Position: S23deg01.4minW134deg55.1min. Checking into Rikitea was fast and easy; lots of paperwork, but we practiced our French with a member of the Gendarmerie and got our passports stamped. We also had to go to the post office to buy a 70 French franc stamp to post copies of our clear-in papers to Papeete. The exchange rate was 84 French francs per USD. We walked part of the town of Rikitea, but all the shops were closed as the supply ship Nuku Hua was in, and everyone was down at the docks unloading or picking up their supplies. We made arrangements with the purser to purchase 6 drums of diesel for three boats, and came back to the arduous process of decanting diesel from each 200L drum to our 5G and 10G jerry jugs. Diesel was 121 French francs per liter; the ship's exchange rate was 85 French francs per USD; they took both currencies. It was an entire afternoon to ferry diesel out to Infini, pour it into our tanks, and I still had a long way to go when the sun went down. The next morning I started at oh five early, and finished topping off our tanks, giving the jerry jugs to the third boat so they could start their process early that morning as well. At any rate, all three boats got filled up, the supply boat was kind enough to buy back the extra diesel in the drum that we hadn't used (we miscalculated a bit), and we were all tired and a bit covered in diesel by the end of the process. The next day Sue gave me a haircut on the beach, and a single hander Swiss fellow came by and requested a trim also. I see a new career for her as a beach stylist. The baguettes were fresh (70 French francs each) and delicious! We made arrangements to go explore the outer motus the next morning. Things were going smoothly until I took apart the control arm to the windvane in my attempt to clean it and dropped the pin that secures the control arm into the water. Hmmm. We got out the hookah rig, and Sherry (sv Soggy Paws) helped coach me in its use, as we hadn't used it since we bought it at an SSCA gam a few years ago. I didn't have any luck getting to the 44' bottom, so Sherry gave it a try but the water visibility was terrible (3'), the bottom was soft mud and porous holes, so we gave up on finding that proverbial pin in a haystack. We departed for the outer motus a bit late in the day, but they're only about 8 miles away, so getting there in daylight wasn't a problem. Pearl farm buoys dot both sides of a "fairway" that the boats use to go between islands. When we got out to Puaumu, the small motu that was our destination, the coral heads were everywhere. Pucker factor was medium, as we had certainly had similar experiences in Mexico and elsewhere dodging coral heads, but finding a place to anchor took a bit of wandering around. I then fabricated a new pin for the windvane, and we'll have to see how the vane likes it in use. Our plan is to explore around here for a bit and then return to Rikitea. We managed to sign up for wifi internet, and are able to get a slow connection on the boat at anchor when within range at Rikitea!
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