[password] Tsar12
[position]17 48.89S 149 85.07W
[weather] intermittent rain wind S 20 knots
[status] after deliberating on whether to wait until Tuesday for our gas bottle to arrive we decided to go back to Papeete to pick it up so our options are open on when to leave for Raiatea . Had a good sail across to Papeete but on arriving just before the pass we were greeted by a flotilla of boats that had come across from the other side of Moorea . It was a 6 man Waka race - it was amazing to see the number of boats following it - in NZ you would never get that level of support - paddling is a national sport here.
Anchoring outside the marina we popped in and picked up a gas bottle - the other they refused to refill as it was too rusty even though it was in test and was a swap in NZ just before Xmas ! No drama we can manage with 2 bottles . Alex and Maureen booked their flights back from Raiatea using wifi then we left sailing back to Moorea anchoring in Baie De Cook just after dark.
The forecast was suggesting the wind which has been NE would swing around to south then SE then blowing a full Maramaru ie 20-25 knots which would send us across to Raiatea pretty quickly (120nm ) but the wind was taking its time in going around so we decided to stay another day in Moorea and let the wind change swing and settle .
To make use of the day we hired a car and drove around the island . Everyone enjoyed - just a shame it was very cloudy and towards the end raining but it was good use of our time.
Hopefully tomorrow we set sail again.

Note: Sending a brief description of the weather you are experiencing is a great help to David and Patricia (Gulf Harbour Radio) for monitoring the weather.

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