In Quarantine

La Orana!

Papillon has been in quarantine this week.  Strictly speaking we should be flying a yellow and black chequered flag but it seemed somewhat alarmist when I’m really just a bit snottery so instead we have attempted to reduce our trips into town and skipper has been left in charge of people interactions.  This has had some interesting outcomes. My coffee and small orange juice metamorphosed into two large glasses of orange juice and 3 pastries at Apetahi– nobody was complaining but the waitress did seem a little surprised at my newfound appetite!  - and a simple trip to Champion for Sellotape and a phone card had him returning with yet more fistfuls of change, unnecessary onions and spinach and no Sellotape or phonecard.  The reason given is “I got a little flustered”!  I don’t get it.  He doesn’t get flustered reducing the sail area in a force 6 and a 3m swell but the moment he is confronted with a French voice anything can happen! 

In quarantine

Unexpected pleasures as I consume my two glasses of orange juice!

So, it’s been an interesting week!  Horrible to be sick but good things have happened too.  The first is that our Carte de Sejours were finally issued (sound those trumpets!)  We are officially free agents in French Polynesia until 16/07/24. 

It’s been a long ride but worth the wait as now we can come and go as we please and explore everywhere on our wish list at our own pace. Quite a milestone.  First things first will be a trip home in October.  Last week I mentioned the sail issue.  Leo was unable to help but he put us onto Regine who provided a quote for nearly £1000 to replace the UV cover.  Its eyewatering what everything costs here.   The equivalent quote from Saturn Sails in Largs Marina was £360! It made for an easy decision: we will bring the sail home in October and get the repair done in Scotland.  Meantime I have inexpertly patched where I can and by the tail end of the week had repaired enough holes to risk hoisting her again.  She should be OK for another 6 weeks.  

Sunsets to distract this week

and plentiful shark sightings

Our other big breakthrough this week was our replacement water-maker.  This one replaces the original 12V machine and runs off our inverter (creates "mains" electricity from our 12V batteries).  What an improvement! Water making is twice as fast and our PPMs of salt have reduced from 680 to under 200 (sound those trumpets again!!).  The downside is the current it draws but as long as we restrict water making to sunny days when the battery is sitting at full capacity, we should be good to go.  Today we will be checking the old pump back on the boat to Papeete.  The box takes up a lot of space so I will be glad to see the back of it, but it will be a lottery whether it ever gets back to Australia.  Fortunately, our names do not feature on any of the outgoing DHL paperwork so it won’t be our problem!!  What a relief! 

running the new watermaker

old pump boxed up

Parcels have featured in more ways than one this week as we also received 3 from home.  It seems parcels are like busses: none for months and then they all come at the same time.  Not that we can blame French Polynesia.  From the tracking numbers their progress over here was swift and efficient. The long delay was…wait for it…in a depot in the UK for over 5 weeks… what were the chances!! Anyway, they are here now, and as I write this skipper is wiring up the second freezer with the right fuse and wiring and apparently this afternoon, he will fit new fins onto the dinghy outboard so I should be able to plane that beast more easily on my own.  Without additional weight in the bow, it’s almost impossible for me to plane the dinghy meaning that rather than effortlessly gliding over the tops of the waves I am lifted up and down each one hanging on for dear life.  As a result, I am currently the focus of much merriment on the passing tour boats as they leave me tossing and turning helplessly on their wakes.  If the fins work, it will be a huge win for me!

flotsum and jetsum in Tahaa

Rum boats in Tahaa

Lying low this week has also had its surprises.  Whilst collecting in a load of plastic bottles floating by us in the lagoon on Sunday I also ran across two hard fishing floats that will be perfect for buoying the anchor.  These are almost impossible to source so a real find.  And then on Tuesday we were disturbed by a tapping on the hull – the traditional doorbell ring of a passing dinghy.  We emerged to find Chris and Mandy smiling up at us.  In our heads they were well on their way to the North Cook Islands, so this was a little bit of a surprise to put it mildly.  It seemed they had also come down with the dreaded lurgy during their stopover in Bora Bora.  At £40 a night they decided it would be prudent to sit out the virus in cheap old Raiatea instead so hoisted the sails and made the return trip.  It was lovely to see them again albeit at a distance and reassuring too.  If experienced sea salts don’t go to sea with illness  onboard, then nor should we and inactivity is clearly totally acceptable! After much chin wagging and general nonsense skipper, who has still not succumbed was designated patient zero and I, who appear to have been worst affected, patient useless!! The distraction was a good one and we were sad to see them finally leave on Thursday.  We are following their progress on “No Foreign Land”  The wind has been kind to them so far and after 24h they are over a quarter of the way there so  at this rate they should make their 4-day passage target.  Meantime we learn from them and stay put until I am snot free.  Hopefully that will be soon, and we can take off around Raiatea and Huahine before Mairi and Rob arrive in September.  There is still lots to explore. 

I leave you with our latest snorkelling video.  Make allowances for my weakened state! There is still much room for improvement, but I think it’s a little better!! 

Celebratory drinks!