Independence Day

0800 Position 16-49S 150-59W.  Anchored in Avea Bay, Huahine

Our nightly routine includes hoisting the dinghy alongside Van Diemen for security.  We spent all day aboard yesterday and didn't even launch the dinghy.  That's a first for this cruise.  We were all busy working on projects.  Rob and Renee built an awning for the foredeck and Mike cleaned and oiled some of the teak gratings below.  With good internet access on the boat for the first time, I updated the blog to include pictures with the posts for the past two weeks.  Mike went for a quick swim, but otherwise nobody left the boat.

There is quite a bit of daily vessel movement here in Avea Bay.  The charter boaters have a lot to see during their short visits so they rarely stay in the same spot for more than a night.  Our French entertainment was replaced by an English speaking family on a catamaran that anchored a reasonable distance away.  Somebody on the new catamaran plays the saxophone, and we could hear it well into the evening.  The player was pretty good, but that kind of music seems out of place here.

If you squeeze a grape you get grape juice.  Let the juice sit around long enough and it will probably ferment and become wine.  Over an extended period the wine will turn into vinegar.  What does vinegar degrade into?  Isn't vinegar the end of the line?  Why then, is there a bottle of vinegar aboard Van Diemen that says "best before 9/6/2020?  That's more than three years from now.  What happens on 9/7/2020?  We have discussed this topic at length without resolution.

Avea Bay

Relais Mahana Resort