April 29 Friday
We made it to Papeete and arrived at the Marina about 9:00am. This was good as it meant that Erich and Sabine could get the travel agent to book some special package travel deals they were trying to get.
It also meant that we were safely docked before the very heavy rain showers started and continued through the day. Normally it rains just as we are trying to dock.
Papeete gave me the first opportunity in several weeks to have an internet speed fast enough to have a Sykpe call with Andria. It was great to talk to her after such a long period.
I spent the day cleaning the boat, catching up on emails on the good internet, and calling Andria on Sykpe.
The next day we motored about 4 miles along the inland channels to get to the marina where a sail repairer was meant to be located. Unfortunately we got there only to find that he has moved to a different location about 5 miles in the opposite direction to what we had just come. It was too late in the day to get there so we decided to stay where we were. It was quite deep to anchor but spotted a mooring ball so we hooked onto that. I called the marina opposite the mooring ball via the VHF radio to check what the rate was to stay there for the night. We were told that the mooring ball we were on was a private one and could not stay there. The marina mooring balls were a 300-400 meters north. They only rent them by the week, but we could stay for free for the one night. I was getting dark so we decided to anchor in a shallower spot nearby. When positioning the boat to do this we came within talking distance of a couple of young local people on a yacht who directed us to a private mooring ball that they knew the owner of and who would not be back tonight and we could use it. This turned out to be a brand new mooring line so was a good safe spot for the night.
Just after we finished breakfast the owner of the mooring ball arrived so we had to do a hasty retreat.
We got ourselves to where the sailmaker was anchored. He looked at the main sail briefly and said that he could give me two prices, one just to patch it so we could get back to Australia, and the other do a proper repair. We had to leave the sail up all afternoon for it to dry after the heavy rain.
We were to deliver the mainsail to him tomorrow. I had never taken the main sail down before, so now was a good time to learn. With help from Jeremy and Jacqui we had the mainsail down and folded in less than an hour. Luckily Jeremy and I could carry it just. We put it in the cabin to keep it dry overnight. The next day we used the main halyard to lower the sail into the dingy and delivered it to the sailmaker.
We were in the bay called Arue. It was very nice and had an active yacht club in it. It was fun watching the young local kids learn how to sail Hoby Cats. The day was filled with shrieks of terror and joy depending on whether they were winning for flipping their Hoby Cat. Jeremy and Jacqui explored ashore and got some food supplies while I spend the morning fixing (hopefully) two of the three hatches that had started to leak.
In the afternoon we caught the local bus into the capital Papeete. We browsed the shops and after a phone call from the sail maker giving us a warning that the last bus leaves at 6:00pm, we managed to catch it just in time.
The price to fix the main sail was just under $2,000. After thinking about it and discussing it with Andria we both agreed that it was better to put that $2000 into a new sail, rather than the current sail which is on its last legs. I am confident that it will get us home if I remain on second reef and treat it carefully. The sail maker said that I could use the full sail when going downwind in lit wind but not to use full sail upwind or in strong winds. Good advice.
I took the sail back and in about 2 hours Jeremy Jacqui and I had it re-installed onto the boat.
As part of the rally fees we had pre-paid for two nights in the Papeete marina which is in the heart of downtown Pateete. We headed to this marina where we stayed for the two nights 27th and 28th April over which the prize giving for the last leg and skippers briefing for the next leg are held. It was also my birthday on the 27th April.
Soon after we arrived it started raining . again.
One of the key benefits of being at a marina is the opportunity to fully charge the batteries. This can take up to 24 hours as they go through the different stages of charging, Bulk, Absorption, then Float.
Soon after connecting our power cable from the marina power pedestal on the dock to the boat the safety circuit breaker on the marina pedestal activated and our power was cut off. B@%$#! I have had this happen before when the cable plugs at either end had become wet. Water gets into the plug and causes an electrical short between the pins, which causes the GFD (Ground Fault Detector) in the supply pedestal on the dock to cut the power to the cable.
