course, are one of the reasons to travel.

Philippe, the harbor master whom we knew from last year, is a handsome man in a French kind of way, or that's what Conni thinks. I think that he's at least very nice and very knowledgable. He and his family live on a Beneteau 49 named Mariah. It's a great boat with lots of practical additions that make it very livable. I do enjoy seeing what other cruisers do to make their onboard lives better. Philippe bought the boat in Texas and sailed it back through the canal and to Tahiti. He, his wife, three young sons, and their cocker spaniel live aboard, and they all seem happy and well-adjusted to the cruising life. What different people the kids will be when raised with so few material things: there's simply no room. I watched them play today with a few other cruising kids and they were cavorting on the dock and jumping into the warm South Pacific to play. I'm sure that they're great swimmers and are as at home in the water as on land. Mom was there watching, of course,, but she didn't interfere, even though there was four-foot drop from the concrete dock to the water surface.

Addendum: It's Sunday morning and Nathan arrived today. More later.