Big winds!

We're back in Tahiti currently weathering out some crazy winds!
This morning the all knowing internet told us that the new rudder bearing ordered from Denmark had arrived (2 days early!!) and was waiting for us at the marina office. I had really worried about having issues with customs but apparently it's not a big deal to ship stuff from Europe! We had heard horror stories about hundreds of dollars for shipping then weeks of fighting with customs to get the part, but we didn't have any problems!

After picking up the part from the office we ran into town to pick up a new propeller for the dinghy motor since ours disappeared... Running into town was no small feat. We had to row from our boat which is a looonnng ways from anywhere to the dinghy dock and then have to face rowing back. But we made it, picked up the prop from Polynesien Marine (great little store). They were insanely helpful. Instead of making us wait for them to order the part they took a prop off of a display!

On the way back to the marina the bus was hit with STRONG winds and we immediately thought of this random private mooring Kyanos was on. Was she ok? Goodness the rest of the bus ride was stressful. That didn't stop us from stopping at Carrefour for some food (our propane tanks are being filled so we have no way of cooking). Back at the dinghy dock we were looking at 4-5 foot waves and WIND. We knotted the plastic bags and hoped the food would stay dry during our epic paddle.
Ben directed me to paddle pretty hard west and let the surf and the wind push us north towards the boat. Paddling against that level of wind is difficult!! We barely got out far enough to grab Kyanos as we sailed past. A quick peek at the instruments told us the wind was holding steady at 35-38 knots (about 45 mph) with gusts up to 50 mph!! The waves were big enough to hit our dodger and splash over the deck. Ben tells me this sort of thing is much safer while you're sailing but I'm really not sure I would want to sail in this!

The mooring line was already chafed a little (eek!) so Ben switched up the line and added another one just in case the first one failed. Once we made sure the boat would stay put we realized there was a boat behind us on shore. With the direction of the wind it must have passed within inches of Kyanos while we weren't there!! We sat there listening to the wind howl watching for other boats dragging anchor or breaking mooring lines while also keeping an ear on the VHF. There were at least 3 boats on different reefs or dragging anchors. Stressful.

Hopefully the wind dies down at night so we can sleep without worrying about the mooring. Ben did manage to catch a little catnap. I managed to snap this picture: he's holding onto his new bearing! Cute, right?