Tied up in Makemo

It's not just the weather that's kept us on the quay so long- in fact it's not even Makemo itself. It's the long even cement slab holding us all together here. Imagine just hopping off your boat to pop by and chat with a friend. No wet dinghy ride to ruin and hassle you. In the 20+ knot winds we've been seeing here, that's something to be treasured. We've enjoyed morning yoga, random walks through town and plenty of social time; movies, dinner and trip planning.





It's been great; not exactly down time though. Diane on Ceildyh held a few writing seminars to help us develop skills to write stories that will sell. We're all looking for ways to increase our cruising kitties. Barb on What Cha Gonna Do continues to coach us in our quest for a "life career", as well as walking us through our yoga poses. And Lauren on Piko is sharing her beading and jewelry talents as well. I do what I can to keep up with these gifted and giving women but I've got a long way to go.

We've also used the stability of the dock to get go up the mast to check some wiring. The VHF has lost it's range- we're reliably communicating with boats within 5 miles, but are lucky to hear anyone more than 10 miles away. (Most boat VHF radios have a range of 25 miles, so this is a problem.) It's not often the solution is so obvious; the cracked cable running to the antenna is in desperate need of replacement. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done about it until we reach Papeete in Tahiti. Since there are not marine stores- and only sparsely stocked hardware stores, we've started a list of spares, supplies and what-not to pick up while in the biggest city in French Polynesia.



We are feeling quite lethargic and content here in Makemo, but the weather window is opening today and it's time to push away from the dock and embrace the salty sea once more. It's easy to resist, and stay a bit longer. There's always just one more thing to do (like varnish our dinghy boards) but we are not the type to become shackled by comfort and ease. The next motu is beckoning and I'm looking forward to another paradise. Slack water is around 1pm today so we'll shoot out the pass and head to the isolated Tahanea, about 90 miles to the west.



These are from the crazy day with the local kids that I wrote about briefly in the last post.