Day 267, Year 1: Red Sails and a Full Moon in Raiatea
Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Weather: Rain All Night and All Day; Weather Clearing in the Evening
Location: Uturoa, Raiatea (Society Islands, French Polynesia)
Tonight we actually saw red sails as the sun set. That is the first time since June 27 that we have actually seen any color associated with a sunset. It has been too cloudy to see anything. We are also sitting here under a party cloudy sky where we can actually see the full moon once in a while. We are hoping that these are signs that the terrible weather that has settled into this area is moving on. It rained all night last night and most of today. People on the net are starting to whine. From the Tuamotus to Tahiti to here, the weather has been just awful. All we can do is ask, “Where is the beautiful weather?” We know it is not here in the South Pacific right now.
Today was a “getting ready for passage” day. Since we are on the town dock, Mark was able to simply move the boat along the dock to get us to the fuel and water. We filled all tanks and moved ourselves back to where we had come from. I went through clothes drawers and pulled out things that we are never going to use out here. We will vacuum pack and store those things. I also worked on pictures for the website. We were unsuccessful in our attempt to send those today as the internet cafĂ© was closed today, same as yesterday. We have been assured that they will be open tomorrow, however, and that we will be able to begin the sending process.
Maggie Drum left today for Tahaa, but Po’oina roa, Lutana, and Cheyenne are still here with us at the town dock. It has been very windy, and as a result, very noisy here, with water lapping against the dock, but we have been safe albeit not totally comfortable. I baked bread today and made chili for dinner and for our passage to Rarotonga. Tomorrow I will do more cooking for the passage, and we will hope that our auto pilot parts get here by week’s end. We will be ready to go as soon as the parts arrive.
Here’s hoping that we awaken to a clear sky in the AM. That would be wonderful.
