FUEL FOR THOUGHT TAHITI TO AUSTRALIA
Having crossed the Pacific much faster than anticipated we took advantage of the brief pause to rotate our engineers. Spending long days in the engine room is hard, noisy, hot work so Paul left us for a well earned break and chief engineer Luke came back on board for the next leg. But first we took advantage of having them both there for 48 hours to carry out a full oil and filter change of the main engine and gearbox.
DAY 81: HAIRY MOMENT
The next most important priority was finding the only open hairdresser in Papeete, as after 80 days at sea we were all starting to look like neanderthals! Duly trimmed, we allowed ourselves a solitary day off to explore the island and enjoy the spectacular sunset.
DAY 83: HEAVY LOAD
After our all too brief excursion, we were once again ready to set off to New Zealand. Chief Mate Mikey took us out of port to get a feel for how Astra handled when heavily laden with fuel while simultaneously dealing with two ferries, five canoeists who decided to race us, surfers riding waves no more than 100m from the entry buoy and some entertaining cross currents either side of the bar! While Mikey remained outwardly calm, he admitted to being relieved when we’d passed them all. Once offshore we latched onto a SW current and began the 14-day crossing to New Zealand.
DAY 86: KIWI CONUNDRUM
When you plan to visit a new country by vessel, it pays to appoint a local representative to deal with the formalities for entry, such
