yeah,right...whatever

I saw a T-Shirt with "yeah, right...whatever" on it and it made me laugh out loud. I should have bought it, expressing as it does for me, a feeling Ive been increasingly troubled by since getting back to Australia. For me its saying "actually youre talking bullshit but I cant be bothered arguing with you". I'm thinking mostly about the political scene in Australia at the moment which is completely dominated by Tony Abbot the Oposition Leader, a man with extraordinary political skill, ruthless beyond belief and utterly focused on getting rid of the Government by whatever means he  can. This week has been typical - he and his party are attempting to unseat the governemnt by digging up dirt on a Government backbencher from a time before he was ever an MP, hypocritically lamenting that until the Government sorts out what he was up to back then, the Government is "in paralysis" - when of course it is the Opposition who are in paralysis, having done nothing but muck rake all week. Given that the Government has a majority of one, its obvious to Blind Freddy that whatever they might want to do with the MP under attack, they are not going to allow the Government to fall over such an utterly irrelevant incident, no matter how sordid it may be portrayed by the Opposition. Sadly, even though Australians are doing better than probably everyone else on the planet, Abbot has them believing in large numbers that they are sufferring, their Government is wasteful and corrupt ,- and this latest episode just confirms it- they are secretly beholden to the crazy  Greens and led by a liar, that action on Global Warming is optional and shouldnt cost anybody anything, that somehow the pathetically few asylum seekers who manage to get to Australia by boat are a serious menace to the Australian way of life, and the country is on the brink, like Greece and Portugal. Yeah, right...whatever Tony!

                            

Ive been back in Australia 3 weeks, and managed to find a weeks work in Swan Hill Victoria . Its on the Murray River and as far as I could tell there were neither Swans nor Hills there, but it was a small friendly country town  and work was quiet. I drove the 400 odd km out and back from Melbourne and therefore managed to see more of Melbourne that I had ever before. I was hugely impressed by their Museum and generally preferred the City of Melbourne to the City of Sydney, but of course Sydney has that wonderful Harbour. I saw the home of the Royal Society of Victoria, the place from which the  ill fated Burke and Wills departed for central Australia exactly 150 years ago. A fascianting book to read about that expedition is "The Dig Tree:" by Sarah Murgatroyd, who, aged 34 was herself dying as she wrote about the fatal journey of Burke and Wills.

The Latest Ending

Sunset Beach

The evening before I left Raiatea I went back aboard Sapphire for one last check, and one last nostalgic review of life aboard over the previous five months. But I found myself not thinking about the boat so much as about the sea and about the places I had been and the people I had encountered along the way. I looked at the chart on which I had marked a blue X every day plotting our progress from New Zealand to Rurutu and it seemed such a long time ago it was hardly real to me - those 24 days at sea were a blur of sail changes, waves, meals, sleeps, getting into and out of the harness and tether, mopping up and emptying buckets of bilge water, day and night, reading and writing email, radio checks, weather checks and log and blog entries, some emotional lows and highs - but essentially few specific crystal clear memories, excpet of departing and arriving. I think this is because to a large extent every day is the same, but with  minor variations, so every days  recollection is overlain with the next days minor variation of waves and wind, meals, sail changes and feelings, till they all merge and individual details disappeaar. I did however recall more clearly, but still in a sort of generic way the last week when the wind and seas were consistently more challenging than I had ever  sailed in except for a few hours at a time, and also that last day when I motorsailed  to Rurutu, bashing into the wind and waves at 2 knots for 16 hours and being drenched most of the time. The memory which most often came to mind was the first person I had seen in 24 days, that man in his fishing runabout out off the reef early in the morning as I approached Rurutu. A very simple image, but seeing another human being had a profound effect.

Back at Sunset Beach I watched the last Sunset of my stay, and in the morning flew to Papeete through low cloud, and from there the next night to Auckland, cloud and darkness denying me even a brief glimpse of the seas I had sailed across so laboriously and anxiously. Six hours in a plane and I was back in New Zealand!

