We Leave French Polynesia for 2017

Alas, everything ends, and after the departure of Nate and Val (a funny story that we documented in the blog), we prepared to leave.

Raiatea Carenage couldn't pull us from the water on our designated day, so we enjoyed a motor a bit more South on the West side of the island.

I never get enough of photos like this. It's missing the wind and the sound of that surf beating on the reef, but it reminds me of how beautiful it is, even in this overcast weather.

Houses along the tiny bays and on the hillsides show what a tranquil place this is.

As we've shown you before, if there's a danger marker, don't go inside it!

A sailboat anchored out on the reef shows against squalls of rain. At left is, unmistakably, Bora Bora, and at right is Huahine.

We use a roll of carpet given to us by the fine folks at Svendson's in Alameda, CA, to protect the teak cap rail from damage while on a TraveLift.

Wings prepares to leave the water. Out trip is over.

Wings officially leaves the Pacific waters.

Our friend, Taputu, assistant yard manager and all-around worker.

Wings is guided into her cradle for the 10-month wait until our return.

Simon is the yard manager and our friend. He also operates the TraveLift, so he's a good one to befriend!

Yes, that's Bill working in the "man cave" as Conni calls it. He must lie on his left side and use a headlight to accomplish anything. It's not easy extracting himself, either!

The bane of every Passport is this stuff. To add final trim to the boat, the workers in Taiwan used mild steel punchings from the manufacture of washers. They are, in essence, the "donut hole" in the process. Since it's mild steel, it rusts and swells, deforming woodwork. We've begun the task of removing it.

Step 1 is to remove the lovely cabin sole with a saw, then use a hammer and chisel to loosen the rusted metal for final removal.

Beautiful Conni poses with Wings as we leave the Carenage yard.

This is our last glimpse of Wings for the year. After 10 days of hard work, we were almost ready to be done!

Since we had time until our flight, we drove around town to sightsee. This is Apooiti Bay with Bora Bora in the background.

We passed this "magasin" or convenience store and I snapped the photo. Out front are two bottles of propane, some feed sacks, and several munches of local taro. On Raiatea, cultures meet.

Even with rain squalls sweeping across the valley, Raiatea is simply beautiful.

The local Raiatea Heiva was still in high gear and we had the afternoon to wait for our flight, so we enjoyed several events. Here, the musicians rest in the VERY hot sun for the children's event.

Somewhere inside this thing is a vehicle!

These young men had been participating in a dance contest. Note the beautiful tattoos.

The children's event had these beautifully decorated children's bikes and strollers.

No way could either Conni or I have chosen among these great presentations!

In the shade of a tent, Conni and I enjoyed our last meal on Raiatea for the season.