On our way to Rarotonga 17.02S 152.4W
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sat 24 Aug 2013 16:53
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This morning we left Bora Bora and as a matter of
fact French Polynesia behind us.
We have been there since the 8th of June, when we
landed in Fatu Hiva after 20 days at sea.
Yesterday we worked hard on getting ready to
leave.
We also had to show up at le Gendarmerie to check
out. And they wanted to see the whole family.
Ellinor inspected the rigg from 20 m above the sea
and downward. But she left the rigginspection on deck for me.
And did I get a surprise? When checking all the
shrouds etc, I have to lift aluminum tubes that covet the lowest part of the
stays. And on the lower starboard stay a pin had left its place and layed just
below on deck. That litle pin could actually have made our rigg fall
down.
Well at least that motivates riggcheck!
And today as we rolled out the mainsail there was a
hole close to the boom. So as I was navigating trough the pass Ellinor was
repairing the main!
And what else? Oh yes we caught a huge Mahe Mahe 2
hours out at sea. It had the same length as the boat is wide at the
aft.
It was a big fight to get it on board. Thank god we
where sailing close hauled so it was easy for Ellinor to bring the boat to
almost no speed.
The fish was almost swimming ahead of us. And it
charged right up in the air.
As we hooked it and got it on board it would not
give up, even with alcohol it would still fight. Scary! We actually gave it a
last call with a hammer....
Then it was a blood bath in the aft as Ellinor cut
the fish and made wonderful filets.It was a challenge to get all meat into the
fridge.
We can almost close it, almost.
We had some of it for lunch, we had pickled
ginger, wasabi, soysauce and lemon with it. MMMMMMMM!
Then Ellinor went to sleep and I felt that the
floor in the galley was hot. The cooling system for the fridge had given up. And
as the fridge was trying to cool down 10 kg of meat it was HOT.
So instead of washing the dishes I had to open up
the floor and start looking into the water intakes etc. By some reason there was
pressure on the water backwards. And finally I gave up and turned the cooling
system around, so it cones in wher it used to come out etc. And it works! So
after that I could make the dishes. And Erika who is getting big treated my
heroic work with making some coffee. Yes she turns on the gas, boils, brews and
so on...
Funny enought we are sailing close hauled towards
Rarotonga, the main island at Cooks. This means also that we are sailing against
the sea. That is a loooong time ago we had to do that! But the wind will veer as
we move downwards, so we are counting on getting a different
situation.
So summing up French Polynesia...
Marquesas are the most beautyful islands, we should
have spent more time there. They are the most non turist
destinations.
Tuamutos, well we ended up in only one atholl, but
we are happy we stayed and learned to know that place. We loved
it.
Tahiti, Ukulele lessons where fun. Papete is a
uggly little town with charming people.
The society islands, very very nice, especially
Tahaa. The only exception is Bora Bora. From a boaters point of view it is
runned down.
Do not get us wrong, you can still go there and
live in a bungalow over the water and look at pristine colors on the
water.
But if you snorkel it is a disaster. At least where
we went. And again, you could probably go diving outside the reef and enjoy
great wildlife!
From a boaters perpective, to much traffic, to many
signs closing off almost every bit of beach there is.
What made it nice was the yachtclub where we
stayed, Maikiki can only be recommended.
Great pool for the kids, great restaurant with a
laid back atmosphere.
But prices in Bora Bora.... forget it. Just
pay.
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