Author: Pam
Saturday started with more bio writing, our deadline was looming near. Around mid morning the crew from Moxie came by to say hello in person. They came aboard Tournesol and sailing adventures started flying. Dale is the owner and his friend George and his son Ian are his current crew. Once Dale was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration his wife told him he better get out there and do what he has been longing to do. She had intended to make the voyage with him, but after the crossing she determined that being seasick all of the time was not going to work for her, so she headed home and went back to work with the intentions of joining him along the way. Though we made a dent in the chocolate cake the night before it was a perfect opportunity to make sure more was eaten by feeding it to three men who are currently baching it. After a while Scott took Dale below to demonstrate for him the adaptive technology we use. Dale was very appreciative of the opportunity to see what tools are available to allow the visually impaired sailor to access information. His vision has not deteriorated to the point where he will be adding any of this equipment to Moxie at this time, but if and when the time comes perhaps he has more piece of mind that he will not have to give up his dream of sailing. After a several hour visit they needed to get going to prepare Moxie to head around the island to an adjacent bay. I have never been on a trimaran before and was very excited when Dale invited us over for a tour. Moments after they departed, we jumped in the dinghy and headed over to check out how much room there is on a 48 foot tri. Needless to say it is an unbelievable amount of real estate, it felt like Tournesol would fit at least twice. There is a very roomy salon and galley in the center. The outer hulls can be closed off for privacy and the deck space is huge. There is even a washing machine, but they don’t use it because it takes so much water. I am not a multi-hull fan from the sailing perspective, I am much more comfortable with a boat that will turn right side up again on its own if it should get knocked down or pitch poles. It was fun to finally see a trimaran and I am sure we will cross paths with Moxie again down the road.
Antoni had recommended one restaurant in Cooks Bay and it happened to be in close proximity to where we were anchored, so we decided to go out for a Saturday night date. The restaurant is Te Hono Iti (the little turtle). It has a very quaint atmosphere over looking the water with bright paintings of the sea on the walls. There were bright lights along the deck that attracted fish and as we were to find out later also sting rays. I had Caparccio, raw tuna marinated in olive oil, shallots, garlic and parsley. It was amazingly tender and really delicious. I am still in awe of my relatively new love for raw fish. Raw fish was not on the menu growing up in Maine. Now I would much rather have it raw then cooked. However, I will still always love my favorite corned hake when I go home to visit my family. After we finished dinner the waitress came over and informed us it was feeding time. We hesitantly made our way down the steps to the waters edge where she was feeding a half dozen sting rays and an eel pieces of raw fish. She explained they come every night for their dinner. She asked if we would like to feed them, Scott went first of course. To feed a very eager sting ray you hold the piece of fish by the end and move it gently just under the water and the sting ray comes right up and takes it out of your hand. They also let you pet them as they swim by, they are incredibly soft on the top and the white part on their underside. I asked if they had names and she said only one, “that one, we call her Big Mama”. The name couldn’t have been more perfect, she was at least four feet across, she was huge. They are graceful and very gentle, well unless you hold on to the fish too long. One sucked a little hard on Scott’s finger, I think for an instant he thought it was going in. I was happy that happened after I had my gentle experience. They are awesome creatures and who would have thought we would get that up close and personal, it made the evening very special.
Sunday morning Scott went in with mask, snorkel, fins and green scrubby to work on cleaning the beard Tournesol had grown at the quay in Tahiti, a green beard is not a good look for her. I diligently worked on and finished my bio for Randy, phew. It is very difficult to write about yourself and your life, I found it especially difficult with the idea of a book in mind. Who would have thought I would do something worthy of a book?
Being that it was Sunday on a small island in French Polynesia we found again there is nothing open, so we headed to shore to take the trash and go for a walk. While we were dumping the trash behind the grocery store we were greeted by two small adorable puppies that came out from under some crates to say hello. I thought they were going to wag their little tails off as they ran from one of us to the other for attention. They were absolutely filthy and I could barely think of anything else but dunking them in a tub and taking them home. We have seen many stray dogs throughout the South Pacific. It is heartbreaking to see dogs that are skin and bones, often only have three legs and spend their time sleeping in the dirt while no one pays any attention to them. It was the first time we had encountered puppies and it made me terribly sad. I am hoping they are at least fed by the grocery store, I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want to take them home. We at least have them on video since there was not way I could take them home, you can check them out in the video link.
After we left the store we headed around the island and the gray skies turned to light rain. As we were walking around a curve I heard my name, imagine how that felt in the middle of the South Pacific. It was Titaina and Antoni, they had come over to Moorea for the day and happened to be driving by. We chatted for a few minutes and then said our final goodbyes. As the rain was getting heavier we decided to head back to the boat and spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing inside as the rain gently fell on Cooks Bay.
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