Day 3 on Raiatea

We've been working so hard and for such long hours that we were too exhausted to post anything other than a blog. Sorry about that. Tuesday, Day 3, was another work day, ending with a short visit to a local grocery store.

We have no idea what this lovely bird is, but its song is beautiful, and its social habits make it part of an early morning chorus. Well, these and the damned roosters that seem to live in large numbers around us.

A photo of boaters: our main zinc after the crossing. It's gone! I can offer no explanation but must look at records concerning when it was installed.

Our feathering prop, a Max Prop. I've just re-greased it, as evidenced by the white grease protruding here and there and the grease stains on the blades. The "bullet" on the end closer to you is another zinc but it's in very good shape. You can see how the boat's weight is resting on her keel but is kept upright by the cradle.

The TAPE! I had painted Wings' hull back in La Paz, Mexico, before leaving for the South Pacific. Since I didn't want to get blue bottom paint on the thin blue line (the bootstripe that marks the waterline), I used long-lasting blue masking tape. When the bottom paint dried, I removed all but this piece since the boat was on stands and I couldn't quite reach it. Lo and behold, the tape survived 3400 nm of ocean and is still on the boat. I'm not removing it!

She's so clean that she shines. I worked several hours on cleaning the accumulated filth from her. She hasn't had a bath since Mexico, a LONG time ago.

No OSHA and certainly no electrical code in French Polynesia. Under this bucket is a household model power strip, in 240 V, of course. There are three boats drawing power from it and it's powered by a single small gauge wire, at bottom. Even if it's 240 V, it's surprising that the system works at all. Well, it doesn't, since we've gotten shocked every time we climb onto the boat.

The Hanson Sea Cow departs. Actually a 1980s vintage Sears Gamefisher outboard, we've nursed it along for several years, but the increasing difficulty of acquiring parts and it's temperamental nature finally urged us to buy a new outboard. We fetch it in Papeete in a week or so. As it turns out, it might have a new lease on life since a young Raiatean walked out of work yesterday with this thing slung over a shoulder. I urged him to drop by the boat for all of the spares that I had accumulated and he did so this morning.

Where are we? If you guessed France, you'd almost be right. Baguettes are a big deal here and even a tiny island has fresh baguettes every day. It's a hoot to see the locals with a baguette or two in each hand.

The floor cleaner....We saw no peck holes in the bread, but the floor around them was certainly clean. What a great gig!

No kidding. It must be popular since the shelf space is very limited.

Lovely Conni strolls the aisles looking for deals. Note the non-refrigerated eggs. In most countries, one does not find eggs in coolers, even in hot countries such as Mexico and French Polynesia.

Top