24 September 2024 – Moorea
It was another nice morning when we woke after the rain of last night which made us stay on board. We had a light breakfast of fruit and yoghurt and John came over to check the windows he mended the day before. The new rubber in the bunk cabin had worked well as there was a new rubber seal, but the one in the aft cabin leaked. John said it needed a new seal but we did not have any more left so he said to replace in New Zealand. We will just have to tape it for long journeys but it is not a big leak and very small really.
Keith spent most of the morning on provisioning (checking what we have and what we are missing) and clearing up our stores and cupboards etc. We have to plan catering until New Zealand for 6 with the difficulty of what we can take in to Tonga.
I sorted things out in terms of providing letters to imminent crew arriving for immigration to confirm they were coming as crew etc and preparing a new crew list for departure for Tonga. In addition to dealing with queries for future crew.
I also continued to look at the passage to Tonga and New Zealand. My plan is to visit Niue – the largest Coral Atoll in the world, which is some 1,160nm from Tahiti. This should take us about 7-8 days. We may not stop at the Cook Islands as there are few anchorages and only one harbour and it is small and may be difficult for us to get in. The idea is to stay 3-4 days in Niue and then to head to Tonga which is an archipelago of a number of islands and to enjoy some of those islands whilst watching the weather to find a suitable passage window for the 1,200 nm to New Zealand. Niue to Tonga is about 300nm and so about two days or just under.
It is interesting looking at all these things and the entry and exit requirements of each island. I checked my flag store and I have a courtesy flag for Niue, Tonga and New Zealand which is good. You are limited in what fresh fruit, diary, meat and vegetables you can have when you enter so we need to input this into our planning for provisioning. There are forms to fill in and send in advance to the authorities and if you do not do this then you get fined. I have to make sure I get this right.
The Bimini (cover over the cockpit) has worn in one place and we will have to take this off and get it repaired along with the generator. As the generator is not working I have been using the engine to charge the batteries. I monitored the charging and saw that the 24-v system was not charging properly although the 12v system was. There must therefore possibly be an issue with the 24v alternator – so I must get that resolved in Tahiti too before we can leave. Luckily I have a spare. Jobs on the boat sometimes are never ending.
After a morning of jobs etc Keith and I wanted to go to the restaurant Ti Honu Iti which we have been trying to go to for some days – but you would not believe it was closed again!! We therefore thought we would do the next best thing and we had seen a café called Cook’s Café in the shape of Cook’s Endeavour. We got there about 1.10pm and the owner was about to close. However, she said she would serve us so we took a wooden cubicle as part of the ship. Cook’s Cat was asleep -I do not think it was dead and remarkable it has survived!!. We looked at the menu and there were all sorts of Captain’s suggestions. We had two different savoury galletes which were very good. The lady persuaded us to have a crepe desert which was equally good. We enjoyed this and felt patriotic for supporting Cook’s Café and enjoyed our lunch ashore.
We bought some bread and returned to Stormbird for a siesta and to read. There was more admin and emails to do and we enjoyed a cup of tea. The picture of the day is us on the rear deck and both of us agreed we need to get a haircut in Tahiti!!
We enjoyed a nice evening when the light lit up part of Cook’s Bay as it moved round before sunset and then we enjoyed a supper of white fish, broad beans, carrots and noodles. There was an invasion of flying ants for some reason but they gradually disappeared. This was all enjoyed with our Polynesian music in the background.
We return to Tahiti tomorrow to anchor for the night before going back to Marina Taina for repairs and for new crew joining -details to follow.
Crewing Opportunity Year Two
In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.
If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com