Monday, June 06, 2005

Journal Entry – June 6, 2005 – Check-In Bureaucracy

Author: Pam

The day started once again with boat chores. We couldn’t believe the state of the boat’s bottom and hull the first time we got into the dinghy. It is amazing what grows in these warm waters, including the green slime that grows when you are one tack for a while. I started to clean the hull from the dinghy, but Scott dawned fins, mask and snorkel and went to town. He spent two hours scrubbing and scraping. There is a lot of satisfaction when you make a swipe and knock off a bunch of barnacles, the problem is there is 32’ of swiping. He did a great job.

Once on shore we dropped off our laundry. It is very expensive, but it was the most disgusting bag of laundry I have ever had in my life and there is no way hand washing was going to work. They apparently line dry everything, which should be somewhat challenging considering how humid it is. Anything will be better than the shape it was in when we dropped it off.

The priority for the day was to check at the Gendarmerie (the police station). Our check-in was simplified slightly since we got a three month visa for French Polynesia when we were in San Francisco. The process involved filling out a form, copies of our passports and visas and a copy of the boat document. We had to take one of the copies of the form to the post office to mail it to Papeete, Tahiti where the check-in process to French Polynesia will be completed. When we got to the post office at 3:20 they were already closed for the day. Next stop was the bank. The final step in the process is to pay a bond or purchase a one way ticket to your home country. They want to make sure if there is a problem you can leave. We waited a half hour at the bank and when it was our turn, it was 4:00, closing time. We were asked to come back tomorrow. We did exchange some money into Pacific Francs, the money is beautiful. The bills and coins are all different sizes and very colorful.

There is only one woman living on the island originally from America. Her name is Rose Corsier and she came here more than thirty years ago with her husband on their boat. After several visits they decided to move here and open an inn. Their original inn was located on the property of the hotel. She now owns 25% of the Keikahnui Hotel, which is apparently struggling to stay in business. She also runs a small boutique and gallery and is very connected to the cruising community. She seemed like the person to meet to answer our million questions. She is a very delightful woman, we had a lovely chat and learned more about the island. We look forward to visiting her gallery again and spending more time learning about the Marquesan art.

We had been invited to Medusa for lamb roast for dinner, but Sally wisely decided it was too hot to have the oven on for three hours to cook a roast. They invited us to go to Moana Nui , one of the other restaurants for pizza. We made a plan to meet them at the hotel and then we would all walk over together. Once the gang was all there from Medusa and the guys had their turn at the shower, we all decided we were too comfortable to head out, so we ate at the hotel restaurant again. It was a very silly evening, they are all really nice people and we will miss them.

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