Back in Tahiti
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Sat 10 Jul 2010 06:10
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Well we finally made it back here. Leaving Moorea
was interesting.... As I was bringing the anchor up the engine cut out; never a
good sign! We had re-fuelled a day or 2 earlier but the main tank was empty. A
quick investigation revealed bilges full of diesel but we couldn't find the
leak. So we bled the fuel line, switched to the other tank and limped out the
pass through the reef. We managed to sail pretty well the whole way back against
the wind to Tahiti; it almost verged on being an enjoyable sail except for
the stress of negotiating another reef pass with possibly no
engine!
Needless to say we made it, nursing the struggling
engine and drifting onto the dock in central Papeete. We have been here the best
part of a week and enlisted the help of a local mechanic and replaced
fuel lines, saltwater cooling pump, cooling hoses, alternator wiring and so on.
Now we look set to get out of here.
3 highlights this week: A traditional dance
festival, 4th July celebrations and the duty-free booze delivery. The dance
festival was incredible. About 300 stunning Polynesian women in grass skirts
(and not much else) shaking it like you wouldn't believe. And all perfectly
synchronised - I'll post a vid on FB. The booze delivery was equally
exciting. Quartermoon is sitting considerably lower in the water and we are
hoping this lot will see us through to Sydney. Robert would be very happy
as all the wine is French.
The 4th July celebrations were great fun. New
friends from Dalos and Ghost hosted a pool (inflatables) party on the end of the floating quay. A beer bong,
firing distress flares over the harbour, Ross in a disgusting Stars n' Stripes
thong and projecting "Team America" from the back of the boat ensured the
whole of Tahiti knew where the American's where!
Booze
delivery Independence
Day - Ame-ericaaaaa......
  We should be leaving today for Bora Bora but last
night was a friend's 30th so we are not in the mood for an over-nighter quite
yet. In fact Sammy is sleeping off her hangover as we speak (which makes a
change as it's usually the other way round!). The party went on until
daylight and even though we thought we were being relatively
restrained, an obnoxious Frenchie came by our friends Cat this morning blasting
an airhorn and berating us for having fun. For such a young guy he needs to
lighten up and get some mates.
So another week passes; we are quite thankful that
we had these problems now, not mid-Pacific or similar. Although it's been an
expensive week, it's been very productive and hopefully we are set for the
next 3500 miles (highly unlikely). We took the dinghy (with
newly rebuilt outboard) 5 miles round to the party last night as a test
run. All seems well but we are still very tempted to splash out on a new
bigger Tohatsu ;-) The trip there was
amazing with the sun setting over Moorea's distant mountains. We need to get on
our way!
Washing day...
Outrigger Canoe racing in the harbour
 The worlds largest Privately owned Sail
Yacht..."Athena" Our dream boat....."Erica"
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