I am changing the look of the Blog slightly because though I will continue to Post to it,  it wont be about sailing again until I get back to Sapphire next year. In the meantime I will be visiting family and friends, getting a little work in Australia and then late in September going to Ethiopia for three months, not as a tourist but as volunteer to work in a small isolated hospital, in an environment that from what Ive read is about as unlike French Polynesia as it could possibly be - except perhaps for the heat. The next beginning...

In with the Big Boys

Last Rites

On Saturday I walked 6km to Uturoa the main town. I thought there might have been a Tourist info place but I didn't find one so wandered the shops along the waterfront till they all closed at noon when I headed back to the boat for a swim . Later I started the frustrating business of sorting through my clothes and other bits and pieces , trying to work out what I could take and what would have to be left behind. - stuff inevitably accumulates over the five months I had been living on board. The next day Sunday I decided to take the inflatable out to visit a picturesque "motu" - an isolated little island on the reef- read my book and do some snorkeling as it was likely to be my last chance for a while. I got quite a surprise when I arrived at what had appeared a deserted island from a mile away, to find it swarming with campers and day visitors and their families and tiny tents, music turned up, the small sandy beach covered in sunbathers, barbeques on the go, speedboats lined up - it was like being in one of those ads for Coke, colourful party central in the sun! But I managed to find a coconut palm to sit against and read, and later, snorkeling the edge of the reef saw all those wonderfully colorful fish one more time..

On Monday morning I went ashore at 8am to meet with the people from Raiatea Carenage and to find out what the procesdure was and when we would bring Sapphire out of the water. Two hours later I was almost in shock, as they had sent me straight back out to bring her in, and by ten am it was all done - Sapphire was secured in a steel cradle in a security fenced enclosure with a dozen or so other yachts for company. I spent the rest of the day in the steaming heat taking the sails off , drying and packing away the dinghy, and the outboard, sorting through the food stores, cleaning and various other chores to prepare her for the layover.

I slept on board that night but decided I would stay at a nearby motel for my last two nights in Raiatea. At 11, I took my suitcase and backpack, closed the companionway hatch and clambered down the ladder wondering if how I was feeling was what it would be like leaving an aging parent in a Nursing Home, reassuring them they would be well cared for and that I'll be back real soon!

So now I am in a lovely bungalow by the water about a kilometer from Sapphire, Ive had a long and much overdue shower and change of clothes, and Ive been back to town for a haircut, food shopping and a visit to the Gendarmerie . On Thursday I fly to Papeete and Friday to Auckland - where it will be Saturday! Like I said before, Times funny stuff!

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After hearing back from Raiatea careenage – that there would be room for Sapphire and she could be liftedf out next week – I started looking again at my calendaer and working out what I should do and when, and on Wednesday booked a fligt back to NZ. It takes a mere 6 hours!  Somehow it ended up taking most of the day to do that!

The next day, Thursday I went ashore and hired a bike again and this time cycled across that bridge and right round Huahine Iti, It was a longer ride and a hotter day than my first cycle tour and I didn’t get back till 5pm.having had several stops to rest and read my book at various wonderfully scenic spots on the way round. I remember thinking – now would I rather do this or go to work?  

How terrible could it be to have to live here?

Speaking of books, the ones Ive been reading I picked up at the Laundry at Marina Taina. Its customary for cruisers to leave their finished- with books at such a place and help themselves  to any left by others – and out here lots of them are in French so any in English I tended to snatch up indiscriminately. Thus I read The Rain Maker by John Grisham and I enjoyed it. I also read Blow Fly one of those Forensics and autopsy riddled novels by Patricia Cornwell which are heavily promoted in Airport bookstores. It’s the first one of hers Ive read and I was disappointed – yes the technical descriptions of what happens to blood if its sprayed off a knife that’s being used to hack someone to bits are interesting,  but the story and the way it all fitted together, and in this book the way it all ends, is clumsy.  Great Expectations, which I read on Tubuai I think, was brilliant.



Anchor buddy and chain at 7 o.clock

So today, Friday I left Huahine and motor- sailed to Raiatea – well motored really as the hoped for breeze did not appear so it was a rather tedious 5 hour grind straight across and round to anchor near Raiatea Carenage (RC). The interesting part of the trip was getting the anchor up – at 7.30 the water was flat calm so I had a perfect view of what the anchors chain was doing so motored first forwards and to the right to pull it out from under a ledge and then where it had somehow lassoed a washing-machine-sized projection from a second rock at right angles to the first  decided to power forwards and pull the loop off the rock rather than try to untwist it – and this worked after a couple of goes at the wrong angle.  So off we went with an escort of dolphins – the first Ive seen in the entire trip!

