engine finally working!

We've been moored next to the fuel dock in Marina Taina for a couple of days, and Francis has been working to assemble the engine. After we swapped the batteries, it finally cranked and is now running smoothly. We've done a pile of shopping, Zhenya has just made us leek and potato soup to go with the rotisserie chicken, and in an hour we shall set off for one of the anchorages in Moorea which we can see from here. Nice and sunny, hardly any wind...so all systems go!

Zhenya now on board, parts as well

Zhenya managed to fly out and get into Tahiti, despite not having a visa. She managed to wing it. Now we have gaskets for the heat exchanger and the cylinder head. We learned that the cylinder head was curved, so they shaved it flat and hopefully it will all work once it is all assembled. It wasn't the heat exhanger after all. Bit of a relief that we don't have to source non existent parts, at least for now.

We are now moored outside Marina Taina, and will do a big shop in Carrefour on Saturday morning before heading off to Moorea and other parts. When in a faster internet location I shall upload pictures to flickr and post links to them.

tahiti...

We are now in Tahiti, moored in the Harbour. The wind changed on the day we arrived (Monday), to Northwesterly, which also brought lots of rain. It's now Wednesday, and nice and sunny.
We took the cylinder head and heat exchanger to a testing place, so they can get tested under pressure, but we are pretty sure now that it is the heat exchanger. A chap at the Volvo service centre looked at it and said that one of the exhaust vents inside was clean, which meant water and oxygen had the effect of cleaning it.  We hadn't thought of that...learning again. Anyway, getting hold of one may be difficult and cost is around $3500.
We're off later today to go anchor somewhere, at least so we can swim etc. Zhenya says she will try and get here without a visa, and see if she can wing it with her Schengen visa instead, so if that works she will be here Friday and we can head off to Moorea or Bora Bora. She has been waiting for a visa for 2 weeks, and they have just said she can get it at the end of this month or take a slip of paper saying it will be issued then.
Off now to the local market, where hopefully I can get some avocados, which are huge here. If not, the chicken fajitas we are having tonight just won't be the same.

Rangiroa

We learned that the parts we needed have been held up in Tahit at customs..what a surprise..:). So we left Nuku Hiva on Friday afternoon, headed to the Tuamotos, specifically Rangiroa, a 50 mile long atoll. Since it was a fairly overcast day on Friday, our batteries had not charged as much as usual, so around 3am we had to hand steer as the batteries went completely flat. Soon as the sun was up, we could use the autopilot again. Since then, no problems, and we arrived early morning on Tuesday, after a perfect sailing trip.

Spent most of the day reading a book from a hammock strung between 2 palms, and am writing this on Wednesday after diving in the Tiputa pass..great dive with sharks, turtles etc...

So..we are here for the next few days and then headed to Tahit, staying at the Taina Marina, where Zhenya will join us with spares to maybe fix the engine...

cheers form paradise!

Marquesas and no power

Louis and crew arrived in Hiva Oa on 23rd April with not too much of a problem - 21 day trip , so not too bad. However, one engine wasn't working and the generator starter motor was burned up. I met them in Nuku Hiva a couple of days later, 20 minutes away from the airport in a tiny bay. It was a choice of 2000 francs to get there, or a 2 hour trip 4 wheel bumpy drive to Taioha'e on the other side for 4000 francs. Easy choice. We started looking at the problems we had on board, and ended up finding we had 2 broken alternators and no generator. So, no way of generating power to charge the batteries except the solar panels. Got Keith to order spares to get shipped to us (at a cost of $900 shipping fedex!), but as I write this on 9th May, they still have not arrived due to holdup in customs in Tahiti, so we are about to set sail for Rangiroa, which is a 45 mile long atoll, 575 miles from here on the way to Tahiti. Oh, and one engine we took apart since we discovered water in the cylinders, so it looks like a cracked cylinder wall, or cylinder head or bad gasket, although we cannot figure out what exactly is causing the problem so far, even after taking everythign apart.

During the time we have spent here, we have done a fair bit of walking - at Anaho Bay, over the mountain to the village on the other side so we could buy some food bits..not a lot to choose tho, but on the way back we managed to gather a fair amount of mangoes,coconut, bananas, passion fruit and lemons - all wild. I was reliving my youth by climbing high up a tree to shake down the mangoes..:-). Louis and Francis were up early a couple of mornings to go trawl in the dinghy for tuna, with sme success - 2 mornings they went out and brought back a large tuna each time. Have to live off the land a little, since prices are extortionate here - and you can get some thngs only when the supply boat arrives. To give you an idea, 8 apples cost $20, same for oranges. The one thing that is quite cheap is the french bread, at less than a dollar for a loaf, but oyu have to get it early otherwise they all disappear.

Anyway..will write more when we get to Rangiroa or failing that, when we arrive in Tahiti...hopefully we can get stuff fixed there. Zhenya should be arriving there on 19th May with some spares.