Sorry it took so long to post my weekly blogs. I've been busy dealing with the theft and have been on social overload. With high winds over the past week, all the boats have been stuck at what ever island they happen to be at and we're all going stir crazy. Every night we end up hanging out with other cruisers. It's been great, but we're really ready to leave!

Wed, August 20
We rented a car for four hours and toured the island. I remembered that I'd ordered a bunch of bananas, so stopped by the fruit stand to pick them up. Our friends were in the village and said they'd drop them off at Adventure if we threw them into their dinghy. The lady at the fruit stand said something about our bananas being at our friend's house. I didn't know what she meant, but decided to figure it out later because we only had four hours in the car. Our first stop was a historical site where we saw the stone platforms and fences from an ancient village. Tara stayed in the car because she's had her fill of ancient stones stacked upon each other. There has been nothing that can compare to the Mayan ruins we visited in Guatemala. The next stop around the island was the stream of sacred eels. There wasn't a sign to indicate where the eels were, so we drove past them, turned around, and then had to ask directions. We bought a can of fish for 120cfp from a lady in a small snack shack and Tara and Casey climbed into the drainage ditch that a small stream ran through. The eels were in a foot or two of water, hidden inside the concrete where many seasons of rushing water had eroded a cut-out in the base of the wall. Five large eels with bright blue eyes came out of hiding when Casey drained the fish juice into the water. After that, it was a feeding frenzy when they threw chunks of fish in the water. They'd even slither up on land to grab a bite. As we were walking to the car, we looked on the other side of the bridge and saw a lot more eel, slightly smaller than the others. Because the stream water was low, they couldn't swim to the part the larger eels were in. We felt sorry for them, so Casey went back and bought another can of fish to feed them. There were more than twenty eels on this side and they were much more afraid of coming out of their hiding places in the wall. As Casey fed them, a dog came next to her and gave her the sad dog look. She threw some fish to the dog. We all got back in the car, with Casey's hands smelling like fish...

The views of the lagoon that surrounds the island were beautiful, with all the blue and turquoise water you see in posters of the South Pacific. At one overlook, I saw a couple of guys that we'd seen at other scenic spots along the way. The lady driving the car was Polynesian and looked familiar. As I walked by, she said something about my bananas. I then realized it was the lady I'd spoken to the day prior to set up the banana purchase. She told me that she'd delivered the bananas to my friend's house that they were renting on the beach. She also said that she'd given me the wrong price for the bananas and that they were actually 600cfp, rather than 1,000cfp. I tried to pay her, but she said to get my bananas first and then pay her when I came to the village.

We dove across a bridge and were then on Huahine Iti, the small island that is right next to the bigger Huahine Nui. We had lunch at a hotel on the beach were 5 sailboats were anchored. The food wasn't very good, but it was very expensive.

We drove further and stopped at a vanilla plantation where we got a tour from a lady who didn't speak any English. She was very nice and tried hard to make us understand about how they have to pollinate the flowers to get the beans. We bought a small sack of about six vanilla bean pods for 1,000cfp and the lady threw in 7 bananas to seal the deal.

We returned the car and then dinghied to Michael and Amy's beach house. The bananas were there, a bunch with more than 100 green bananas. I put the stock of bananas into the ocean and watched the spiders and other bugs crawl from their hiding places amongst the bananas and float away into the bay. We went back to Adventure and got ready to go on a dinghy ride around part of the island so Stan could take some photos. The girls stayed home to relax. When we got back, I made leftovers tacos for dinner and then took the girls to the beach house for a movie night with Emma. Sean and I had to go back and pick the girls up later that evening, so around 9:30pm we couldn't stay up any longer and had to go retrieve them. They'd watched one movie and had started another. The girls had eaten dinner on Adventure and their hosts had served them plenty of munchies; bowls full of nuts, Pringles, French fries, and ice cream. They had a great time and were upset that we didn't let them stay longer.

