We Survived the Storm! Monday, July 9, 2018
09 July 2018 | Moorea in the Societ Islands in French Polynesia
Helen/Mark
We ended up watching the first two Die Hard movies last night. Both were entertaining while we waited out the storm. It was a rocky night. Mark finally added a bungee cord to our dinghy and that stopped a jerking motion of our boat, every time the dinghy pulled tight. Mark got up several times thru the night to check. There were white caps thru this morning in our anchorage. Thankfully, everyone's anchor held. The high gusts roared thru our rigging. The mountains protected us and eventually the 25+ knot winds subsided. Went thru a lot more of the mail that we got in Tahiti. There are still many companies that did not change our home mailing address. I sent off several emails. We waited till close to lunch time to head over to shore. As promised, the Garden Cafe was open. It consisted of a Meals-on-Wheels Roulette set up with tables and chairs under umbrellas. Their food prices were better. No burgers. Mark had a sandwich consisting of pineapple, raw onions and a sprinkle of cheese on toast, with fries. I had some stir fried chicken with pineapple and rice. Mine was tasty. A small kitten came over for some food. However, after giving it some chicken, it kept wanting to jump up and embed it's nails in my thigh! I have cat scars! Their wifi was good until more cruisers showed up. Then I couldn't get any more emails with pictures to send. Mark was researching something from our mail. The one lady stood over by the satellite dish and he couldn't get the website to update. We finally gave up and walked back to where we tied our dinghy to a tree in the park. We have to say that this was the best park. Across the street, they had the best bathrooms in Polynesia. It came with clean toilets, toilet seats, toilet paper, soap and paper towels to dry your hands. Something that we have not seen yet in all of Polynesia!! In the park they also have a shower, which we didn't use, but saw other cruisers using it. Just little things that we truly miss. We headed back to the boat and got into our swimsuits and headed back to snorkel the reefs close to shore. Lots of coral and fish. I saw a big school of white and black striped fish. It was really a lovely swim. Went back to the boat and got back into our snorkels and scrubbed some on the hull. Mark worked on both props. Not sure where we got some marks just above our waterline. I thought the hull looked pretty clean. Showered. First time the wind felt cold to both of us. We dried off and changed right away. Then took a nap. I was out like a light for about an hour. Got up to have an sg&t and enjoy the falling sun as it neared sunset. Lots of cruisers on the move in their dinghies. The people we saw at the Garden Cafe, hauled anchor as they had to get some of the guests to an airport in two islands down, according to the owner that we spoke to. We will head out tomorrow, giving the seas one more day to settle. It will be just over 80 miles to Hauhine, which is the next island from here. Sounds like a good place to celebrate!!