SVMagenta Ship's Log

Getting Ready in Tahiti

We arrived back in Papeete, Tahiti on Feb. 25, ready to get back into our sailing adventure. It is the height of summer here, and the weather is hot. The boat had been sitting in the marina in the sun for six months, but other than some UV and corrosion issues, there doesn't seem to be as many new problems as we had feared. But we had the list of things to do from last summer, and when the new items were added, it was a long list. The goal was (and is) to leave the marina on April 1, so the pressure was on to get the list done. As with most boat jobs, if you plan to do five in a day, two of them end up taking all day, and you find another new one along the way. Like most other cruisers, I am not a mechanic. Necessity means becoming one, as well as electrician, plumber, fridge specialist, sailmaker, and so on. Needless to say the learning curve keeps going on. In addition, we need to provision and fuel the boat, and update our navigation skills for another ocean cruise.

Our plans (written in the sand at low tide), are to leave the marina here in Tahiti April 1, and anchor out in the lagoon for a week or so to test things out. Then we'll move on to the nearby island of Moorea for another week or so. If everything still seems OK, we will then cross about 100 miles of ocean to our last French Polynesian islands of Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora, before moving on to the Cook Islands. We'll send in updates as we are able to get internet connections.

 

Winter in North America

From August, 2010 through February, 2011, we had the opportunity to be in North America. A difficult situation was made a lot easier through staying at my sister Patty's house in Vancouver, and at my ski buddy Stu's condo in White Rock. Their generosity really meant a lot to us. We also bought a used car. It seemed like a good opportunity to visit family, ski at Whistler, and source boat parts to take back to Tahiti with us. So that is exactly what we did. We visted Kim's sister Rita in Washington, DC, our son Patrick and his family in New York, and our son Andy and his family in Loveland, Colorado. We had a big Christmas reunion with Patrick's family, Andy's family, and Mickey's family hosted by Mickey and Linda in Springfield, Missouri. It was great to spend some time with our four grand-daughters, who are growing up too fast. In addition, we attended our grandson Brandon's judo tournament in Vancouver, and skied two months at Whistler. We actually rented a small condo there (since our's is rented to someone else long-term), and it was great to spend time with our ski friends again.