On Sunday we had travel brochure weather, four to six knot trade winds and beautiful cumulus clouds. When the trade winds are that light though, it often means that a weather system is coming, and on Monday morning the wind was still light but the sky looked like rain was a possibility. We weighed anchor at first light and powered out of Haamene headed back to Raiatea to fill our propane bottles.
Van Diemen carries two twenty-five pound propane bottles that provide fuel for our stove and barbeque. The first bottle lasted just over a month and ran dry while we were cruising in Tahiti Iti. At that rate the second bottle should last us until the end of July, but we aren't comfortable not having a backup gas supply. You never know when you might have a hose leak or equipment malfunction that drains the tank, and nobody here is fond of iced coffee. So we picked up a mooring and dinghied into the Carrenage Marina on Raiatea, about a half a mile from the site of "the incident", to fill the empty tank and top off the other one.
While the dinghy was ashore it started pouring over the central and leeward coasts of Tahaa and Raiatea. The windward eastern coasts of both islands were still clear and sunny, so that set our itinerary for the rest of the day and after we were done filling propane we powered around to Raiatea's eastern coast and headed south. The rest of the crew had heard of Taputapuatea but hadn't been there so we headed in that direction.
Taputapuatea is easy to find. The ancient center of Polynesian culture, religion, and exploration is right next to the gigantic Christian church…. Typical…. This confluence of religions prompted a discussion on the subject which concluded with the question of exactly which way a Muslim would kneel to face Mecca here in Taputapuatea. Mike opined that there must be a smart phone app for that. If not, here's a real opportunity for some heathen to get rich. I pulled out my OpenCPN navigation software and discovered that the great circle (shortest direct) heading from Taputapuatea to Mecca is 283 degrees true, slightly north of west. A little more research revealed that the furthest one could get from Mecca on planet earth is a spot in the Pacific Ocean where the closest land is the Tuamotu atoll of Mururoa, France's nuclear test site that is just about 750 miles southeast of our current position. Coincidence? I think not!... This is how most discussions progress aboard the good yacht Van Diemen….. Did I mention that there was beer involved?
The marae of Taputapuatea are quite impressive, and after wandering around there for an hour or so we headed back to the boat, arriving just before the sky opened up and poured on us for most of the rest of the afternoon. It cleared enough just before sunset for a dinghy ride around the bay to explore, and after dinner we decided to have a movie night and watched "The King's Speech" which I had stored on my laptop.
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