Huahine seems to be agreeing with us. It’s a gorgeous island, and down her at Avea Bay it’s pretty quiet. There are a couple of small villages in the area, a small beach resort and a nearby restaurant, and a lovely bay to enjoy paddling the SUP. We’ve got several pals in the anchorage with us, and more anchored at other spots around the island. Our buds on SV Maple are coming this way from Riaitea and soon it’ll feel like old home week.
Last night Isabel knocked up a killer Thai curry with some of that dogtooth tuna we caught up at Fakarava. Chris and David from SV Taipan joined us for dinner – we had intentions of reviewing maps of Asia to do some cruise planning in the region, but things got a bit out of hand so we’ll do that today over a cuppa. Those guys provide a serious mentoring opportunity, as they’ve sailed almost the same route around the world that we’ve at least fantasized about. Like Behan and Jamie’s clients, its nice to have a coach that’s really gotten out and done it.
SV Agape was here when we arrived with Rachel’s dad on board – on Wednesday we all went round the corner to try a little kite boarding but it turned out to be a pretty stormy day so we pulled the plug on that endeavor. Wednesday night we had the thunderstorm from hell, complete with nutso winds from all directions and plenty of lightning. We hate lightning. A lightning strike on a boat generally does severe damage to rigging and electronics, something that takes $$ and time to correct, along with the hassles of the insurance claim. The risk of being struck is perhaps not so bad in an anchorage with other boats and high terrain nearby, but when we’re out at sea and our mast is the tallest conductive thing on the horizon it feels like we’re sitting ducks.
Fortunately our mooring held fine and the lighting spared us, so we’ll live another day. The rainstorm was pretty wild and as we used to say, it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock, so Thursday when we got up it was to a very clean boat – no salt anywhere. Quick – before we’re overcome by laziness whip out the polishing compound and paste wax and get to work. Gel coat loves wax, but in this sun it oxidizes pretty quickly so some light polishing compound helps bring it back. We got most of the topsides done, and will continue to hack away at it for the next few days until that task is complete. It’s a big job – nice to space it out a bit.
Our rule of thumb is each day should involve a task such as boat maintenance, some physical exercise and some adventure. Paddling the SUP is back on the list here as it’s a calm enough bay, and I’m even motivated to attempt the repair on the other board that got eaten by that blasted lemon shark. When the wind comes back kite boarding will be back on the list, but in the meantime there are some nice hikes and snorkeling and such, also plenty of socializing to be had so boredom isn’t a risk. The hammock calls to us in the afternoon, and that’s pretty much impossible to resist. Naps are good.
The cell network here provides enough data for emails and WhatsApp calls, so that’s good. It also allows us to look at the daily news, so that’s bad. The world is a bizarre place right now, between political and social upheaval and coronavirus. Our objective is to stay as far from all that as possible but participate in the political process as responsible citizens should. Let’s hope the current administration’s efforts to disenfranchise us aren’t successful.
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