Day 286, Year 1: A Little Break in the Weather
Date: Sunday, July 30, 2006
Weather: Downpour All Morning, Clearing Skies in the Afternoon
Location: Avatiu Harbor, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

It looks like the weather is improving. For that we are all very thankful. About 3 AM the north winds starting blowing into the harbor, but they were not as strong as predicted. In the morning, we sat in the cockpit and watched the pouring rain, thunder and lightening, and the black clouds of the front pass over Rarotonga and out to sea. It took a couple of hours, but we finally started to see patches of blue. It has been raining here day and night since last Monday, so any patch of blue is most welcome. We made it all evening with no rain, but it is raining as I write this log. Hopefully, it will clear by morning.

We spent a bit of a lazy day aboard Windbird. Linda and I worked on getting pictures ready for the website while Mike and Garrett cleaned the topsides of the boat. Wow! What a nice gift that was for Mark and I. Mark helped with the cleaning of the boat and took the dinghy around the harbor visiting some of the other boats. White Swan with Bod and Diane aboard came into the harbor this morning. I had asked them to buy a copy of the DVD of Bora Bora’s Heiva Festival 2005 for me and they delivered that today. We saw them in Raiatea after we had left Bora Bora and they were on their way there, so they offered to get the DVD for me that I had forgotten to buy before we left Bora Bora.

We went back to Trader Jack’s for a pizza dinner and then to the National Auditorium for a night of Polynesian singing. Many of the cruisers that are currently in the harbor were at Trader Jack’s tonight. The entertainment choices tonight were to go to the Empire Theater to see The DaVinci Code or to go to the singing competitions as part of the festival. John from Endangered Species went to the singing competitions with us while the rest of the gang went to the movie. Many people are not interested in the singing, but I really love it. The Te Maeva Nui Festival here is now in full swing, so we will be going to the auditorium each night for singing and dance competitions. I feel blessed to be able to be here to see the celebration of South Pacific culture and hope to take in as much as I can.