Thu, August 21
We went to the village to buy a last few food items and to pay for the bananas. I went to the fruit stand and told a lady that I wanted to pay for the stock of bananas that were delivered to my friend's house. She said that a lady already paid for them and wouldn't take my money. Amy told me that she hadn't paid for them, so I had no idea which lady I owed 600cfp. We went back to Adventure and picked up the girls so we could say "good bye" to our beach house friends. They were playing Scrabble on the patio when we arrived. Michael gave us a DVD of one of his favorite movies, one we hadn't seen and a bottle of cooking oil that they'd accidentally bought one too many of. A local lady was sweeping their patio and she looked familiar. I asked her is she was the one that had paid for the bananas. Yes, it was her. She was also the person who'd been talking with her friends at the fruit stand and, because she spoke English, translated my need for an entire stock of green bananas. She knew Amy was staying at the beach house and, since I was with Amy, she delivered them to the house. The next day, the lady took two young French men that were visiting her on a tour of the island, and that's why we saw her at the overlooks. I paid her the 600cfp, glad to have my debt finally covered before we left.

Back on Adventure, Sean and Stan mounted our dinghy on deck while I took a quick shower and made sure we were secure below. We pulled anchor and headed to the dock, where we could fill our water tanks for 1,000cfp. Our tanks fill slowly, so it took a while to fill with 90 gallons. While we were getting water, I cut salami, cheese, and baguettes for lunch. Casey wanted ham, so she and I walked to the market to get some. We cast off for Raiatea, about 20 miles away. The wind was directly on our stern. Sean tried to pull up the mail sail, but there was something wrong with our halyard; it wasn't moving freely in the pulley at the top of the mast. We didn't want to tack back and forth, so we ended up motoring all the way to the island. When we got inside the pass, I hailed a few of the boats we knew. Jeremy on Astra replied. They were at the marina we were going to anchor near. He told us that since the anchorages are deep (about 80 feet); boats were tying to mooring balls instead of anchoring. We picked up a mooring ball, but weren't sure if it was one we could use. Jeremy called and said it was one used by a charter company. Ashley and Jan (crew on Astra and Ogopogo) came to us in a dinghy and said that they'd help us stern tie to the marina's outside wall if we wanted to. We'd not done this seemingly tricky maneuver, so Sean said it was up to me to decide if I wanted to try it. I told them to let go of the mooring ball and headed to the wall. I decided to back into the wind so I'd have more control of Adventure and her prop-walk. As I backed past Ashley's dinghy, he handed Stan the bow rope. I backed until someone was able to throw Sean the stern lines that were secured on shore. I put the boat in forward to stop her backward motion, but the water wasn't deep enough for our rudder (which the previous owners had upgraded to a full-keel-length rudder) close to the wall and we touched bottom. Sean was on the stern swim step and said he didn't feel the rudder hit anything, but I knew that we did. We had to loosen the stern lines and pull her forward to keep her off the bottom. Jan quickly donned his snorkel gear and jumped in to see how far off the bottom we were. We had two or three feet, but we're just coming off a low tide. I'm sure the conditions were perfect, but we've now faced another of our many fears and won't be so reluctant to Med-moor in the future.

It's great to be near our friends from Astra and Ogopogo again, even if it's only for a day. We launched the dinghy so we could use it to get to shore, ten feet away from our stern. We're too far away to use a plank. We went for a drink on Astra to catch up with each other.

Fri, August 22
Sean and Stan walked to town to buy some rope so they could replace our front halyard. Stan says it was a six-mile walk, but Sean says it was only three miles. They found the rope they wanted, but didn't have enough cash to buy it. So they took a taxi back to Adventure, where Sean got an ATM card and Stan got his wallet that he'd left on board. After a visit to the bank, they were armed with enough cash to pay for the rope. They taxied back to the marina and pulled the new line through the mast. Now that we had a decent forward halyard, it would be safer to go up on the mast with it. Somehow Sean coerced Ashley to climb the mast for him. Sean REALLY doesn't like going up on the mast. This trip has been all about facing our fears, so Sean probably should have done it himself. Ashley did a rigging check and saw that the main halyard pulley was not turning properly. He lubed it, but ended up restringing the halyard onto another pulley. He also ran the old, but still good halyard line backwards, so that the part of the line that had been outside the mast and in the elements, was now run inside the mast. We're hoping this will extend the life of the line. Meanwhile, Peg from Ogopogo came by and we walked with her to the store to buy some baguettes. Tara and I then went to the marina office to check in. The marina doesn't have adapters for the 240, European-looking power plugs, so we won't be able to charge our batteries here. I asked if the water was good to drink, and the harbor master said, "Usually." I asked for a bit more detail, but he stuck by his original answer. The marina price is 160cfp per meter, so for our 42-foot boat, it cost 2048cfp (about $26) per day and includes the questionable water.

