Yesterday we left Toau during a brief weather window for a sprint to Tahiti. The wind cooperated with 15-20 knots on the beam and we were able to cover the 220 miles in 31 hours. We averaged over 7 knots per hour, including several hours of slow motoring after a huge squall stole our wind.

Have I told you before that squalls are no fun? I know that I have! First, they scare the pants off of you because they only happen and night and come with very ominous dark clouds at no extra cost,. Then they threaten you with lighnting, before pummeling you with incredibly cold & strong downdrafts. After that comes a real soaking with horizontal driving rain, followed by the grand finale, completely killing the trade winds for hours after. Squalls are evil.

The good news is that we only had one squall last night and, other than that few hours, it was a great, fast beam reach. Dee, by the way, completely slept through the squall - not that I can understand that at all considering the way that the boat was bouncing around.

Tonight, instead of heading directly into the culture shock that is Papeete, Tahiti, we are anchored in the lee of Point Venus. In 1769, on his first trip to the South Pacific, Captain Cook measured the transit of venus here. Now, Point Venus is a gorgeous park with a pretty incredlible lighthouse from 1867, gently sweeping across our anchorage.

Tomorrow, we will head into the marina in Papeete and begin a frenzy of buying food & boat parts. There is no place, anything like this place in the South Pacific so we will make the most of it before we head back out to explore more gorgeous islands.

Oh yeah, they have a McDonaldsÉ :)