The timing is not great for our arrival at Papeete, though. Estimated passage time is two days, five hours. This estimate is for a boat speed of 5.5 knots, and results in our arrival at 5:00 pm, or just about dusk. If we can maintain an average speed of six knots, passage time is shortened to just about two days with an arrival time of around noon. Why this matters is that we will not go in through the pass at Papeete in the evening or at night, which means that if we arrive too late in the day we will have to just sit outside and drift or tack back and forth all night. But the wind has been strong, and is predicted to stay that way, so we might be faster.
Our stay here at Tahanea has been affected by the strong winds as well. While we have been able to get a lot of really good boat work done, we have not been able to enjoy this beautiful atoll as much as we could have with calmer winds. It has been blowing between 20 and 30 knots day and night, raising a nice chop in the lagoon and making rowing the dinghy really difficult. Today for the first time we dropped the dinghy into the water and went to shore. The nearby island was really beautiful and we had a great time hiking around.
We have, though, overall had a pretty good, relaxing time here. Besides for the boat work, I finally had lots of quality time with my guitar, and Cynthia has progressed nicely through the French language course. We have also had time to watch movies each night, read books, and listen to music. So it has actually been more relaxing than if we had been out each day snorkeling and hiking around.
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