Arrival to Launch

We've been working very hard each day, morning to late afternoon. Bill was having difficulty creating the enthusiasm for posting photos, but he finally started doing some work.

Conni descends our ladder after our first inspection tour on arrival.

Evidently, daughter disagrees with mother's choice of baguette. As we've noted, France considers baguettes so central to their culture that they're subsidized:US$0.55 each.

You've seen the crabs, but this is an interesting way to truss them with leaf-twine.

The fish are also tied together with sticks.

We move into Bungalow C, Tiare Nui. The lovely fan palm is gone, but it's the same old place, otherwise.

Gear consumes most floor space in our tiny bungalow.

This lovely boat is a brigantine, square-rigged on foremast (like old-time sailing ships), fore-and-aft on main mast. It's great for downwind sailing, but terrible upwind. Note Bora Bora in the background right.

A Conni photo: a catamaran in front of distant Bora Bora's unmistakable silhouette.

"Nature will find a way." Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park 1. Amazingly, a seed from the tree over the foredeck became lodged, perhaps in the anchor locker drain, and began to grow there. I'm afraid the boat's been sitting too long.

I know I post these often, but the quantity of rust that can accumulate in a closed plastic box is simply astounding! Overnight in Ospho solved the problem with no work.

It's not a new engine but it's been a long time coming. Our new propane delivery system: clean, neat, and non-leaking. There's a piece of hose that I had to scavenge to make this thing work since the incompetents whom I hired botched it again. The yellow material is yellow "propane sealant" tape. Don't leave home without it. Do NOT listen to "experts" say that only pipe dope will works.

A brand new, 50HP Beta engine with our name on it! Made in Japan by Kubota as a tractor engine, shipped to England for conversion to a marine engine, then shipped back to Papeete, Tahiti. I made sure to buy spare parts and those are stowed beneath it. The black material on top is sound insulation, a Conni request.

The white item at upper right is the 120A Balmar alternator! Note the wide drive belt (wide black belt at front) needed to pull that alternator! The red handle (well yes, everything is red) with labels hanging from it at the rear of the engine is the oil removal pump: so convenient!

Just one more! Our current exhaust is on the right, so I had the factory fabricate this lovely exhaust (white pipe) that loops to the right side. That's a new transmission, too. Those black hoses looping over the engine are for pumping engine hot water to things like a hot water heater. You can more easily see the oil extraction pump, too. To remove oil on our current engine, I've been lying on the cabin floor and working by feel under the engine as I loosen the drain bolt for oil to drain into a bucket. This is a dream!