Crisis Averted!

OK, I agree, that’s a bit dramatic.  It would not have been a crisis to be stuck in French Polynesia for an extra month or two.  But still … it’s awfully nice to have two engines again! 

If you saw Bill’s recent post, you know that “repair, re-paint and re-use” won the day.  We had no sooner arrived at the Marina in Papeete, with no hope of a new heat exchanger anytime soon , when Bill was back in the engine room, hot and smelly down there, grease up to his elbows. Taking the thing all apart, with guidance from the Volvo manual and YouTube. And then a few days later, putting humpty back together again.  It was brilliant, really.  So much more satisfying than relegating the old one to the dump.  Not to mention how well the $300 price tag compared to $6,000 for new.     

Thank goodness Bill knows about engines, not a lot, but enough to have confidence to figure it all out.  Talking to Carol (my sister) on her birthday last week – the universe wishes you happy birthday, Carol, and a fantastic year ahead! – we were saying that the sailing part of sailing is one thing, and it’s a fun thing for sure. And then there’s everything else that you just have to know a bit about, if you’re gonna’ do this ocean sailing thing. 

Honestly, I think Bill was a bit too modest in his recent post – I know what you’re thinking, you don’t always see modest and Bill in the same sentence, but there it is.  We went from deep disappointment to delight in just five days. And Billy was the real hero of the story.  With Norbert in an important supporting role.

In the meantime, Sarah arrived, and we made the most of our time in Papeete.  We visited the Museum of Tahiti and the Islands – a bit of a misnomer, I say, because it sounds like it’s about Tahiti and the Tahitian Islands, but it covers all of French Polynesia. 

Very worthwhile, I’m pleased we made the effort, the museum sheds light on the marvel of Polynesian navigation, the arts, industry and life in general, in all of these archipelagos, over the centuries. 

Having visited the Marquesas and the Tuamotus, and now the Society Islands, it was so interesting to see it all together in context.  Made me sorry that we’ll miss the Austral and Gambier Islands.  Maybe next time …

We rented a car and toured the island – both Tahiti and Tahiti-Iti, that extra little presqu’ile of land to the southeast, down there where the surfing events will be held next year for the 2024 Olympics. 

Stopped for some beach time on the east side, and again at a black sand beach on the west to watch the local surfers, visited the Point Venus lighthouse and the grottos at Mara’a. 

We also managed to cross a few items off the list of boat chores while we waited for Norbert to weld the heat exchanger housing back into service.  Installed a new battery on the starboard side.  Replaced and re-rigged the lazy-jacks – lazy-jacks are the web of thin lines that holds up the mainsail bag that’s fixed to the boom and also forms a bit of a rope cage for the mainsail.  Like all good visitors to Turtlebones, Sarah went up the mast – this time in support of the lazy-jack project. 

We eat out rarely.  At home, on Turtlebones, we try to eat as well as we can.  At the moment though, in Papeete and Moorea, tuna is plentiful – very nice, very fresh, red and white tuna.  But little else is available at the market.  Fortunately, Bill has allowed Sarah into the kitchen – a surprising move, as Shawn can attest, because Bill rarely lets anyone into the kitchen to cook.  Among other delicacies, Sarah has treated us to a couple of raw tuna dishes – in particular, ceviche and tonodon – delicious!  

On our last night in Papeete, we really splurged on a fantastic dinner at le Grillardin – smoked duck salad, foie gras, steaks, morels, scallops and prawns – I dunno, but I’m guessing it might be the best resto in town.  Such a treat, what a nice change from our steady diet of fresh tuna.  

I think Sarah would say that, so far, the highlight of her visit was finding Temuira – apologies to him, I’m sure I’m not even close to spelling it right, it’s no wonder he calls himself James. James, who has spent the last 20 years perfecting the art of traditional method tatouage. 

Traditional method involves hand-carving fine needles from the ivory of wild boar husks, arranging them on the end of a stick in perfect alignment, dipping the needles in ink, and then tapping the needles gently into the skin – tap, tap, tap with a small mallet on the stick. It’s a two-person job – Teniera is there throughout the procedure to stretch and hold down the skin while James designs the image and taps it in. 

I admit, it’s not my favourite artform, tatouage – but it’s growing on me, here in French Polynesia where it’s deep in the culture – and undeniably, James does beautiful work.

The usual advice for tatoo care involves keeping it dry and out of the sun for the first week or so.  Fortunately for Sarah, who spent her first six days in Tahiti at the Papeete Marina where we didn’t swim, James takes a different approach – he says, jump in the lagoon, the ocean water is therapeutic.  Back over here on Moorea, we’re back to swimming every day. 

Perfect, and the tatoo is healing well.  Phew! Hiking and scuba are on the activity list for this week, along with some kayaking, and sailing of course.  If the wind blows our way, we’ll circle the island while Sarah is here, counterclockwise this time.