Bureaucracy
Thu Sep 04 2025 06:16:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)
Bureaucracy is a French word and we experienced this is well executed in French Polynesia.
When one leaves the country with a ship, the captain must report that at the Customs. He fills in a form, another form and another, often with the same passport numbers and so on. Then after half an hour it is done. So in an hour you are ready, you get a stamp and you may leave the country.
But French Polynesia computerized it. So now when you enter you fill out a 4 pager on the internet. With the very slow internet in Gambier, it took us three times 2 hours. (the third day the internet was a bit better.)
To clear out, you go to the Gendarmerie (the police). Everything should be filled in. Piece of cake. No. Things should be filled in different, and then the form has to be evaluated. Not by that gendarmerie, but by a man in an office in Tahiti, some 100 miles away. That man/woman there has no affection with the clients. Now it is depersonalised. In stead of clients, they only have pile of forms in a big inbox. So, instead of an hour like in the early days, it can take one, two or even three days before the gendarme gets the approved form back from ’Tahiti’.
We must consider ourselves lucky because this time it took only 1 1/2 day.
To consider: next to weather forecasts, there should also be a bureaucracy forecast.
Speed, Food and a good mood
Fri Sep 05 2025 08:38:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)
In Brent’s watch this early morning the wind was that light, the speed was very low and the wind vane steering hardly worked. Brent had to correct the course nearly constantly. But, he likes sailing, the ocean, he did it with pleasure.
The wind came back, little by little during the day. The Ya sails her easy way over the waves and we enjoyed it. In the afternoon we set a reef in the mainsail and the wind kept increasing. We sail with a nice speed, the motors are charging the battery bank well and we like it.
Brent fried a beautiful Argentinian rib steak , with mashed potatoes and bok choy lightly fried with garlic. Wow. This is a great meal. Meanwhile the wind increases a bit and our Ya sails 7 knots, nearly the hull speed. Wow again.
Brent, Peter and Ya, we are all in a good mood.
Missing screws
Sat Sep 06 2025 05:41:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)
So now and then we have discussions on climate change, single use plastics and other issues on how we can solve the world problems. During such a discussion Brent looked at the mainsail and pointed that the upper batten of the mainsail was loose. Just in time to discover this because tomorrow we get a lot of wind.
We took the sail down immediately. On one plate connecting the batten to the mast rail, there were three screws missing. Peter (backup is his middle name) found new screws in the screw box. Brent put them on, now with a bit of glue. Job done, sail up, here we go again.
Now, about the world problems we still have to solve, some missing screws are:
Regulation by the government, insight and skills, a bit of pain to make people change and a bit of hope to give the solutions a chance.
