Actually, at present, we're reaching along the southeast coast of Huahine, in 25 kts of wind off our port quarter. It's a very comfortable point of sail, no heeling or bouncing, and good boat speed of 5.8 kts. It's quiet, comfortable, and we have a good chance of being on the hook and into Fare to buy rum, baguette, and get some water, all before things close.

Yes, we need water since our vaunted water maker took a powder, perhaps permanently (for this leg, anyway). We think the high pressure pump motor is toast, requiring that we either replace it or haul it home for repair. It stopped working during the flush cycle after making 20 gallons of water before we departed Rangiroa.

Departure was uneventful until we tried to exit through that damned Tiputa Pass. NEVER AGAIN! We did the best that we could to navigate through at slack water, and were doing well until we were almost through. Bang! The outgoing water met the incoming tide in a set of huge rollers and standing waves. Conni relinquished the helm and I gunned the engine and we pushed through, desperately trying to keep Wings parallel to the shore and not get pushed sideways, a certain fatal problem.

After 30 anxious minutes, we were through and set sail for Huahine. Well, we did some sailing, but with the very light wind, we did a lot of motoring, too. When motoring, I perform an engine check each 10-12 hours. We stop the engine, Conni takes the helm to sail the boat, and I check engine oil, coolant, and general engine conditions. I make notes in my engine log as to hours, oil or coolant added, and comments. It's boring reading, but I can track conditions and make changes before problems occur.....sometimes.

We're sailing past Huahine Iti ("iti" means "little"), and approaching Huahine Nui, or Big Huahine. There is huge surf shooting up into the air as the waves slam into the reef and we can see it a full mile away, so the spray must be 50 feet in the air! And we can hear it clearly, too.

We'll spend the night here, then motor or sail to Raiatea tomorrow. It's only 21-1/2 miles, so an easy day, although there's a sneaky passage to negotiate. The Raiatea Caranage is on the opposite side of the island from the pass, so we have several hours of motoring to do before reaching the Carenage. Within the next few days Wings will be hauled from the water and placed on stands in the hard. Then starts the decommissioning process, a lot of hard work getting the boat stripped for storage. All broken gear goes home, all clothing and such go home, and we note all repair or replacement items. Both of us have our notebooks of ideas, improvements, and new equipment. We begin planning for next before this year is completed.

Windstar Cruises has some small cruise ships operating in French Polynesia. There're expensive and market exclusivity, with a crew of 100 for 150 passengers. Cuisine is supposed to be spectacular and I believe it. The boats have four masts, all with sails, and I suppose that they can sail, but mostly they motor. Some passengers whom we met on Bora Bora said that there's a big production with light and music during the ceremonious hoisting of the sails, after which they're unceremoniously doused and the engines power the vessel and her passengers to the next destination. The image is priceless, but the reality is $7k/person/week. At any rate, one of their boats is moored in the main Huahine Nui bay awaiting the night's ceremony.

So, we're sitting in the Huahine Yacht Club outside bar. Conversations around are in German, American English, and mostly French. We'll have dinner here, I think, then wander back to the boat later. We did indeed arrive in time to buy rum, baguette, and good cheese: you know, the necessities.