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Created on Saturday, 04 October 2008 12:08

Finally I have an update for our present cruise, I haven’t had the time to make one recently. As of posting this, we are about 145 miles SW of Tahiti en route to Tahaa from the secluded island of Tubuai, part of the Australs Islands. We have a fantastic weather today, clear blue skies with slight sea and winds coming from east-south-east of about 3 Beaufort (7-10 knots). I was just properly relieved by the incoming second officer (12 to 4 watch) and before having lunch, I decided to post this one first. The photos below were taken an hour ago and obviously, the weather looks very wonderful. How I wish that the weather will be like this all the time.

Last night the weather was remarkable too. The sea was very smooth and the ship seems not showing any movement at all. The sky was totally clear with the moon and countless stars showing. The weather was totally awesome and I haven’t experience that type of weather for years until last night. That was supposed to be one of the best times for me to spend a few minutes at the ship’s bar but my energy was totally drained. So, I directly went to my cabin after my watch at midnight. I was assigned as shore crew yesterday during our call in Tubuai and I did not manage to get some sleep when I got back to the ship. The few cups of cappuccinos helped me to stay awake and alert during my entire navigation.

The ship arrived in Rarotonga, Cook Islands at 7AM last Wednesday, 1 October 2008 which then sails for Tubuai at around 5PM. After my gangway watch, I went ashore for a very brief period to buy some personal stuff and of course to see the place. It is a beautiful and peaceful place with friendly people ready to flash their smiles anytime to everyone they meet along the road and everywhere. There are also Filipinos living in Rarotonga. I met few of them and chatted for a while. Some are employed on shops selling pearls and some even have their own restaurant business. Well, this is typical for many Filipinos to migrate to other places in search for greener grounds just like myself. While in Rarotonga, I found two new friends, Josie and Tia. These two gorgeous ladies worked for Westpac. They came over to the ship to provide the passengers the convenience of exchanging their US dollars to New Zealand dollars. I met them again at the pier on my way back to the ship as I was about to board the tender and for some sort of memento, I have this photo taken together with my two new friends. I did not had the time to go to the post office and my two new friends helped me mail the post cards for my wife and kids and also one for my friend Liberty. After cruising 587 nautical miles from Rarotonga, the ship arrived with sunny weather in Tubuai Island at exactly 10:30AM yesterday, 03 October 2008. Considering the depth of water ranging from 70 to 100 meters, captain preferred to drift close to the island’s shoreline until the ship left at 5:30PM instead of dropping anchor. Just like Aitutaki and Rarotonga, the ship just drifts nearby the island while operating the tenders to bring the passengers to the island. I have a very wonderful day at the shore side with this group of elderly local women performing lively local songs accompanied by the sound of ukuleles, guitar and other local musical instruments which was also played by them. The lively danceable rhythm sent some passengers of the M/S Paul Gauguin at the pier to dance with the rhythm and this guy on the right photo below joined with the performers.

The ship will arrive Tahaa tomorrow at 8AM and hopefully the weather will be as good as the one we had today here in Latitude 19 degrees 56 minutes South and Longitude 150 degrees 40 minutes West. Did I sound more precise here with these numbers?....LOL…

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