Tuesday, May 20th, we awoke at 6 AM to the sound of the horn blast from Taporo IX, the supply ship. That's when the watermaker quit. We got about 100 gallons made before it happened so at least we have some water for now. Thank God, Halleluiah! We are watching the supply ship's barge go back and forth making deliveries, and have noticed an entire colony of dolphins frolicking and dancing, jumping and spinning all around our boat! They had followed the supply ship in and were just hanging around. We want to go in to get our bread and head on out to the next bay over which is supposed to have the best snorkeling in the Marquesas, but we can't get near the dock until they are finished unloading. We noticed Ralph & Glenda from Our Country Home went into shore and the locals became agitated and made them move their dinghy. By 10:00 we decided that Frank would run me in and drop me off while the barge went back for another load. I got to the bakery and was informed by the owner that the people from the other boat had picked up our bread (?!?!); she said they were all sold out and that when the others came she had told them there were no extras and the last bag was reserved for us, but they convinced her they were picking it up for us. I found out that they had gone to get tattoos, so I went there. Ralph was lying on the table and Glenda nearly jumped in shock to see me. I could see that they had about 8 baguettes, and pointed thanking them for picking ours up for us, explaining that we needed to get going. They gave me some story about picking up extras for their friends on the other boats but they did not have our bread. What little stinkers! In my very nicest voice I told them that I'm sure they didn't mean to take our bread (although they had seen us order it), and simply asked how much I owed them. Glenda reluctantly sold me 3 loaves, whining the whole time about having promised to find some bread for her friends. Can you believe this? Isn't it amazing what people will become reduced to – cheating someone out of their bread! I got back to the pier around 11:00, and we finally headed out.
It was a quick 1.5 mile ride over to Baie Hapatoni. We were followed by the supply ship and all of her dolphin fan-club. Only one yacht was anchored there, "Tigress", whose owners (Wendy and Ray from England) were going around scrubbing her hull from their dinghy. We all waved to one another, and after setting anchor we spotted a very fast approaching official-looking vessel. Frank said, "Here comes the French Navy, better get our papers out". It actually was a customs vessel and we did get boarded. There were four of them, armed to the teeth. They were all very polite – and very good looking! One spoke fluent English, and as the others stood around admiring Destiny and commenting on her beauty, he made small talk with Frank, asking him routine questions and checking our papers. They made several notations, and declared us "Bon!" I took pictures and they were happy to pose for us.
After their departure Frank was able to get reception enough to get in touch with the installer of our watermaker. He hung up telling me that the news isn't so bad. It is a matter of timely maintenance - some parts are just needing to be tuned up and some replaced. We are hoping to try to get online soon and order the parts to be shipped to us in Tahiti. Further good news is that it may continue to work intermittently until it just gives out, so we will keep at it. While Frank was on the phone I went out to the back of the boat and cut off all of my hair. It is bleaching out and getting so dry and frizzy that I just could not take it anymore. No one out here wears makeup, so now with my short frizzy afro I think I look like a boy. Oh well!
The snorkeling was OK, but probably too late in the day. There were a lot of strange little things that kept hitting our faces and stinging our bodies – probably more tiny jellies – and there were some large fish eating smaller fish that were feeding on the tiny things so the water was churned up causing poor visibility. It is a sweet anchorage and quite beautiful so we chose just to admire it from our back "porch". After dinner we hailed Tigress and invited them over to visit. They are amazing! They have lived nearly all over the world and have been to many places we hope to get to in our travels. They are heading to Australia to settle down for a while. We have met a large number of cruisers who are headed to New Zealand and Australia, planning to just stay. We had intended to head to Nuku Hiva tonight but have heard that the winds and seas are not good, so instead of an overnighter we will leave in the morning for the closer, smaller island of Ua Pou.
www.frankandbarbgladney.com
while at sea: kd0cff@winlink.org
Skype ID: frank.barb.gladney
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