Well you know that cruisers mantra is: All plans are written in the sand at low tide. Here is another reason why that is. We were preparing to leave the next morning but we kind of got hung up! Literally as the anchor chain was hung up on a large piece of coral. We tried maneuvering the boat, trying to unravel the chain with no avail. Ended up calling Top Dive to see if they had a diver available. Yes they had a diver but no boat! So David went into shore to pick up Franscisco. Even he had a difficult time getting us free. Cost: approximately $50 US but well worth it as it saved our chain and our anchor! David brought the driver back to shore and I moved the boat to a mooring buoy. Armon tied off the bow line and we were safely secured by the time David returned.
But this delayed our departure for another day. This was a good thing as Armon forgot to mention that Air Tahiti office would not be open til Wednesday so we had to wait until then to confirm a flight.
0800 on Wednesday and we head back into shore. During the night the sailing cruise ship Windward Spirit came into port
- one of the Windward Cruise Ships. There was a bit of a welcoming group on shore with traditional music and souvenirs for sale.
We checked it out and then headed over to the mayors office to pay our taxes and get 15 gallons of potable water. The tax was only 50 cents per person per day - to cover costs of mooring buoys and garbage drop off.
Then we went to the Post Office to buy phone cards. It is quite interesting to note - phone booths are still quite prevalent in French Polynesia (poly for many, nesia for islands). We even found one on our hike up to the waterfalls in the Marquesas. But we were not able to get the phone card to work for us. Part of the instructions are in English on the card. But once you put the access number in you get more instructions in Tahitian! Maybe I could have figured it out if they were in French. All I could get out of it was Welcome! So my attempt to call Susan, Debbie and Paul failed.j
1018 Wednesday 25-May-2016 we finally set sail. I should say motor. The wind was very light and what there was was on the nose. We were happy to note that the channel was well marked on the GPS for the next 26 nm. Vern the larger coral outcroppings are not only charted but marked. Though on a sunny day, with the sun on your back you can pick them up due to the drastic color change of the water! This always has an upside as it allows us to put the inverter on and recharge the computers, cameras and VHF radios.
Lunchtime: I decided to open some canned chicken. I had used the canned turkey in the Mexican Soup - it was OK but resembled dog food. The canned chicken was actually flaky and made entirely of white meat. So I mixed it with mayo and cranberries with a fresh baguette. Unfortunately no lettuce, no celery, nothing green!
1700: Anchor down in 30' of water as all mooring balls were occupied. Fingers crossed!
Water is crystal clear. We are anchored just inside the reef on the lagoon side of the atoll. It is calm but you can hear the surf pounding on the windward side of the reef!
Several black tipped sharks swam by to check us out. We stayed on the hook for the night. Two large black squalls were approaching us during dinner but parted and went on either side of Confidence!
Maritime Trivia for today: many days are spent reading and a lot of what I am reading is about sailing adventures. And as you non-sailing types have noticed - sailors have their own vocabulary. In my reading I have come across some of the origins of various words and phrases so I thought I would amuse you with some of them as I progress with my blog entries.
So why is a marine toilet called a head? An appropriate subject considering all the issues we have had with ours! Though happy to report that it is working well at present ( touch wood). In times past, as in Cook's sailing vessel, the Endeavour, holed planks were extended from the bow of the boat, making one exposed in more ways than one!
Many a ship's log has notations of lost crew whilst doing their " business".
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