Tahiti 17-18 Nov

17 Nov 2008

I am learning about what I call Tahiti Time. In the morning I walked across town to the Bosch parts place to pick up the fan belt that I had ordered two weeks previously and had been promised for today. The fellow behind the counter stated that “We have a problem.” Through the language barrier I learned that the belt was stuck in the airport and would not be released until Thursday. So I said “Thursday airport Friday here?” Yes. At the time we were planning to depart on Thursday so I asked for and got a refund. Tahiti Time. Later in the morning I cleaned out the refrigerator and ice box and other parts of the boat in preparation for our sail. In the afternoon we visited Morrie's boat and he gave to Arnold and myself a demonstration of the excellent weather service that he gets via his Iridium phone.

Morrie suggested that we consider visiting either London Island or English Harbor on Fanning Island, both in the same group of Line Islands to which Palmyra belongs. On the chart the islands look very very good from an anchorage point of view and it is as tempting as Palmyra was. However, though they are SE of Palmyra we would still have to steer slightly east of North (008 degrees) to reach Hawaii. Although the current reported winds would allow that we are worried about the risk of encountering a beat into a NE wind. Ocean Passages instructs us to steer directly north to cross the equator at 147 W then steer directly for Hawaii, which would give us a course west of north and provide a good point of sail against a NE trade wind.

That night Arnold did some snooping around the weather services provided free by our internet provider and downloaded GRIB files (special files that contain weather data) and a GRIB file viewer. It is a great service that allows us to see detailed wind predictions for whatever section of the world that we nominate, but it is based on normal access to the internet. We still need an service via the Iridium phone for when we are out at sea. Arnold is working on that but is battling some technical difficulties. We could see that the wind predictions are poor for an area to about 120 miles north of Tahiti until Saturday. Based on this we decided to postpone our departure date until Saturday the 22nd.

18 Nov 2008

In the morning I loaded a GRIB file and the viewer to my laptop and had a look at the area around Tahiti. This included a time-lapse (every 3 hours) loop of the predictions until the 22nd. We could see that there is a weak low just south of Tahiti that is stuffing up the winds in an oval-shaped area from just north of Tahiti to the south. The predictions are for better winds on the 22nd and easterlies 10-15 knots all the way through the equator to Hawaii – YES! Maybe a fast passage to Hawaii.

In the afternoon I visited the post office for the 3rd or 4th time hoping to get a replacement manual galley pump sent by Yacht Grot by air mail on Nov 7, 11 days previously on a delivery that Australia Post estimated to take 5 days. Neither it nor two letters mailed by a friend from Australia over a week ago had arrived. Tahiti Time.

At 11 AM I went to the immigration office and found it closed even though the posted hours were from 7AM to 3PM. I knew about their long undocumented lunch breaks so decided to give the man plenty of time to repose after his meal. It 2.15 PM I returned to the office and found it closed. Tahiti Time.

[Note: the next morning I visited the immigration office at 7.05 AM hoping to catch the man when he opened shop. It was closed. I went to a door at the side of the building and saw somebody through the window. He came out, bare chested, munching on his breakfast. I explained our plan to depart on Saturday and asked him for the procedure. He told me to come back tomorrow (Thursday) at 8 AM. I didn't ask why it should be 8 AM when the posted office hours start at 7 AM. Tahiti Time.]

Strangely enough I'm not particularly irritated by Tahiti Time. It is their country, I am their guest, and as a tourist I have to be able to cop it sweet.

In the afternoon Arnold and I went through the inventory of provisions on the boat and marveled at what a great job Brenda of stocking the boat Brenda had done before she left. We compiled a list of final shopping that includes some fresh fruit and vegetables. After that we checked the oil in the engine then started it up to make sure that everything was still OK and that the water temperature sender that we had removed and refitted was not leaking. All was OK except for the insulation that lines the inside of the engine cover that will have to be re-glued.

Just before nightfall Morrie came over with several cold cans of Trinidad beers and the three of us had a great chat in the cockpit. He and Irene depart at about 9AM for Australia and Arnold and I will release their lines. They have been great neighbours and we will hate to see them go. For reasons beyond their control they are running six weeks late and will be sailing to NE Australia during the cyclone season, which is a bit of a worry for us all. For the next three days this will remain an all-Australian jetty but with only one yacht, Pachuca.

That night Arnold and I did some internet research of Hawaii and our tentative plan is to make our entry at Kahului on the island of Maui and spend some time on R&R. From there we will go to Kaneohi on the island of Oahu and stay at one of the three marinas in the area. At Kaneohi Bay is the Marine Corps air station where Arnold was stationed in the 1970's. Nearby is Kailua, where Arnold and Sandra lived near the beach for several memorable months.