Most of today was spent getting ready to move on. I went to the Port Captain’s office to check out. The French (like the Mexicans) love their paperwork and even though it’s debatable If they ever do anything with the paper, they MUST have multiple copies and stamps on everything. After getting our exit papers, I was able to go over to the duty free liquor shop and buy rum, wine and whisky at amazingly low prices. It’s a reminder of how much tax is put on these items. We bought a case of rum for $10/bottle that sold at retail for $44 per bottle among other items. We ended this evening with a nice dinner at a local brew pub that make some nice beer and a mean pizza and had the opportunity to spend some time with John and Pat from “The Rose” who we have wanted to get to know better. A good time was had by all. Yesterday we took the dinghy about 4 miles downwind to go snorkel in the “aquarium”. It’s a nice spot with clear water inside the reef where it’s fun to swim. But after having dived at Fakarava we are now spoiled. This place didn’t have any live coral and just a few species of fish, so we were, “ho hum, not Fakarava”. The trip back needed a snorkel more than the swimming. 4 miles into the wind and waves in a small dinghy. Our friends in the other dinghy who went were wearing their masks and snorkels on the way back since the waves and winds were blowing so much water into the air and the boats. Ann had to bail for the last 2 miles to keep us afloat!

So we’re just hangin’ for the next two days. Our plan is to leave Monday afternoon (after the liquor arrives) for Huahine in the leeward islands. It’s 90 miles, so we’re OK to leave in the afternoon for a next morning arrival. If the liquor arrives late, we’ll just wait one more day, since we’re NOT on a schedule (yay!).