Last Day in the Marquises

Bill,

Thanks for all your work lately on my behalf. I think I have outsmarted the stupid french computers by transferring this email, composed at my leisure on my computer, to my camera and then plugging it into the french computer at the post Office. I must admit, and apologize to you, that I was getting very frustrated on Friday with computers and the like. First, the wireless was down again, so I couldn't easily get my computer onto the net. Next, I had to hike to the post office and use the french computer, the keyboard has different placements, so it is hunt and peck typing, very frustrating for me used to touch typing. But worse, you hunt and peck a message and hit send and the computer has kicked you off line and re-directs you to the log in page and everything you so laboriously hunt and pecked is gone.

Whilst I was at the Post Office I sent the forms back to you, all signed in the proper spots, so you should be able to go get a free car. Very fun to drive car.

Anyways, I'm sure that some of my frustrations were felt by you and remember, my frustrations and anger are not directed at you, but at other computer geeks. (Bad joke)

And as another special coincidence, as I was coming into this harbour on Ua Pou Island, the main engine sounded a bit weird, I thought that sounds like no cooling water. Sure enough the engine started to go hot, so I shut it down and made a perfect sail into the anchorage, drop the anchor in the correct spot, excellent work if I do say so myself. then I opened up the cooling pump and the impellor had broken a blade off and the broken blade had jammed into the cooling water outlet, change that impellor and later that night I was back in business with main engine power. None too soon since the wind had changed 180 degrees and now I was not so well anchored as before. Three engines, three cooling impellor problems.

Tomorrow, I'm off the the post office with this on the camera and the USB cable in hand and I will make the "Ordinateurs" do what I want.

I'm heading out of the Marquises tomorrow on course the Tuamotos, I'm not really sure which one yet. I have to see exactly what I get on Bluecharts, and what the wind will let me do, before I make my desicion which one to go to. I've ordered about 100$ worth of fresh fruit, grapefruit, oranges, bananas, limes, lemons, mangos and avocados. Apparently the Tuamotos don't have these fresh fruits, so I should get my money back as well as eat all sorts of fruit on the way over. The grapefruits are about the size of a soccer ball and sweet as oranges, the Avocados are terrific and large, the bananas are tasty but all come ripe at the same time, oranges are green but excellent. I hope the mangos last the four days, but if not I'll eat them all, they are very tasty.

After the Tuamotos it's off to Tahiti, I might be there for a couple of weeks, apparently the island is so big that you can circumnavigate in a week and the outer villages are quite natural, unlike the big city of Papeete.

Thanks Bill, I owe you big, the gold is buried under the big 'W' at the corner of kdke8bop and 3ieidkc,kll (damned french keyboards).

Jimsh