Vacations for Some
15 September 2022
• Papeete, Tahiti
by Robin Bell
Vacation fun for French Polynesian schools children fills the waterfront sidewalk with scraggly haired teenage boys working on their skateboard maneuvers. Tahiti for many brings to mind vacations and palm trees for many but the harbor is humming with boat work and other children attending school.
The boats again are filled with children learning from a distance. No boat vacation this week. After waving good bye to her sister at the dock a gangly blonde German girl run after her father down the sidewalk. He is transporting her backpack on an electric scooter, the preferred mode of transport on the docks. By the time we reach the internet lounge she is focused writing in a notebook, three timers lined up across the table and a open box of pencils and erasers. Next three American children lugging thick text books. A thick chemistry book thumps on the floor. Definitely not vacation here.
Many on the docks are scrubbing and preparing boats for others. A crew of 4 scrub the foredeck of the grey mega yacht tied up to our north. Later in a flurry of furniture moving occurs then another team in wetsuits shows up in the water scrubbing the hull. On marine traffic we learn the boat has been on at the dock here for 47 days. The charter catarmrans line up close to the gate and, the drying cushions hanging from the lifelines. The odor of cleaning fluids drifts out of the cabins. Others are power washing hulls.
Among the voyagers the boat work is done by smaller teams. The furniture is bolted in place so little effort is spent on moving the furniture. Karl tackles the steering, windvane and anchor while I chase visas, back up my good computer and other work on paperwork. Paul, the danish sailor with a gold earring to pay for his funeral, is getting his dodger and autopilot rebuilt. Captain Matt, the you tube taught Canadian sailor, is waiting for the delivery of specialized set screws for his roller furling. His system to put away the sail in the front in a storm has been held together with normal screws and duct tape for almost 2 months. Mark, the French sailor who helped us thread the centerboard cable through its maze, is repairing his desalination system with pieces spread out on the dock.
By the end of the day, great progress on our chores and paperwork so we take a walk to a ship chandlery to buy a shackle. Here the older girls are helping their sisters learn to ride bicycles. It is still vacation for some.
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