Yes, we are still alive and kicking; we've just been a little busy hence the lack of blogs from matilda lately. We sailed from Rangiroa to Papeete in two days, and of course we had the second half of the passage without wind as usual!
Tahiti was good, but very wet. In fact it didn't really stop raining from the moment we arrived until just a day or two ago; so the better part of a week of rain. The World ARC get-together was great fun, especially the dancing. This was made even more entertaining by the inclusion of one of Zoe's crew, Kelsey, who we were afraid might not leave Tahiti after the experience (the male dancers paid her quite a lot of attention...)
We did the tour of Tahiti, which was arranged by the World ARC and would have been great if we had seen anything. Pretty much everywhere we went the rain was coming down in sheets, so we saw very little in the way of views. The visits to museums and the water fall and blow hole however made up for it; everybody had a blast (literally) at the water fall. We also spent a fair bit of time at the Carrefour stocking up for the next legs, so we should be pretty much fine now until Fiji (at least).
The crossing to Raiatea from Tahiti was a little daunting. We did it overnight so we could arrive in daylight, but we had a 6-mile squall engulf us and stay with us for hours. It didn't matter what we did, we just couldn't escape it - if we managed to slow down to the back, the wind would increase and push us back into the middle. If we managed to outrun it and ease out the front, the wind would die and we would be back in the middle of rain in all directions for three miles. And this was serious tropical rain; like solid water, so we couldn't see much even on the radar. It was great when we did finally escape, and Raiatea has been very fruitful, so we're glad we came (although unfortunately we had to miss Morea to get here in time).
The main reason for coming to Raiatea was to get our wind, speed and depth instruments fixed. A local expert by the name of Cyprieu worked his magic - he's not cheap, but he did get them all working properly again. We thought about asking him to look at some of our other electrical issues (SSB, engine, etc.) but I don't think our budget could handle it!
We have been staying here at the marina Apooiti (very cute name) in the visitor's berth, and we plan to head off tomorrow. The weather has finally cleared up for the past two days and we have got loads of work done. The marina here is absolutely gorgeous, and we have managed to explore the town and enjoy ourselves despite having so much work to do on the boat. We have met up with Kel, a Danish guy and his friends aboard an Elan 42 called "Freedom" - and they have been great company. We also bumped into Paul and Suzanna, our World ARC liaison team at the restaurant here last night, and we had a great evening chatting with them.
Our next stop will be the river at the south of Raiatea, where we can moor and dinghy up the river - supposed to be very beautiful. We will then visit the other islands nearby, including a Vanilla plantation, before heading for Bora Bora on 12th or so. We will be leaving Bora Bora in the second wave on 16th May, so we still have a week or so to enjoy the delights of French Polynesia. Fingers crossed that the fine weather continues for us; we feel like we deserve a little R&R after the last week of work!