As usual, getting on the Internet has been difficult. Theyve got a very primative system here. You pay them and then you wait for an actual person to send you a long on code in a popup window. The chances for screw up are endless. We arrived in Raiatea with over 200 lbs of gear. Put out our thumbs and got picked up immediately. Arrived at the boat around 4 pm. The boat was clean but really packed with everything that I had stowed. It was all we could to find a place to sleep. We ate some cans of lousy pate and went to sleep around 7. Remember, after 6 pm its midnight and we were tired. The next moring we had some cold instant coffee and two cans of tuna - pretty hair shirt. The first thing was to rig up a tarp- because it rains a couple times a day- in order to start pulling all the stuff out of the boat and lay it on the deck. Around 2pm I sent Ray to the airport to pick up John. (The other John is flying in from Hawaii where his boat is berthed -also a Hans Christian, 38 ft. John de Lancie met the other John on the last voyage and he offered to help bring the boat back!) Ray came back empty handed. I checked Johns flight and I got the day wrong - Sunday. We worked till dark and again went to bed early. What was accomplished, however, was quite a bit: got the propane on, totally cleared out the inside, found all but one of the electronics that I hid away on the boat, got the running rigging up, got the sail on the booms, etc. etc. The next day - Sunday - we repeated the process and, this time, Ray went back to the airport and John was there. The minute John arrived he pulled out the new computer (that I had bought and he had set up) and fired up the SSB. Everything worked. Since everything is closed on Sunday we ate a really lousy version of pork and beans and went to sleep. This morning was a big day: The electrician came and we sorted out some problems: batteries, solar regulator, refrigeration solenoids, windlass, thu-hulls, etc. etc. Money is the universal solvent. Tonight Im taking everyone to the local fish restaurant - its in some ladies house - and were going to have raw tuna and beer. John is very knowledgeable about boats. Hes lived on his for 22 years. Its very nice to have him here as well. Our intention is still to get the boat into the water on Wednesday. Thursday is a holiday in French Polynesia but not for us. We will be ready to start testing all the systems and Ray will get his first chance to go up the masts. The unknowns are still the engine and the desalinator but we need to be in the water to test those. The water pumps were fried but weve been able to cannibalize them into one sort of working pump. Definitely will have to get a new pump in Hawaii. Worst comes to worst, well hand pump our fresh water - we will use less for sure. Thats about it for here. Its very pretty and the weather is hot and humid. There just dont seem to be enough hours in the day especially when things are dark at 6pm sharp. Say hello to everyone. Love, John When the boat is in the water, I believe theyll be able to start using their Sailmail service. So well hope for another email soon. Last I heard they were hoping to set off on June 1- Look forward to more adventures from: THE LIFE OF RAY THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPENTHE
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 15:34:27 +0000
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