The girls then went to shower and found that the restrooms were co-ed and had only cold water, but there were sturdy doors on each shower/changing room. On the way to the showers, Casey found a bracelet and recognized it as one she'd seen on Peg's ankle. I don't know Casey can remember details like this. They went by Ogopogo and returned it. We cleaned the inside of the boat to prepare for potential visitors. A little later, Sally came by for a visit. We loaned her some of our Mrs. Polifax books that Stan had just brought from Florida. We haven't read them yet, but Sally is a speed reader and we know we'll get them back the next time we see them along the way. It was hot, so Tara, Sally and I went swimming past our moored boats and into the wide channel, where the current kept us kicking to keep from drifting away. Back at Adventure, I checked our rudder and saw where we'd come in contact with a rock. About one foot up from the bottom of the rudder, a small dent was highlighted in white were the blue paint had been scraped away. It doesn't look bad, but I want Sean to check it just in case it broke or jarred something loose...

At night, the girls were hungry for Pizza and went looking for restaurants nearby. They reported back that there were two restaurants, but no pizza. I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner.

Sat, August 23
We have a fresh water source, so today is boat washing day. Our boat hasn't been washed since the last time we were docked, which was in El Salvador (probably 5 or 6 months ago). Our boat bottom has stayed clean since then too. They put a commercial-grade paint that's not available to us in US on our bottom when we were in El Salvador, and it's worked better than anything else we've used to paint our bottom. The only problem could be in New Zealand, where we've been told they'll make us sand the keel to the fiberglass and put on some more environmentally-friendly paint...which means it probably won't keep the barnacles and other crud off our bottom. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, our bottom stays clean and maintenance free.

Sean and Stan went for a walk in the morning to buy baguettes and go to a hardware store. Sean wanted to see how much it would cost to buy the things we'd need to hook up to shore power. It ended up that the hardware store didn't have a 3-pronged, grounded electrical cord on the inverter it sold, so it wouldn't work for us.

Meanwhile, the girls and I tidied up the boat. I started to read my book, Sea Lord, Casey said, "Mom, I'm board." A million fun things that she could do ran through my head in an instant, but my thoughts settled on fixing the dinghy engine harness. It's been broken for 6 months and it really helps us get a good grip on the motor when we man-handle it from its mounting bracket on Adventure's stern rail to the dinghy and then back again. I handed her a saw and the piece of wood that needed to be cut to fit into between the handle of the harness. She cut the wood, sanded the edges smooth, and then I helped her put it into the webbing on the handle. We tried to install it on the dinghy motor, but couldn't figure out how it was suppose to fit. We got out the West Marine catalog and looked at how the ones they sell are installed. After that, we were able to put it on our engine.

Jeffrey, crew on Ogopogo asked if he could borrow our water key. They were leaving and needed to turn off their marina water tap. It's a weird-looking key that keeps people from unauthorized use of marina water. I threw the small brass key to Jeffrey, who caught it, used it, and then threw it back to me. He'd thrown it short. It hit the stern rail and ricocheted into the water. "Hey Jan, throw me a mask," Jeffrey yelled as he stripped off his t-shirt and jumped into the water. He searched for a few minutes and Fred, Ogopogo's captain, was getting anxious to leave. When Casey jumped in to help with the search, I knew she'd find it quickly. All those "Where's Waldo" books she had when she was a toddler would pay off again. I went below to get a drink and, before I got back up on deck, she'd found the key. We said goodbye to Ogopogo and they headed for Tahaa.

Since Casey was already wet, I threw two rugs to her to scrub on the swim step and wash in the salt water. Casey hadn't thought of being board the whole time she'd been fixing, finding, and cleaning stuff.