I unscrewed the screws that held the covers of the plugs in place. Dried the plugs and connectors with a heat gun normally used for stripping paint. I also use this heat gun for shrinking electrical heat shrink tubing. It is a very handy tool on a boat. When I reconnected the cable to the power pedestal the circuit breaker tripped again. B@%$#! & B@%$#!
. It was still raining bucket loads so I spread out our rain harvesting device (large tarpaulin from Costco) on the trampoline of the yacht. The trampoline is the area at the front of the boat between the two hulls of a catamaran. Fresh rain water is better than any water from a dock, it is also free.
Again I stripped the covers from the shore power cable plugs dried and re-assembled them. This time the power stayed on. Yea!… For about 5 minutes. Blast. There is something other than just the moisture under the covers causing this issue. Time to get serious, get out the multi-meter and morph into Sherlock Holmes . again.
Using the multi-meter I was getting varying readings of about 150 – 2K ohms between the pins. This would certainly trip the GFD. On closer inspection of the plugs I found another set of screws behind the plugs. These were removed to allow the plug one further stage of disassembly than what I had done before. Sure enough there was moisture in this area. The now completely disassembled plugs were blow dried, reassembled and tested. Yea! It worked.
By now quite a lot of water had collected in the tarpaulin so using a bucket I transferred this to the water tanks of the boat.
After I finished this I noticed that the power had been cut off again. Double and triple B@%$#!
I had other things to do so decided that I would sort this power cable out later.
Being so close to town gave me the opportunity to get some parts for the boat. I needed to replace the low water pressure magnetic drive pump that feeds sea water to the high pressure pump of the water maker. The current one is still working but is making noises that signal its eminent death. I may have mentioned in a previous post that I pulled the pump apart to find that the bearing on its main shaft is very VERY worn and is laughing at me when the pump is running.
Garry my nephew from New Zealand and his wife Rachel are joining the boat in a few days as crew to help us sail from Tahiti to Tonga. Garry helped me out with researching a supplier of this pump in NZ with the thought of bringing it with him. He was told that they do not make this pump any more but the supplier did have a similar type of pump for around NZ$400 (US$300). This pump had more capacity then I needed, drew more 12 Volt battery current then I wished and was much more expensive than I was prepared pay.
Also I could see Garry coming through customs in Tahiti and being asked Pardon monsieur what is this you have in your baggage? After the explanation .. it would be Merci monsieur that will be 4,500pf for customs duty and Haw haw haw a fine of 200,000pf for not declaring it. Something I am sure Garry like a good nephew of Scottish descent would not do.
To avoid Garry any hassle I thought I better try a local marine supply. This should not take long. It is a common item and surely the first marine supply I go to should have one.
It was still pouring down with rain and after walking what felt like three miles visiting three marine supply shops in Papeete I still could not source the particular type of pump that I required. Nothing even close.
I was also beginning to worry about the amount of water collecting in the tarpaulin over the trampoline. It could be getting so heavy that it tears the trampoline apart as it continues toward its original destination before being trapped by our water harvesting desires.
When going past a supply shop for the pearl industry I looked in the window as I thought that maybe in the pearl industry there would be a requirement for this type of pump. The lady in the shop came to door and asked what I was looking for. In bits and pieces of Frenlish (French and English) she understood what I was after and drew me a map of how to get to a shop that may have one. It was another kilometer away so still in the pouring rain with tired legs and sore feet but with renewed hope I set off.
I found the shop only to be told that they did not have one. but another shop about a kilometer away may have one. More walking in the rain with tired legs and sore wet feet which were now developing blisters on the chafe points of my sandals.
The shop was another Marine supply shop a target rich environment. I informed the young shop assistant what I was looking for. He took me to an area at the back of the shop. I thought I must be dreaming but there they were on the shelf, three of the exact same make and model as my existing pump that was threatening of departing to pump heaven.
