Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first...
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
to Lake Ontario Click this link:
SOUTH CAROLINA
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Here in the heart of French Polynesia we have have a great week. It started last Monday when we explored all that Papeete downtown has to offer.
The best was three good chandlery's (Boat Stuff Stores). A bit more expensive than we are used to, but at least they seem to have some inventory.
First, we needed to replace our AIS antenna. We again are able to see what ships are around us and more importantly, they can again now "see" us.
We have discovered that most restaurants are beyond our budget here, but fortunately there are a fleet for gourmet food trucks less than 100 meters from our marina who serve a plate which feeds two people for $10-18. Needless to say, we have been there a few times in the last week.
After dinner we found a bar called "The Three Brothers" (in French) which looked identical to a restaurant by the same name at home... Without internet confirmation we are not sure if it is a chain.... Anyway, Monday night brought half price beer so remarkably the place was packed with cruisers...
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| Christina Couldn't Decide |
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| Neither could Lanny & I |
Tuesday found us checking out more parts for the boat including a 220volt battery charger. Our boat is only equipped for 120volts so the cheapest solution for the few times we find our self at a dock, is to charge the batteries and just use the inverter already installed. This setup seems to be working so far. We have also purchased 4 new motor mounts and are now looking for somewhere we can afford to have them installed...
For a very long time we have been away from "civilization". Shelley has enjoyed a little "mall time". Papeete is rich with places to shop and interesting things to buy...
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| The Papeete Market |
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| Shelley is pretty close to heaven.... |
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| So many choices... |
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| Ginger, Christina & Nikki |
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| Shelley's Anniversary Present.... |
This week we met Ginger's parents who have come to visit our friends on Swift Sure for a few weeks. They are great people and lots of fun.
This week we started a local VHF CRUISERS NET. This is something we find most places we visit, but there was nothing here and with the Pacific Puddle Jump event this weekend, we started sharing a lot information. The net is also helpful as we all found parts and supplies for our boats.
On Wednesday we also met a great bunch of folks who came all the way from New Zealand for out event on the weekend. Sharon, who we met in March had already become fast friends with us and so she stayed with us on our boat instead of in a hotel. We also met bunch of other great guys from Fiji and Australia.
On Thursday we rented a car and toured the Island of Tahiti.... Beautiful!
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| Nikki & Shelley |
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| Waterfalls EVERYWHERE! |
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| Tahiti's most SACRED Tiki |
Thursday was a BIG day.... It started when I found a Tuhotsu Dealer who sold me the parts I needed to get the dinghy engine going. It worked! Whooo-Hooo!
On Friday the PPJ Rendezvous began and Shelley and I were quite involved. From our time in Panama we have been promoting the event with other cruisers, so have become the "go-to" people. All weekend we were involved with the organizers and have to say, had one of the BEST Weekends of our trip.
Starting with Maquasian dancers at a Friday night Cocktail Party the fun didn't stop all weekend. We learned SO much about the people of French Polynesia and connected with over 70 other cruisers from all over the world. An AMAZING weekend!
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| We were greeted by the PRESIDENT of French Polynesia |
Below are just a few examples of the fun...
For a number of reasons we decided to leave our boat at the Marina and make the two hour sail with our friends on Swift Sure...
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| Sweet Pea, the cat..... |
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| Our friend, Sharon from New Zealand.... |
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| Lanny |
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| Ginger and her parents |
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| The Moorea Anchorage |
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| Nick, Christina, Michel & Alex |
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| Our friends, Bruce (yellow) and Carrie (Purple) |
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| Making Lei's |
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| I ended up doing the announcements.... |
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| Lisa , Rainard, Lanny & Ginger |
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| The "FNZ Team" - Who win by the way! |
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| Learning to Dress Tahitian Style.... |
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| Strong like Bull..... Smart like...... |
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| Jordon.... An amazing man.... |
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| Lanny, Ginger, Rainard, Lisa, Barb & Cleat (Gingers parents) |
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