We're in Marina Taina, the larger marina on Tahiti. They have over 500 moorings and slips and there were NONE available for our engine work until our mechanic, Adrian, put in a good word with the marina manager, Philippe. Philippe found a single slip in the marina that we can use for a few weeks for our engine work. As Conni said, the quality of life improves when we've got plenty of power and water, and access to showers and groceries. Yep.

We departed Marina de Papeete a few days ago, made it past the airport, but no mooring were available. 200 mooring and none were available? Apparently not, since they were all under contract by absentee boat owners and live-aboards. We dropped anchor in the mooring field and stayed aboard for several days. We'd motor to the dinghy dock, chain the dinghy to a cleat for security, and walk to the huge Carrefour store nearby: a 10-minute walk. Of course, we had no access to amenities such as showers, power, or Wifi, but we could land at the dinghy dock and dispose of our garbage.

Last night (Wednesday night) sucked. The seas on the reef were enormous and those huge seas, although broken by the reef, followed through to the lagoon behind and produced very choppy, broken seas all night. We bobbed around, coming very close to a nearby deserted boat, so close in fact, that we had to sit in the cockpit by turns, watching for a collision. We would have pulled the hook and moved but the anchor windlass battery was dead. Finally, this morning, I pulled a battery from our storage locker and replaced the dead one. The dead one might be salvageable and I'll try. With a good battery, we pulled in the anchor and motored to the slip.

Backing a 40-foot sailboat into a narrow slip in 30-knot crosswinds is no easy task, but we did finally succeed with minimal damage to all concerned. I hate "Med Mooring" (actually, Mediterranean moorings), as I've mentioned, but that's what they've got here. Regardless of boat length or width, there's a place for it until they're out of dock length. Our boat just isn't set for placing a plank on her stern and walking to the dock. I posted a photo of Conni climbing aboard Wings this afternoon. Imagine gawky Bill doing that!

Adrian, our mechanic, came aboard a bit later this morning, and we discussed our plans for staring this next Monday. We'll have the saloon emptied and the frame around the engine dismantled, so we can get to work quickly. Adrian says that we should have the engine out by Monday night. Imagine that! He also figures more about 1-1/2-3 weeks for the entire job, and that's probably right. The new Beta will be "dry fit" on Tuesday, weather permitting.

So, showers tonight, although we've been taking cockpit showers all along. We'll wash some clothes, a real need at this point. We'll also be able to charge everything aboard, and that's always great.

Back from the showers and we feel so much better! Cold showers, of bloody course, but that's usually the way it is here. We each put on clean clothing and Conni's treating us to a burger and beer at the "Casa Bianca", a little restaurant right on the grounds. I'll get this posted tonight, too.