How many ways can you tie a pareo? These are the things we learn as cruisers, the important exchanges of information that go on at boat parties in gorgeous anchorages around the Pacific. Turns out, a lot of ways, with more invented every day as we stand in our cabins twisting and tying. Some are not so comfortable, some, too revealing, and some, not bad, if you don't move too much. Not likely to transfer to our lives back home, but good for here. (That's me with Urshka on Furthur.)

We imagined we'd have a peaceful, quiet, naked-swimming-in-total-privacy kind of life out here in the vast South Pacific, but no -- there are too many interesting people out here, and we've discovered that cruising is not necessarily a solitary lifestyle, most cruisers are so friendly. And every one of them has a story to tell, an adventure to relay, an island to share. Hot tips, must-see's, how to's; these all occur over warm Cokes, bottles of cheap wine, and potluck dishes.

Normally these things happen a bit more exclusively, in small groups in small cockpits, but the last few days the anchorage community has been united thanks to Furthur, a Seline 48 Trawler, and the only power boat to participate in the Pacific Puddle Jump of 2010, under the lighthearted command of Captain Brian Calvert. Furthur is the party boat in Opunohu Bay, Moorea, and any bay she finds herself in, because; a) she has the room for a lot of people to gather and; b) Brian loves a party. He generously compiles the most interesting collection of people we might not otherwise meet, and the conversations, the creative potluck contributions, and pareo dresses are all noteworthy.

We are hobnobbing with writers, doctors, nurses, casino managers, real estate moguls, techno geeks, chemists, civil engineers, marine biologists, post-grads taking a year off before they get started in their careers, has-been's, wanna-be's, and don't-wanna-be-anymore's, and generally cool people from around the world. All brought to an even playing field by wrapping large pieces of colorful fabric around their tanned selves in creative ways and hanging handmade native necklaces around their necks. Okay, just the women. The men are notable for their myriad collection of high-tech sailing shirts and colorful Hawaiian shirts, united by sailing tales, exchanges of technical information and boat repair.

At Saturday evenings' gathering, I had a chance to visit with a number of people I was anxious to meet, to schedule a massage with Lushka, one of the crew on Furthur, to exchange boat-relevant recipes with other cruisers, and to play a little on the local version of a ukulele -- 8-strings made from 12-gauge fishing line, tuned to 4 notes, hand carved, and sounding like a cross between something Japanese, a toy piano, and a Hawaiian ukulele. As for Allan, he chatted about heavy weather sailing, anchoring snafu's, diving tips, and something to do with weather called stream-line analysis.

Yesterday, Furthur was the Church taxi, taking anyone interested around the corner to Cook's Bay for the Sunday service in French and Tahitian at the Catholic Church, then back to Opunohu afterwards. The service was fun, even though I'm not Catholic and have no idea what the Mass is about, and even though all that up-down-up-down stuff seems confusing to me, I still managed to get something out of it thanks to the English translation of the Bible passages and the words to the songs that we all held in our hands. Singing in Tahitian is a bit of a challenge, even with the words, but listening to the harmonies with closed eyes is delightful. They sing with such confidence, loud and strong, clear and on key, with carefully orchestrated harmonies.

After church it began to rain and rained all day, strong but quite steady - not the usual convective activity we are used to that comes and goes. The anchorage was quiet, the socializing brought down for a few hours, as everyone stayed holed up in their boats, reading and watching movies and napping. By 6pm it began to lighten up just in time for a short dinghy ride over to Proximity for -- more socializing. We've been in Opunohu Bay for 5 nights now, and we've eaten aboard once. But we've learned so much, exchanged boat cards with some amazing folks, and know that later down the line we'll have our quiet cove, our privacy, and maybe even get a bit lonely for some company.