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American Spirit II - Day 105; Car Rental, Good Friday Services and Bali Hai Hotel Party; Friday, April 18, 2014



Up at 4:48 AM. Saw a cruise ship all lit up crossing from west to east towards Tahiti. Went back to bed and got up at 7:12 AM. Went to the Mobil gas station 100 yards from us in search of eggs and bread. No luck. Returned with 3 glorious French pastries, though.

Received email from Lauren and Brian. Young couple off of Ko-Ko. Looking for another boat as Ko-Ko is ending their participation in the rally prematurely and returning home. The boat will eventually be shipped home on a freighter at a cost of $50,000+. Lauren and Brian may join American Spirit II for 2 months from Fiji to Vanuatu.

The hotel, which is allowing the rally boats to use their dingy dock, called Avis Car Rental for me and I was told that I would be picked up and driven to the car rental agency by the ferry dock in 20 minutes. An hour later our ride arrived. Island time. After renting the really, really, really small car we had lunch and then drove around the island. We drove by an 18 hole golf course, the ferry docks, and around the entire perimeter of the island. Took one hour to do so. Small island. Ferries connect Moorea to Tahiti and run 24/7. Many if not most of the working inhabitants in Moorea work in Papeete and take a ferry to and from work every day. No more than an hour one way. We also stopped by Top Dive at the Intercontinental Hotel and signed up for a SCUBA dive Saturday afternoon at 1:45 PM.

We were back at the boat by 2:30 PM. I then drove around the bay to St. Joseph's Church and attended the Easter Station of the Cross vigil and mass, which lasted until 5:30 PM. In French, well attended, mostly outside, and very warm.

Once back at the boat I showered and dressed for dinner at the Bali Hai Hotel. Other boats in attendance were Nexus, Vivo and Hebe. 21 of us in all. Since American Spirit II had put the 'party' together, we were the 'hosts.' Dinner was picked in advance, and you could have steak kabob, grilled mahi mahi, grilled shrimp, or various other entrees. Coffee ice cream for dessert. Dinner was at 7:00 PM, followed by a Polynesian dance routine at 8:00 PM. The dinner and native dance routine were good.

We ended up back at the boat at 9:45 PM, then watch a movie - The Girl Who Played with Fire. The Norwegian version with English dubbed in. Not bad.

Brian Fox

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