We just do not seem to generate much sympathy from friends at home when we write about having to wait out bad weather in someplace like Bora Bora. But that’s what we’ve been doing for the last week. We’ve definitely seen some good rain and winds and are both suffering a bit of cabin fever at this point. Happily, though, I can report that the monster high pressure system south of us has moved past and we’re in a very calm weather window. As far as the forecasters can see we should have quiet winds, which will be perfect for enjoying the lagoon here in Bora Bora.
When last I wrote we were going to pick up our new lifelines that had been shipped up from Tahiti. They did show up as scheduled on the blue ship, but sadly that was not the end of that story. We unwrapped them on the deck with great anticipation, ready to just be done with the whole mess from the crash. And sure enough, they weren’t made right and did not fit on our boat. Rats. Instead of a ring at one end to hook the gate to, they had fittings for turnbuckles on both ends. And they were too long. The ends were pressed onto the wire, so it wasn’t like we could just shorten them, even with the turnbuckle as tight as it could go.
Rob tried to call the rigger in Tahiti and never could get them on the phone, so off we went to the marine store to see if we could sort out a solution ourselves. Surprisingly there’s quite a nice marine store here and they had some parts we thought we could use. We realized if we end-for-ended the new lifeline pieces and put the turnbuckle at the gate we could screw in a ring we found at the marine store at the gate end and they would be the right length. Yippee. So back to the boat with the new ring that does fit into the turnbuckle. However, the pelican hook is too big for the ring. Rats again. So back to the marine store with the pelican hook and turnbuckle, only to find out that the big ring that fits the pelican hook doesn’t fit the turnbuckle.
But wait, we have an old set of pelican hooks from our original lifelines that we replaced in Sausalito. And yes, it did fit into the ring that fit the turnbuckle. But of course it’s shaft didn’t screw into the fitting on the lifelines. So back to the marine store again to get the bigger rings, then onto the ferry back to Raiatea to the stinless welder to have the big ring welded onto the smaller shaft to screw into the turnbuckle. Sheesh. But, happily, we’re finally done with that mess. And like Rob keeps reminding me, as we watched that speedboat turn and slam into our boat that night we would never have guessed that we’d get out of it for only $600. We can now happily say the story’s done and over.
And we did finally get off the buoy from the Bora Bora Yacht Club. It’s a really nice place, but their burgers are 1900 CFP’s (about $21) each, and they really don’t cater to parsimonious (thanks Marcy for my new word) cruisers like ourselves. We stopped in town and grabbed some groceries at the store and last night took a buoy at Bloody Mary’s, which is another restaurant. Here we can get a $10 burger and enjoy some snorkeling at this end of the lagoon. Tomorrow we’ll probably either go around the other side of the little island inside the lagoon or get our bikes out and bicycle around the island.
Today on Yohelah we’re happy the weather’s settled and the accident and repairs are finally behind us….
Teresa
