I must confess about two lies.
1. I’ve said in the past “I’ve never seen it rain so hard”. This is untrue, as yesterday I truly witnessed the heaviest rain I have ever seen. If it was any heavier I would have drowned.
2. When I said that Tahiti had the most expensive diesel, this was also a lie. The fuel here is $2.40 a liter. I will not fill up here as I would probably have to spend $300. I’ll get 40 liters and go check out Tonga.
Just as I rounded the North side of the island yesterday the Monsoonal rain came, I could barely see the bow of Namaste. The motor was hunting and finally died. I trimmed up the sails and went below to change the internal fuel filter. After about 20 minutes in the hot and rollie engine room I got the filter changed. After bleeding the system I kicked the old girl over and she came back to life, it was the filter! The heavy seas really kicked up the sediment in the tank. I will be sure to install a fuel polishing system on my next boat. The motor still seems like it is laboring a bit and I will change the Racor soon. I only have one more Racor filter and want to hold off to the last minute.
After finding the anchorage in very limited visibility I connected to a mooring.
The boat that I heard in the night the other night was “Storm’n Along”, and they most certainty have a control head for me. I’m going to work out the details today, but can you believe my luck. They had reported my troubles to the net and the fate of Namaste has been a bit of a “to do”. Today they will report that I arrived fine and all is well.
I caught a ride to town with my friends on “Water Music” and did the customs and immigration thing. I then went to the Nieu Yacht club for a burger, 2 beers, and an ice cream. I met a very nice Norwegian couple who are also on a 28′ boat. They are young, around 27. They worked in a Salmon processing factory for 4 years, saving every penny and living in a dingy basement apartment to afford this trip and their boat. These are the kind of people who I have enormous respect for.
I caught a ride back to Namaste with them and they later came over for a glass of wine. We talked about our respective travels.
I’ll be here for a few days attending to Namaste and trying to dry out. This weather system should pass soon and I’ll make way for Tonga.
Every adversity is meant to be overcome!
Peace, Love, and Coconuts everyone.
– Alex
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