Day 244, Year 1: Happy Father’s Day
Date: Sunday, June 18, 2006
Weather: Not Recorded
Location: Cook’s Bay, Moorea (Society Islands, French Polynesia)
There’s not much to report today . . . just a typical day in the life of a cruiser. We spent the entire morning continuing to reorganize the food storage, and it is a great feeling to have that done. We now know much better where to store certain things where they will be accessible during passages and when we have guests aboard. What seemed like good storage space when we were living aboard has ended up not to be so while cruising. We just hope our new organization works better for us.
Our next task was to get the v-berth ready for company. Mary Ellen and Lee, Mark’s sister and brother-in-law, fly into Papeete on Friday. We use the v-berth for storage during passages and somehow it always gets filled with “things”. We’re not sure where all the stuff comes from and we find it amazing that we can get it all put away. Boats have limited storage, but you learn to use that space in amazing ways. So ME and Lee, if you are reading this, we are all ready for you.
Our next task was to get ready for company for dinner. Last night we went over to Quantum Leap to visit for a short time and invited them over for dinner tonight. Tom had a birthday last week, and he and Bette Lee had their 38th wedding anniversary on Friday night. Add Father’s Day to that, and we felt we had great reasons to celebrate together. We will be leaving for Papeete in the morning and probably won’t see them again for quite a while. About the time we return here with Mary Ellen and Lee, they will be heading to Papeete to pick up their family who will be visiting with them in July. I know I have said before that in this cruising life, you constantly make news friends but keep the old. We look forward to seeing Quantum Leap later in the summer or fall when our cruising schedules once again coincide.
So tomorrow we head across the channel to Papeete. There is a strike of some sort there and it is starting to cause cruisers some inconveniences. We aren’t sure who is striking, but we know the Custom’s Office and the largest chandleries are not accessible at this time. There are also reduced ferry and land travel schedules. At this point, the strike is not affecting tourists. Flights are coming in and out on a regular schedule. We’ll just have to get there and find out the details. Papeete is a big city, so things are going to be a little different for the next week or so. Some cruisers love Papeete and others really dislike it. It will be interesting to see how we adjust.
