Off On A Lark!

Yesterday we took the ferry to Tahiti to see Jane off. Oh, I hated to see her go. Cleared out with customs and immigration, did a little shopping, had a late lunch then caught the last ferry back to Moorea around 5pm. It was raining in Papeete when we left and the weather on Moorea was the same when we arrived at our dinghy in the dark. We had left the dinghy at the Hilton down the beach from our anchorage at Oponohu Bay.

We had planned on it being dark and had brought our headlamps along. Add in the rain and wind that had started to blow and things became a bit more complicated than we'd planned on. It was an adventure getting back to Kattywompus and about the time we did the wind really started to howl and the waves were plenty big. When we climbed aboard, our wind generator was spinning fast enough to power Seattle. It sounded like a jet engine! Everyone in the anchorage was on their deck checking anchors and making sure things were securely tied down. The wind continued all night with gusts to 50 knots. Fortunately no one drug anchor or had any major problems. Needless to say, it was a long night.

This morning I discovered that when we checked out with the officials in Papeete yesterday, I walked away with all the paperwork but failed to get our passports back. I guess that Jane and I were having too much fun talking to the woman at the port captain's office and taking pictures. Off to the ferry I go again!

Later... Well I'm back to the boat again. When I walked up to the port captain's office in Papeete, all their windows opened and they called out 'Kattywompus'. They had our passports in hand and said they had worried about us all night, wondering where we were during such bad weather. Once again, A+ for the French authorities

The wind continues to blow and the seas outside the reef are 8' or more. We won't depart for the island of Huahine until the weather improves. From the forecast it looks like that will be later this week.