TheQueen

Saturday, December 29 - Tahiti Nui

We dined last night on the patio at Pueu Village. "Mama", Victor's wife, made: a yummy ceviche in coconut milk, grilled mahi mahi steaks, pommes frites, and a big assemble-your-own salad with tomatoes, radishes, and butter lettuce, sauced with a fine home-made vinaigrette. The mahi mahi steaks put the thin filets we get in the U.S. to shame. A squeeze of lime juice on the spicy rub was the finishing touch.

Friday, December 28 - Pueu Village, Tahiti

We slept last night with the doors open and the fan on low, alternately wakened by the hammer of rain on the tin roof and lulled by the mutter of the surf on the reef. We were up early, and B and D took a morning dip in the sea.

Thursday, December 27 - Tahiti

We left the ship after breakfast, bussed to the ferry terminal on Moorea, and a short 30-minute ferry ride later, arrived to mass confusion in Papeete. As promised, we were met by the Avis guy in a red t-shirt. He sped off with B to the Avis office to do all the paperwork, and the rest of us waited for luggage. It resembled a mob scene.

Wednesday, December 26 - Today we Anchor

We awake to more rain and gray skies. But there is promise of activity to amuse us. The pilot is scheduled to come aboard at 2 p.m. to guide us to anchorage in Cook's Bay, Moorea. Meanwhile, Viktor tells us he'll be rigging the new canopy over the tropical bar today. That should be fun to watch. It's worth remarking that all of us are a little antsy, anxious to anchor and take the tender to shore.

Tuesday, December 25 - Rainy Christmas

We awake to find the rain lashing even our protected porthole. Giving up on sunrise, we loll in bed for a while, eating the cookies the cabin boys gifted us with us last night. Surely the rain won't last more than half an hour.

Monday, December 24 - Day 19, Islands and Islands

It has rained in the night, and gray cumuli bloated with moisture define our horizons. We have set our clocks back for the final time. Early in the morning the wind backs to the southwest, blowing directly at the bow. So the Officer of the Watch furls the square sails and we sail with one staysail for stability and one jib for push.

Sunday, December 23 - Day 19, Crashing Crockery

So the island was sighted, as predicted, last night around 9:30 p.m. Don and Jode won the bottle of wine, which they shared with all the other watchers. This is all heresay, you understand. I was safely tucked into bed.

Saturday, December 22 - Day 17, Land Ho!

This is the longest day of the year. The rigger is up with the sun today, spreading his canopy-under-construction out to dry. There has, apparently, been no rain in the night. We snap a few more morning cloud photos, enjoy a brisk 30-minute walk and a second cup of tea.

Friday, December 21 - Day 16, Rain

In the night we set our clocks back one more hour. We are now on "US-Alaska" time, as the Garmin names it. Our morning walk is a pleasure, as we are able to walk both aft and sundeck, clambering up and down stairs between. We also trespass on the foredeck, open today for the first time. Our regulation 30 minutes passes quickly, as does the scheduled 10:30 a.m. walk.

Thursday, December 20 - Day 15, And Again We Sail

Today begins the third week of our trans-Pacific voyage. Once again we're sailing without benefit of engine power. Around us the horizon is dotted with rain squalls, but so far we have sailed between them all. We have seen a few rainbows.