The boys returned and told us we needed to get off the boat because they were going to close all the hatches and wash it. I asked the guys would spray with fresh water the two rugs that Casey had washed in salt water. Casey and I walked to the other side of the marina to split a hamburger, but Tara had expressed enough of her teenagedness that Sean made her stay to help wash Adventure. After a half of a hamburger, Casey also wanted ice cream so we walked to the store and found that it was closed for lunch. We walked back to the marina, visited a small boutique, and then went back to Adventure. Sean, Stan, and Tara were still working on the topsides, so Casey and I sat on a bench and talked for a while. When we got back to the boat, Casey grabbed rag to help and I went below to clean.

Tara went to take a shower in the marina bathroom. A little later, Casey decided to take a shower. I walked to the bathroom with her and we stood at the door and yelled for Tara to let us in because she had our only key. Tara was ecstatic to hear our voices and told us that she couldn't get the shower stall unlocked. Please read her blog for a full account of what transpired.

We tried to take our dirty clothes to the laundry lady, but she had closed at noon. We'd heard her price was 260cfp per kilo, which is quite expensive. Since we were leaving the next day, Casey and I washed a couple of buckets of dirty clothes on our swim step. We had plenty of water because the guys had left the hose they used to wash the boat attached to the spicket.

Sun, August 24
Casey and I finished washing clothes in the morning and we hung them to dry on our lifelines. I took a shower in the marina bathroom, which only has cold water. After lunch, the guys put the dinghy up on deck. We pulled most of the drying clothes down and then cast off our dock lines. We motored past Raiatea, through the channel protected by coral reefs, and along the south-west side of Tahaa. A sail boat was coming at us from the opposite direction and we realized it was Ogopogo. They hailed us on the radio and said that they'd spent the day traveling up the coast and into a couple of the anchorages and they were either too rough or too deep for anchoring comfortably in. They recommended that we turn around and follow them to a nearby restaurant's mooring field where they'd stayed the night before. We turned around and followed them to Marina Iti, a hotel that has ten mooring buoys close to its pier. We picked up the last available mooring buoy and then went to shore to make sure we were welcome. A young man with a perfect American accent greeted us. His name is Maui and he is a French man, born in Bora Bora, and schooled at UC Davis in California. He bought the hotel 4 years prior and closed all the bungalows because they need to be torn down and rebuilt. But he's put his efforts into the restaurant, which is small (about 10 tables plus a bar area) and comfortable. He lets people use the mooring balls if they patronize the restaurant for drinks or meals. A hot shower can be had for 500cfp.

We sat in the bar and Sean had a vanilla milkshake and Tara and I had a fruit juice. Jeffrey from Ogopogo joined us. Later that evening, Sean brought me back to take me to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We had drinks with friends from Ogopogo and Argonauta in the bar before moving to the dining area for our meal. The food was excellent. We shared filet mignion with roquefort sauce, green beans, a carrot-based dish, scalloped potatoes and an ice-cream, cream puff, chocolate sauce dessert. It was the best restaurant meal we've had in a really long time. The final bill, including our bar drinks, was 6,000cfp.

Mon, August 25
Today we were leaving for Bora Bora, our final French Polynesian island. Our visas expire on September 3rd, so need to leave by then. Sean and Stan went to shore to buy baguettes. They returned with only one because the village is a long distance away so they had to buy a frozen baguette from the marina restaurant. Sean, Stan, and I took a dinghy ride around the large bay we were in and took some photos. The water is about 100 feet deep up to the four foot deep coral ledge that fringes the island. Most of it is too deep or too shallow to anchor in. We'd looked in our cruising book and had a difficult time finding anchorages around the island that were less than 15 fathoms (90 feet), which is deep for us. We only have 280 feet of chain on our anchor, so we'd only have a 3 to 1 scope. With wind gusts to 30 knots and a sharp coral reef behind us, this is not enough scope to make us feel comfortable, even with our Rocna anchor.

The guys pulled the dinghy up onto Adventure's deck while the girls and I secured stuff in the cabin. Casey took the helm and motored slowly forward while Sean released the mooring line. She went slow, getting a feel for the boat in the 20 knots of wind that pushed us along from the stern. She held Adventure to the wind while the guys pulled up the main sail and then we headed toward the pass. A couple of times, when Casey panicked and steered the wrong way toward the coral, I used a too urgent voice to tell her to steer the other way. This frustrated her, so Sean told me to shut up and let him direct her. With my feelings slightly hurt, I went below to read my book and kept hearing frantic comments; Casey saying, "Oh no, it's coming right for us! Dad, take the wheel, take the wheel!" I stayed below and hoped for the best. When we came to the pass the balance of power was restored; Sean asked me to take the helm and a brisk, 25 knot wind escorted us to sea.

