A sail and some human repairs

 After having our inter-regional departure refused there was no question of staying longer in the Papeete floating slums... It was time to move, even if to somewhere a little closer.  

So we decided to show Zac some of beautiful Moorea. We had a cracking sail and experimented with our windward angles in preparation for our upcoming Tuamotus passage. Not great but not completely terrible. She's certainly no performance cruiser/racer.  

We did a day of boat jobs in Cook's Bay. It's been a long journey but the list is getting pretty small and the last of the mod cons like watermaker, washing machine and deck shower are now functional. Once again we marvelled at the Cooks Bay micro-climate. It's as if it's not part of this island chain at all. And the water was dead still; so after a few rough nights, a good night's sleep was finally had by all. 

In the morning we sailed to Haapiti once again. Multiple acquaintances do not diminish the  unbelievable beauty of this anchorage.  

It seemed like a good idea to take Zac surfing on the boogie board.  So we jetted around inside the reef to a couple of possible spots and decided to head out to a smallish but lumpy Haapiti. 

Unfortunately, despite Zac's first wave being only a small wipeout, it resulted in an unbelievably painful and debilitating relapse of his dislocated shoulder. The guy was in absolute agony and couldn't move. There was no-one else around and it was a kilometre to shore, so we only had ourselves to get the situation sorted. 

In the course of the rescue, both of us were dragged through the whitewater over the reef. Eventually, I gingerly dragged him back over to (and into, owww) the dinghy; then we slowly headed back to the boat. Easso dragged him on board and arranged an impromptu telehealth with Adam (Zac's Dad, Doctor, Obstetrician, all rounder)

Ads recommended we dive into our "physicians advice only" medical kit and apply Valium, Ibruprofene and Oxycontin to relax the spasming muscles. Then to apply the Stimsom Technique. After the analgesic cocktail took effect, we lay Zac face down on the dining table and applied 5kg of diving weights in a nylon bag, held by a leg rope band, in accordance with the Stimson diagram. 

Et Voila! after a couple of minutes it popped back. We put him in my best first aid sling and the worst was over.

 

After our long list of DIY mechanical and electrical repairs it was good to see we could be equally useful with humans (with the right guidance of course).

The plan is still to head to Rangiroa on Wednesday or Thursday. The wind looks like it will swing to the south east then, making it a relatively straightforward passage, but nothing is guaranteed. We are at the mercy of the elements.