I was hoping to talk to the guys at RC and find out something about what I needed to do to prepare the boat  but they didn’t seem interested on Friday afternoon! So I walked along the road, found a shop and bought a tin of Salmon for my dinner Back at the boat I had a swim to cool off and then got the razor out and got rid of my beard. It was getting to the point where it needed some sort of trimming and I couldn’t be bothered with that!



A Pass into the Lagoon on the Eastern side of Huahine

The strong gusty winds continue, and a number of yachts have shifted after dragging their anchors. – One catamaran slid down the side of a nice big Beneteau whose crew managed to put fenders down in time, one of them jumped on board the cat and once it had dragged further into clearer water, paid out lots of anchor chain and it stopped. Shortly after the crew of the Cat appeared in a dinghy and eventually the cat motored off somewhere else. I had to reset my anchor after dragging in Moorea, the only time that’s happened so far, and, interestingly, it was when the Anchor Buddy had somehow managed to come off the anchor chain. Here in Huahine I have the added security in these amazing gusts of having my anchor chain wrapped round a small lump of coral in the mostly sandy bottom – its clearly visible 15 feet down – and I don’t expect when the time comes to  leave it will be too difficult to free up but we shall see.

Today I went ashore just after eight to collect the Pushbike I had booked for the day. In the village an open air Market was in full swing with lots of fresh produce on sale including some unusual looking fresh fish as well as Tuna hanging off a tree. I was about to head off when I noticed men unloading drums and guitars from a van, and then women and young girls started appearing with hula costumes on so I waited and soon enough the street in front of the main supermarket was blocked off by a lively hula performance with singing and drumming – not sure why but it was great to have a free concert. And then I set off this time clockwise round the island on a very comfortable almost new bike with 30 gears and a basket in front for my backpack.



The Bridge joining the two islands is Top Right

Huahine is like Tahiti in that it consists of two islands joined together – though here there actually is water separating the two but  a small bridge gets you from one to the other. I cycled only one of the islands  but crossed the Bridge for a photo. On the way round there were some fascinating ancient Marae sites alongside a lake. At one there were information panels set out overlooking the various parts of the site which consisted of large paved rectangular courtyards with stone walls and large flat stones lined up standing in rows. Unfortunately the Information Panels were so old the writing and whatever was originally on them had completely disappeared so it was impossible to know anything at all about the sites function and age. A lovely new traditional thatched roof building is nearing completion and will have all the information inside once its completed.

Further on I saw stone walls built in a river to guide fish into traps – I think these are quite ancient too and beyond that, ten Sacred Eels in a  creek by a bridge. The eels were large and quite tame – but they didn’t really like being touched by a little girl who stepped in among them. Further along still I stopped at a Map under a tree where several young men were listening to loud Rasta style music and smoking dope out of a bong made from an empty plastic drink container, a hollow stalk from some nearby tree and a small cone made from a piece of a coke can. They offered it to me but I declined – they were Polynesians but the next guy who offered me dope was a white dude who was so wasted he could hardly stand up. I ran in to him back in Fare later on in the afternoon. . The round island trip took 4 hours and I got back sooner than I thought I would, so I ordered a Beer and read my book for an hour before taking the Bike back and returning to the Boat.

I’ve sent an email to Raiatea Carenage to enquire about leaving the boat with them for a few months, having now received two reports from other sailors who have used their services and been happy. Its looking like the 2011 Cruise might finish at the end of the month.

