Hurray...success

See that grin? That is the grin of a very happy man. I did some internet research today and found the needle jet settings for our 1970's era outboard. John spent about 15 minutes doing a bit of fiddling, and then he was happily doing circles around Renova, with our new outboard speed - IDLE!

He's pretty pleased.

PS - the masts in the background are all boats in the boat yard.

To the top...

Well, not really the top...but at least to a great viewpoint! We hiked with La Familia - Anne, Kleng, Liva and Edgar - to a great view point this afternoon. Fabulous views.

More Passage Planning

We've had a program called Virtual Passage Planner for ages. Since Mexico.
And I've played with it. But I missed some very important features. So I
didn't find it very interesting, and we haven't been using it. But, Eric
mentioned over cocktails that this program will also optimize a suggested
route, based on time of year, and historical weather averages. All of a
sudden this program looks a lot more interesting.

So this morning, we booted her up and took a look at possible passages home.
Pretty cool tool. But still we wondered about it's accuracy. So we tested
the program with our previous two passages, from Mexico to the Galapagos,
and from Galapagos to the Marquesas. It turns out that it was bang-on for
each trip. It estimated 25 days for the trip to the Galapagos - we took 26 -
and an estimate of 24 days for the trip to the Marquesas - we took 23.

Of course, if you know John, you'll giggle when I tell you that this was too
little info too late!

Well...the wind is up...so we're off to try windsurfing on the other side of
the island. Wish us luck!!

Windsurfing

We had success windsurfing today. I managed to get a short planing tack, before being catapulted over the top of the mast. John got in a few planing tacks. This time at least, I was able to return to the boat, and John didn't have to row out to rescue me. But, I'm still having a tough time on this board (88l), in the gusty winds. DWD would have been having the time of his life! But, it sure was great to be out in the water again!!

Since we were already on the east side of the island, we tied up to the dock at Utaroa to fill the fuel tanks, and to do another big grocery shop. This is the last time we'll be seeing well-stocked grocery stores, or hardware stores, for a while, so we're filling up. We expect to be self-sufficient for at two-three months, until we reach American Samoa. John is ready. I'm a bit reluctant. It is lovely here. But we have not stayed in one place so long since Mexico! So, I expect we'll be on our way next week.

Chart-plotting Heaven

Yep...that is where we are. In chart plotting heaven. Before leaving home, I downloaded a new open-source charting program (OpenCPN), and I was able to install it today on our navigation computer. The fabulous part is it is compatible with a variety of electronic chart file types, so we have chart coverage for most of the world. I've managed to get it up and running, link it to our GPS receiver, and we're happily playing with a variety of different route options. Very cool.

Allez...nana

Well. If you speak french, you know that Allez means GO. And if you speak
tahitian, you'd know that Nana is Goodbye.

Last year, when people here said Allez to us, we kinda thought they were
telling us to go. Good bye. Good riddance. We were a bit taken aback.

But, I'm happy to report that it is also a friendly way of saying goodbye.
More and more, we've noticed people say to us "Allez, nana". By our very
astute cultural intuition, we figure that they can't all hate us...so it
must be friendly!!

(Even more proof that our translaters are welcome to arrive at any time).

Fixed....sorta

After an evening of cocktails aboard Lady Meg, with Australia 31, we all came up with a number of possible culprits for our outboard problems. Before breakfast the next morning, John had her running again.

Mark, you were right, that guy can fix anything!!

So, once again, we can get to shore, and to visit other boats. We still can't idle, and we're a one-speed show, but for now, we're happy with that.

If it ain't broke....

Well, Lil Ev (our outboard motor for the dinghy) has been running a bit rough - in fact, it has one speed...fast. Well, as fast as a 1970's 4 hp engine can go. So not really any trouble for us...except upon approach to a crowded concrete dock, or a fellow cruiser's really nice and shiny boat. So...John decided to investigate.

Now. We have no speeds. No spark. Nada. Nothing.

Oops.
 
Here's a pic of the work in progress. On our steering pedestal.

Sucker Wind

Well, that's what we used to say at Nitinat Lake, when we'd be drawn out windsurfing in hopes of a fabulous breeze...only to slog your way back to the beach again, dejected.

Well...it was sucker wind that had us take the boat to the other side of Raiatea today, get all the gear rigged, and jump into the water...only to find out that we didn't have quite enough wind to windsurf. Hmf. Maybe tomorrow.

At least there is some comfort in knowing that we've now used the gear twice, since we left BC.

Renova's Make-over

Well, as a result of one of our cushion covers looking and smelling REALLY bad when we returned to the boat, we decided to finally recover the cushions. We've always hated our existing cushions, but they weren't bad enough to justify the expense of re-upholstery. SO....this was just the push we needed. We picked out some Polynesian fabric (surprisingly, not flowers), and I spent a full day on the boat with the sewing machine. By the time we went to visit Secret Agent Man for dinner, I had all four cushions complete, and was pretty pleased with myself!! :O)

The new, blue cushions are on the top of the image, the old, yellow-beige cushions are on the bottom. Although they didn't look bad, all the loose cushions were a pain in the butt.