September 29, 2007 - Matira Beach, Bora Bora

Since Dad left last Sunday, we've spent the week getting ready for the long passage ahead of us. It seems like such a long time since we've done a big one. Several boats this season have run into big weather on this leg, so Sten was keen to get our storm trysail (a very small main sail that we can use if the wind is so strong that our triple-reefed main is too much canvas) rigged to make sure everything works. Good thing he did. It turns out that the track on the mast that the trysail attaches to was bent, very slightly, but enough that the sail wouldn't raise. Sten straightened it out. Now we needed a way to control this sail once it is up. So Sten re-engineered some snapshackles so that he could attach some blocks to padeyes on the stern cap rail. The sheets that control the trysail now run cleanly through those blocks to the big winches in our cockpit.

Meanwhile, I've done loads of laundry, cooked up a mess of passage meals, and cleared us out of the country. But it hasn't all been drudgery. Sten hauled me up the mast yesterday to inspect it. I love going up the mast. I also worked on our Ditch List - the items we're going to take with us if we need to abandon ship. I tried to convince Sten that the All Clad should be on the list - not because I think I'm going to need it to whip up a meal when we wash up on an atoll, but because it would be good ballast for our six person liferaft, which is a bit big for just the two of us. Arguably, we should have done all this long before we crossed the Pacific, if not before we left Newport. By doing it now, we're probably guaranteeing that we will have no wind at all on the next passage.
We've also been enjoying hanging out with the Amberchans on Encanto. What a fantastic family. Sten and I would start breeding tomorrow if someone could guarantee us a set of kids like Gaby and Sami. Gaby has been teaching us how to play Mahjong. Last night Encanto had all the cruisers in Bora Bora over for an ice cream social. We contributed a plate of brownies to the feast.