Well we escaped from Papeete, mostly motoring into a headwind then a little motor sailing as the wind came round, dropping the hook in Cook’s Bay, Mo’orea mid-afternoon. Get everything settled then off to the fuel station with 8 jerry cans – 7 for diesel, or gasoil as they call it here, and one for gasoline, or essence, that what makes the dinghy outboard go. Present the duty-free exemption papers, pump the fuel, load it into the dinghy, pay the bill and voila! Back to JollyDogs to decant the diesel into the main tanks along with a bit of Biobor JF to make sure nothing grows in our fuel tanks. Gotta be careful of diesel in a tropical environment. With a large air volume in the tanks and the warm, moist air, without additives to kill the beast, icky stuff can grow in diesel and choke the fuel lines, filters, and fill the tank with sludge. Our pals on SV Leela recently had that experience and lost propulsion while motor sailing from Mo’orea back to Papeete. Got a tow into the marina, cut an inspection hole in the tank, had an access panel machined for a few hundred bucks, then spent the next week cleaning out their tank, scrubbing the fuel, etc. My borescope and extra jerry cans came in handy for that project, as did the trusty Makita jigsaw and Honda generator to run it.
Papeete was smelly and noisy. We returned to the boat each day covered with dust, and with sinuses clogged by diesel soot and 2-cycle motor scooter exhaust fumes. Access to cell data and local wifi meant that we could check email and international news at our whim. Trust me, that’s a bad thing.
Visits to civilization are a necessary evil. We checked lots of blocks. Got stuff done. Bought a new boat. Took care of business. But all the internet access was putting snakes in our heads, Jack. Remember that redheaded lady security guard you met in Truth or Consequences?
It was time to escape.
So now we’re anchored on the reef West of Oponuhu Bay, getting more business done. Yesterday was make new friends day. Nice folks! Kite gear to sell. Today was take the gear to the local “dude” for inspection and repair. Great guy! Trust his judgement. Tomorrow is collect the gear, pay for the repairs and gear, then prepare to blast off. We cleaned the props and hull today. The passage weather forecast looks good. We’ll blast off for the short overnight passage to Huahine tomorrow afternoon after mission accomplished. Can’t wait to spend some quality time with Chris and David on SV Taipan. There’s still time for them to adopt us, or perhaps we’ll adopt them!
We don’t feel settled right now. Both of us long for that quiet, calm feeling we had during the isolation at Raroia or our month of bliss at Tahanea. Time to get the hell out of dodge and reduce the noise floor. Yoga in the morning. SUP paddling. Kiting in the afternoon. Snorkeling on the reef. Chilling out with friends. Learning to play on the new Yamaha guitar we bought at Magic City in Papette. Back to a sensible existence, rather than total consumerism.
It was necessary, but all a bit too much. We need to return to a simpler life. You can keep your 24/7 news cycle; all it does is jack everyone up. I can’t imagine how many shrinks the news services must employ to make sure they can manipulate folks. Gotta keep ‘em checking in, seeing those adverts, eating that political red meat.
It’s all a load of BS.
It has all made us anxious to not be so damn restless and unsettled.
Back to just “being”.
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