Returning to Raiatea
Tuesday 9 August – we arrived in Raiatea and retrieved all our baggage, Geoff ran out and flagged down the only taxi before it became a free for all and then we were off to the Raiatea Yacht Services where he had left the boat.
Since he’d been away the yacht services had started to lay a wide concrete strip right in front of Salanjo, so we had to walk the plank to get on the boat – tricky for Geoff with all our heavy baggage and the oversized sail. Luckily nothing ended up in the drink!!!
Geoff had given the owner of the marina a list of problems to fix whilst he was back in New Zealand. I’m not going into detail about how the next three days went – suffice to say it was not the most peaceful time. We had a guy fixing the generator, an electrician, a guy on the freezer, a guy grinding around the winch, a guy fixing the prod, 6 guys concreting the path in front of us, all competing with their radios playing either loud repetitive music “that didn’t go anywhere” (yes, I know, I’m just getting too old for that kind of “music”) or Bob Marley. Now whilst I don’t mind him, I think I’m getting a bit reggaed out now listening to the same old hits!
Everyone was asking Geoff for his attention, or for certain tools, or where they could wash grease off their hands, it was absolutely relentless. This went off for three days solid starting at 7.30am till dark, with the usual problem of people not turning up when they should. I spent my time trying to clean the boat around them, a never-ending task! The only respite we had was a trip in the dinghy to pick up the spinnaker which had been mended in a sail shop in another marina.
Friday 12 August – another stressful day with Geoff trying to get the last few jobs done. The generator guy was still trying to fix it, but after a lot of expensive hours put in, to no avail. We now have to manage without it till we get back to New Zealand and just charge from alternators on the motors.
My one little treat for the morning was when I grabbed the kitchen scissors and a shopping bag and took myself off for a walk, coming back with some beautiful tropical flowers and leaves to enhance our saloon and cabins, and some fresh pineapples and bananas from a stall on the road.
David and Marie Carmen were flying into Huahine at 6.30pm and we were meeting them at the Yacht Club there, so it was imperative that we leave by 1.00pm to sail to Huahine and arrive before dark. In the end the electrician was sent packing at 1.20pm with a return date booked for him when we get back to Raiatea for him to finish the jobs, and we were off!