Our course to Bora Bora put us just 10 or 15 degrees off the wind at our stern, so I turned off course a bit to keep the jib and main full. Sean doesn't like to hike the main out because it's difficult to pull back in, so we left it slightly off center and used it just to stabilize the boat. The jib pulled us forward at about six knots. I told Sean that we'd need to be about 90 degrees off Bora Bora before we tacked, but he got anxious and tacked too soon. We were now headed to the top of Bora Bora, so he went below to reset our course to go over the top, rather than under the bottom of the island. He found that this would add too much time and distance to our trip to get us in before dark, so we'd need to tack back the other way. In the mean time, I saw a large, 3-masted ship in the distance. It was very far away, but I could see its sleek lines and perfectly-formed sails to know it was most likely the Maltese Falcon. I was very excited because we'd only seen this modern-day wonder at the dock in Tahiti and I really wanted to see her under way with her sails up. She turned directly toward us and the huge masts rotated to adjust the angle of the sails. She passed about 75 yards off our port side, with 11 of her 15 sails flying. Just after passing us, she headed down wind and we watched as two of the top-most sails furled into the mast. It was too windy, so they were reducing sail. It was totally awesome.

I suggested that we jibe and then hike our main all the way out and use it to propel us so we could stay close to down-wind as possible. We'd not use our jib because we'd not be able to keep it full. Sean agreed to try it and it worked out perfect. I was able to let the autopilot steer and we kept to about 6 knots of speed along our course line. To save face, Sean noted that if hadn't jibed us too early, we wouldn't have gotten to see the Maltese Falcon so close. I agreed that it had been a good thing.

When we reached the south edge of the island, I did a "chicken jibe", which means I steered in a circle toward the wind and, as the wind was at our bow it took the pressure off the main sail so Sean could pull it from it's far-hiked-out position to center. This is a much safer way to jibe Adventure. As we did this maneuver, Sean noticed that our main sheet (the line that adjusts the main sail) was much easier to pull in than usual. It seems that the problem we'd fixed with the sheath at the top of the mast had also fixed the sticky main sheet. This is good because now we'll be more likely to use our main sail to help power our boat in a down-wind situation.

At 4:30pm, we grabbed the last mooring buoy at the Bora Bora Yacht Club and the guys went to shore to see if we were in a good spot. They found out that the marina is boiling out its facilities, but currently the fees are 2,000cfp for the first night, 1,000 for the nights thereafter. But for 5,000 you can stay for 7 nights plus 2 nights extra in case of bad weather. The price includes use of their mooring balls, hot water showers, water to fill boat tanks, gas BBQ and tables, two bicycles (extra ones at a half-price rate of 1,000 per day), and dinghy dock. The guys jumped on bikes and rode into the village to buy baguettes and dessert.

Casey and I made a yummy lasagna, salad, and garlic bread for dinner. While we washed the dishes, the fresh water pump stopped working. Thankfully, we have a backup to getting to our fresh water: a foot pump at the kitchen sink.

Tue, August 26
Sean and Stan left in the morning to go visit Jeff from Beatrix, who is leaving French Polynesia today because his visa has run out. Beatrix is berthed at the city dock around the corner from us. So we'll have an idea of what's coming and the best islands to visit, we want to stay in contact with Jeff and others who will be ahead of us as we do our next crossing.

