23 June

Wednesday's update from Callisto:

We are now back in Moorea having done the Tahiti-Moorea Rendezvous last weekend. About 40 boats and their crews participated and the fun began with a cocktail party and a demonstration of local dance by a local troupe. On Saturday morning there was a Race/rally from Papeete to Uponuhu Bay on Moorea a distance of about 25 miles. The day was quite blustery and winds were up to 25 kts and Callisto averaged 9 kts all the way with occasional speeds of 10.5 kts. This still was not enough to beat the catamarans which are becoming increasingly popular and we finished in 12th place. Anchoring was a little exciting with all the boats crammed into a small area and the weather turned nasty with steady winds to 25 kts and quite a bit of rain. That evening was a barbie and we met a number of boat crews that we had met before on our travels.
On Sunday, were more activities including canoe racing, local dance and demonstrations of other local, traditional sports. All most interesting except for the weather which remained poor all weekend.
On Monday, Jen and I took a trip around the island in search of a tattoo artist and we will most likely go back there on Thursday once we have decided what we want done. Yesterday, the weather improved and we did a hike up Mt Belvedere and saw spectacular views of Moorea and both Cook's Bay and Uponuhu Bay. We will probably stay in Moorea until Saturday and then go back to Tahiti to provision and fuel for the rest of the Society Islands and then on to the Cook Islands.