Getting Ready for the Last Trip: 03/10/11 – 04/10/11

Yesterday, when it threw it down with rain nearly all day I had plenty of time to clean the boat.  Now, with guests almost upon us, I am like a rabbit caught in the headlights – there is so much to do that I don’t know where to start.  Eventually I get myself together and start with my least favourite job – the bathrooms, more specifically the shower drains and the toilets – ugh!

Still, a pint of sweat later and they are done.  I decide to leave the rest of the chores until we are attached to shore power and I can have the air conditioning to dry me off as soon as I ooze.  What a lovely picture.

As usual Mike gives me no warning that we are about to move and I hear the anchor coming up before I am ready to help, then ominously it stops and I hear the clomp, clomp, clomp as Mike goes back to the cockpit shouting something that I don’t quite catch.  It sounds worryingly like the word ‘rock’.  Given that our anchor had caught just before a large shelf of rock I take this to mean that the bloody thing is stuck, ‘Manihi style’, referring to the time that the anchor chain got caught around a coral head in the Tuamotus and we had to get a diver out.  Terrific.  When I eventually poke my head out to see what is going on it actually looks like being either rock ‘Cane Garden Bay style’ or ‘Tonga style’, where the anchor manages to come up but with a large rock attached to it.  Luckily this one turns out to be the former and is able to be dislodged with the boat hook.  ‘Tonga style’ would have meant someone getting in the water to get it off.

The radar and weather forecasts show that we should be able to get around the corner to Phare Bleu Marina before the next heavy rainfall dumps on us so Mike puts his foot down (metaphorically speaking) to arrive before it does.  Once outside the shelter of the reef it’s really bumpy and uncomfortable and I am once more reminded how quickly my sea legs disappear as we lurch and bounce our way the three miles.  Annoyingly if it weren’t for the reef between Calivgny Island and the mainland it would be a mere half mile.

We tie up in the spot we were last time although on that occasion John was there to take the smelly, slimy bow lines to attach and now it’s my job.  On with the Marigolds!  Kevin takes one look at my bright yellow gloves and asks if I take the same approach with my husband.  I reply that Mike gets treated with my wonderful bare flesh, probably more information than he expected to hear but then his fault for asking!

Three of our guests arrived late last night and Mike goes off to see if he can find any of them.  I am scooting around with my lovely green Floor Wizard (my broom) when I see two people hovering around the dock and it turns out to be Debby and Fraser.  They hop aboard to say hello, shortly followed by Mike and then Fred.  We organise for them to have an island tour tomorrow with Rock, our friendly taxi driver and to my delight, they all love provisioning in foreign places and are happy to do the rounds of the fresh produce market and the fish market meaning that we just need a quick run around the supermarket for the tinned and dried goods when Russell arrives on Wednesday.

In the evening we all meet Jutta and Jochem in the Poolside Restaurant at the marina.  We have a lovely evening although it is a little tearful saying goodbye to my two ‘little treasures’ at the end.  As they are probably doing the Pacific next year, I don’t know when our paths will cross again.

Photo:  Fred, Fraser, Debbie, Jochem, Jutta, me and Mike

Photo:  Two laughing blondes

First thing the next morning, Kenwin arrives to clean the filthy cockpit and the engineers arrive to try to work out why our starboard engine steadfastly refuses to charge the batteries.  It turns out that the alternator is knackered, not a major problem as of course we have another engine to do the same thing, but we like to set off with as much working as possible (everything would just to too much to ask for!) so it gets loaded into a taxi and departs with our guests for delivery to the workshop.

Kenwin makes a wonderful job of the cockpit but as we are paying him by the hour, I don’t stop and chat.  By mid afternoon the inside of the boat is spick and span – floors swept and wiped, woodwork polished and beds made.  When Debby, Fraser and Fred arrive with the shopping they announce that they have had a wonderful time getting everything especially getting the fish.  They have bought some amazing tuna and at $7 EC dollars a pound, it’s a real bargain.  They leave it with me to cut into steaks and freeze.

Photo:  Now THAT’S what I call a tuna steak!

Tuesday means 2 for 1 pizza in the restaurant but I am just too tired and a bit under the weather to go so I have a nice evening in by myself, finishing up Heather’s disgusting pop tarts (which horrifyingly I have discovered I like), snuggled up in bed.  When Mike returns, he brings me pizza too so it’s a fat, full little porker who eventually drifts off to sleep.