The girls and I biked to the village a few miles away. About half way there, we saw a boat docked at the Total fuel station and I thought it was Beatrix. We pulled in to take a closer look. Casey said it wasn't them because it didn't have a "Don't Tread on Me" flag. The gas station man said I needed air in my tires and called me over to fill them for me. We stopped a little further down the road at Saint James, a restaurant recommended to us by one of the workers at the marina. We sat out on the patio that overhangs the water. It was a bit windy, but the view was spectacular. Tara and I split the fish of the day plate, which was very good, and Casey had a panini, which was good, but not hot enough for her. We sent her panini back to get warmer and then she was happy. We saw Astra motoring by and called them on the radio. They'd sent Ashley in the dinghy to the fuel dock. I hailed them on the VHF and found out that they were headed to the mooring field we were in. I said we'd have a BBQ at the marina that night and also told them that there was only one mooring ball left when we'd left about an hour before. They said that it would be a race with Ogopogo, who was in coming from Tahaa, to see who would get the mooring ball. The girls and I laughed as we saw Astra turn toward the marina and motor full speed ahead, leaving Ashley behind. They called Ashley and told him to catch up with them along the way. Once they were out of sight, we saw a dinghy in the distance, and Casey said, "Hey! I think that's dad and grandfather." We watched as it passed us, too far out to get their attention. We only have one portable VHF and I had it. It was the guys, headed to the village. We paid our bill, which was reasonable (3,400cfp), checked out some shops, and rode the rest of the way into the village. We ran into Jeff and Kathy from Beatrix. Their boat was tied to the fuel dock until it reopened after lunch. They'd replaced their flag somewhere along the way. We locked our bikes to a pole and walked around, looking in shops. At one pearl store, we got to see the third-largest black pearl in the world. The tapa paintings here start at $300, which made me glad that we'd bought ours for $13-$20 where they are made in Fatu Hiva. Most of the ones we've seen elsewhere are not more elaborate than the ones we have. We were told that Fatu Hiva is the only island that still produces tapa, so maybe this is why they are so expensive everywhere else we've seen them.

Although we saw our dinghy at the village dock, we didn't see Sean or Stan. We walked to the grocery store and bought steak, baguettes, lettuce, and a few other items. Casey even found BBQ sauce! There were only two bottles left, on the top shelf. Casey knocked them over when she tried to reach them. I used a bottle of catsup to push the BBQ sauce to the edge of the shelf and then grabbed it. Casey was satisfied that the other bottle was safely hidden in case we wanted to buy it later. We'd heard that the store sometimes carries Ben and Jerry's ice cream, but they didn't have any when we were there.

We began riding back to the marina and saw Jeremy walking toward the village. He said that Ino, another boat we knew, had beaten them to the mooring ball, but they waited until another boat left and took their ball. He wasn't on a bicycle because there weren't any left at the marina. He moaned when we told him he was only about half way to the village. Casey was nice enough to give him her bike and she jogged/walked back to the marina. Tara switched with her a couple of times, but Casey did most of way back on foot. We hailed the guys to pick us up at the marina, but they didn't answer. We sat and watched George and Oliver from Astra finish their game of p�tanque, a French game, also called bocce and boules; it is similar to lawn bowls. We were about to start a challenge game so I hailed Sean again. This time Ashley called us back and said he had been trying to get in touch with George and Oliver because he needed the dinghy they had. George took the VHF from my hand and said, "No, you can't have it!" Just then, Sean broke into the conversation and said he'd pick Ashley up, come to the dock, and then take us girls back to the boat. Everyone got what they wanted...

Casey and I went to Ogopogo, Astra, and Zulu (a beautiful wood boat that we hadn't yet met) to tell them about the BBQ. That night, we ended up with 25 people at the yacht club beach. When we arrived, the club had already warmed the BBQs up and pulled a bunch of tables together for us. There was one other table of four people at the white sand picnic area. Six other cruisers from three boats had gotten together for pizza inside the restaurant area. The grand opening for the yacht club is this Saturday and the restaurant is not opened yet. But the staff will order pizza to be delivered to the marina.

At the BBQ, we had great food and wonderful company. Astra had brought their p�tanque ball set. The three dogs that live here kept trying to play with the balls, so Ollie kept trying to distract them. Sean and Stan got a ride back to Adventure and the girls and I stayed to further saturate our social needs. Another group of people hitched a ride on the next dinghy to leave the dock, leaving the twenty-something crews from Astra and Ino and Sally, Tara, Casey and me. We decided to play Egyptian Rat Slap, a game of war, yelling, and hand slapping. The girls, their cousins, and I had once gotten in trouble for being too noisy while playing this card game at night at our camp site in the California Red Woods. Tonight was no exception to the noise. It was fun, fast, physical, and loud. We started with six of us playing and others came to join in. When it got down to three players, one each from Adventure, Astra, and Ino, it became a battle of the boats. Ino ended up winning and then we went home, dropping Sally off at her boat on the way.