Now comes the crunch.what was it going to cost. Consider that most goods in Tahiti because of shipping, taxes, duties, and the profit of middle men, are about 180% more expensive than prices in the USA. The price was 12,300 Polynesian Franks. I could not believe it, I checked the number of zeros to be sure that it was not US$1,230. Yes it was only about US$123 … about NZ$160. I literally hugged the young shop attendant in joy.
I asked him to hide the pump behind the counter and guard it with his life while I browsed his most excellent establishment for other treasures. I found some of the deck cleaner that I like, and some epoxy putty that sets under water. I have heard of this product from some of the other skippers who recommend it highly. It was not expensive so it ended up behind the counter as well.
I also spotted some very large 12Volt marine deep cycle batteries. I remembered a conversation I had with Massimo the skipper of yacht Giampi at the happy hour last night. He was saying that his batteries were failing and he could not find any replacement anywhere he tried. These batteries looked to be the described size and type he needed.I took a photo of these on my iPhone so that I could show them to him when I returned to the marina.
After paying for my treasures I hurried back to the marina. It started to rain heavily again and I was now very worried about the collected water tearing our trampoline to shreds.
Getting to the marina I looked along the line of yachts towards ZOOM which was at the end farthest from me. Against the white hull I could vaguely see something dark. My heart sank, my savings on the pump where just eaten up by a $1000 dollars or more damage to trampoline. The $1000 or more was bad enough, but I am sure even my newly discovered marine treasure store would not have on a shelf at the back of the store a new trampoline for Zoom.
I trudged in pain to the boat to check out the damage. The trampoline looked like a pregnant lady but was still in tact, no damage at all. The grey object I had seen from a distance was just the anchor. The stretchy rubber material that holds the trampoline in place looked like it had been on an extended diet but was spreading the load equally. Yea! my savings on the pump were returned! We normally use a bucket to transfer the water from the trampoline to the tanks. Jacqui had a brilliant idea to use a hose. I really do not know why we did not do this from the beginning. She tried this a couple of days ago but did not succeed. I could understand why and did a variation to her method. This worked well and the water siphoned into the tank while I had a quick shower prior to folding up the water harvesting device and rushing off to the skippers briefing. There was also some cruising information of where to go and what to see, a welcome from the Papeete city mayor and a display of traditional Tahitian dancing which was delightful. Looking at the young Tahitian girls, I can easily understand that in the days of the old sailing ships, and even now desertion was a problem.I meet up with Massimo and told him about the batteries I had seen in my marine treasure store. He was very appreciative.
I heard the following day that the batteries I photographed were too large but the treasure store did have some smaller versions that should do the job for him which was great news. He thanked me again, I was very happy that I was able to help him.
I now had to get back to the boat and find a solution to keep moisture out of the shore power cable plugs. Being a farm boy from New Zealand where the sheep outnumber the humans and it also rains in the bucket loads. I knew that sheep stand out in the rain for days and they stay dry. The Lanolin in their wool protects them from the rain. I have a tub of Lanolin wool grass on the boat. Fantastic stuff that I use for many applications such as on threads of bolts to stop them rusting and permit easy removal when required. I was not sure of its electrical conductivity properties so with my multi-meter set to read the maximum resistance I stuck the probes of my multi-meter into the tub of Lanolin grease. Confirming by beliefs and my requirements the reading was open circuit. The grease does not conduct electricity, at least at low voltages.
It was now about 10:00pm as Jeremy and I pulled the power plugs apart again and covered the metal parts inside the plugs in Lanolin grease. Once re-assembled the shore power cord was plugged to test it. The GFD did not cut off the power. Also during the night and the next day through more rain before we left the marina the power stayed on. Yea! for the water repellant properties of the lanolin from the wool of the humble sheep.
We departed the Papeete marina about 3:00pm for sort motor to Tahine marina where we hooked up to a strong mooring buoy for the night. We plan to refuel tomorrow morning and go to Moorea.
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