17:29.512 S  149:51.158 W

21/06/09

We’ve been in Tahiti for just over a week.  We took Jon  to the airport on Tuesday with his guitar, a surfboard, a suitcase and a back pack.  The guy checking him in was also a surfer so he accepted all of Jon’s stuff with no problems.

The Nespresso place was 10 kilometers  out of town.  It took three trips, one to drop it off, two to sign a piece of paper agreeing to their minimum charge which was equivalent to £35 and the third to collect it.  I bought some of Ellen’s favorite  blend which was almost double the London price.  The problem with the coffee maker was a small circuit board which had gotten wet and failed.  This must have happened before we had the machine properly secured and it did go flying. Hopefully it won’t happen again. A new machine here is more than double the London price.

We uninstalled a forward looking echo sounder which has never worked properly and installed two powerful LED uplights to light the mainsail when furling at night. Steve spent a few more hours tinkering with the watermaker and seems to have won for the moment.  More spare parts have been ordered from the US to be sent to the UK to come out with Demetra. She will also bring out the re-made saloon curtains.

We are in Moorea in the bay where  The Bounty film was shot.  We have joined  35 or so other yachts in  The  Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendezvous.  This  entailed a 16 mile “race” from Tahiti to Moorea.  There was so little wind.  (5-6 knots) the  finish line was moved to half way across during the race.  We all motored the rest of the way. 

We were greeted by the locals who also put on as little show for us and had dinner last night at the Moorea Hilton.  Today there are sports activities and a lunch, undoubtedly followed by more impromptu parties.  It’s like being back in the Rally again.