Lunch at Fare Village, Huahine

I had  plenty of sleep last night though I never seem to stay asleep for more than about two hours. I think that subconsciously when I am sleeping on the boat I am a little more  vigilant than  otherwise so I regulairly wake up even when safely anchoered. Not a bad habit to have gotten into I suppose! I had cornflakes for breakfast – I had been complaining about my diest a few weeks back and in papeete decided to make changes, so I started with weetbix which I really enjoyed and now I  am looking forward to cornflakes with sugar on and UHT milk from NZ which I managed to track down at one of the smallr supermarkets near Marina Taina. I also bought tinned sausages, like hotdog sausages and last night for dinner had some of them along with my own coleslaw from carrot and cabbage that I grated and mixed with mayonnaise. I also had tomatoes and some cold pasta I had cooked earlier and seasoned with heaps of freshly ground pepper, olive oil and pre-grated Parmesan. And red wine – French  - and not as nice as the Australian one I had before – so no wonder I slept well.



Last Night

Looking about this morning, I noticed that anchored off the village a bit further up from where I am , was  Narama, the Brolga 33  being sailed by Stephen and Heidi whom I had met briefly in Marina Taina. so after inflating the dinghy, I went over for a visit. Stephens parents were on board as well – it was Stephens dad who previously owned and raced an EC 31 just like mine 30 years ago in Sydney, so he was interested in Sapphire and I was interested in his opinions about her too. Stephen gave me some excellent tips on using my Pole when going downwind, explaining how he and Heidi set it up and  it worked well. They were planning to sail a similar route back west to what I had been planning, though Stephens parents were only going as far as the next stop which is Raiatea. However last night, looking at my calendar I could see I was running out of time. I told them I had realized I needed to skip straight to Bora Bora from here, and then except for probably pretty brief stops, straight through via Niue and Tonga to Fiji,  because I simply had to be back in Australia in September, which is only six weeks away. This was why I had been frustrated at how long it took to get my sail mended and why I had left Moorea earlier than I really wanted to, and I was becoming anxious about forecasts and further delays, as it would lessen even further what opportunity I had not just to sail to fantastic places but to explore them as well.



Swimming in Moorea



And this is what Stephen told me – he said friends of theirs had left their boat on the hard at a Yachting centre in Raiatea for almost a year, then returned and carried on at their leisure, and as far as he recalled they had been more than pleased with the service there. My plan had been to leave Sapphire in Fiji. He suggested investigating leaving her in Raiatea, the next stop, and continuing on in 2012 with much more time to get to Fiji without pressure and having lots of time for Tonga which he had sailed to before and which he felt would be a pity to not spend plenty of time in.

Amaszing Moorea

I went ashore as Hirama headed down the coast of the island to explore Huahine further, and the more I thought about Stephens suggestion the more it made sense. So tonight I am having a rethink of my immediate plans, and will make what enquiries I can about leaving Sapphire in Raiatea instead of Fiji.

Huahine

The forecast was for winds 15 - 20 knots then 20 knots and stronger in a day or so-all from the east. There were no wind warnings, so it seemed as if the time to go was now, or else wait for the stronger winds and bigger seas to settle in a few days - but I didn't feel I had enough time up my sleeve to wait in Moora a few more days. So yesterday morning I lifted the dinghy out onto the foredeck to get it dried out, though this was frustrated by some rainy squalls that started coming through, and there were wind gusts to 23knots, which made me wonder if perhaps the stronger wind was already here. And so all morning I debated with myself the wisdom of leaving for Huahine, about 85nm away to the north East. At te same time as I debated, I put everything away, tidied up, made myself a filling lunch and then when the dinghy finally dried out after about the fifth squall, I quickly rolled it up and put it away. I had calculated that if I was to leave I should actually leave at about 3pm so that I would arrive at Huahine in daylight. And that's what I did - with some trepidation, hoisting only the mainsail, and even then with one reef in. This turned out to be more than enough as the wind was consistently over 20 knots and the sea built to 2 metres during the night which was pretty well sleepless for me, but we were almost going downwind so it was reasonably comfortable. I saw two vessels nearby during the night and at daybreak another Cruiseliner crossed a few miles behind heading for BoraBora. I motored in through Pass Avapehi and found some sand over the reef to drop my anchor into. I was too tired to get the dinghy back out but have just rested on the boat and had a little nap. Despite being on the lee side of the island, which is mountainous but nowhere near as rugged as Moorea, windy gusts of 15 to 20 knots are managing to spiral over the hills and keep me watching my marks closely to see we aren't drifting. The reef is beautiful and I can hear drumming in the village, and earlier, church bells. In the morning I shall go ashore and investigate.

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