Cruising life has two gears: full forward and neutral. We are in neutral, sitting out of the water in Ra'itea, French Polynesia. Full forward is shown in our ever-expanding photo gallery. Neutral is the maintenance side. Just like a home requires spring cleaning, lawn mowing and painting, a well-cared for cruising boat has similar needs. Periodic maintenance helps us avoid major breakdowns and problems before they happen. Pictured above is our Gori Props; before and after a cleaning.

Besides a minor issue with one of our sail drive transmissions, fixed with an hour's worth of Tommy's attention, all the other work at the boatyard is scheduled maintenance. Ra'itea Carenage is a small, efficient and surprisingly cost-effective jewel in the very expensive Society Islands. For boaters who are reading this, you'll treasure Dominick, the yard owner, who is also Ra'itea's elected mayor. Here's an example of the magic he can make: Tom requested waterproof grease on a Saturday, and voilla, it appeared within 5 minutes. It's a New England work ethic in French Polynesia. Zen, with her wide 26-foot beam, was hauled out of the water by railcar. Dominick's dive team surrounded our hulls, tied our mini-keels to the railcar, made sure they were even, and after about an hour of adjustments, started to pull us toward land. It was an eerie feeling to be slowly dragged from the safety of the ocean. It was obvious the marina team has done this hundreds of times and we were in responsible hands. Unfortunately for them, only one wide catamaran can be hauled at a time, in other words, there's only one parking spot. Workers are seriously motivated to finish projects to keep the boats flowing in and out of the yard.

While Zen is getting some TLC, the family is doing the same at a hotel. I can't even call this place a hotel, it's heaven on earth. Here's the link to our decadent hotel: http://www.letahaa.com/main.php We are staying in a beach bungalow and it literally feels like home away from home. For 3 mornings in a row, Tom and I left the kids on the motu (little private island) that houses just the hotel and the employees, while we took the hotel water taxi to Zen. Cleaning, polishing and oil changes were the parents' agenda, while geography, math and music for the kids. Jessica, Mgr of Guest Relations, laughed in her hearty Italian manner, saying, "Lock the kids on the motu, we'll make sure they have their noses in their books, before we give them free reign of the place!!" One day, we came back from Zen, all sweaty and greasy, to find Cammi and Cole, wet from head to toe, smiles from ear to ear, riding bikes along the palm-fringed walkway, urgently chatting over one another to tell us about their adventures after school. I keep telling them to pinch themselves, this is not reality! We feel more like family to the Le Tahaa staff than guests. I am sure they try to achieve this level of comfort w/all their visitors, but wow, their service is very special. It's similar to Disney, but even more genuine and from the heart. They even have a "behind the scenes" village for the employees who live on the motu. Jessica gave us a private tour through the plush, air-conditioned, employee fares (homes in Tahitian) and shared typical stories of what life is like for the 22 full-time hotel managers.

Tomorrow is a big day: Nana in Vero Beach Hospital will be starting recovery after her 2nd hip surgery, Tommy will make his final visit to the marina to help w/the bottom paint and in the evening, we'll see our first real Polynesian dance show including fire twirling, beating drums and swiveling hips. If this is neutral, then I'm all in and darn grateful to be coasting in this gear!