Saturday, February 21, 2026       Papeete, French Polynesia

We had our DV Shore Excursion, Tahiti Culture, in Papeete today. I think we skipped Paul Gaugin’s home.  That was a drive by, but our tour guide, Ganu, was indigenous and he was excellent, not to mention gorgeous. He brought the stories to life. I got my best picture at Vaipahi Tropical Gardens.

The bar scene at the end was chaotic at first but sorted itself out and everyone ended up with the drink they wanted, and some people two of them.  The “sunset” was still a couple of hours away, though, and the awnings were down in the venue because the light and heat would have been unbearable, had they been left up. A re-think might be in order, but our lovely group didn’t complain, and seemed to be enjoying each others’ company.

We got back to the ship in plenty of time to enjoy the sunset there, and about ten of us headed out for the food trucks.  It wasn’t the party scene it once was but we enjoyed feeding the local pussycat and the dessert crepe was really yummy.  We got back in time for the cultural show on board, which was excellent and eye candy for old broads.

Sunday, February 22, 2026         Moorea

Joanne curated this day off the Internet and it was a pretty good one.  There was a free shuttle to a little restaurant on an Island.  It was called Coco Beach Restaurant.  The shuttle was a van and an outrigger. It was a nice sporty ride to the island and a bit of a surprise when we had to get out in the water and wade to shore.  My beach shoes weren’t quite a match for the sharp rocks, but I had help and all was well.  The setting was idyllic and the food was very good.  Dee had poisson cru marinated in coconut milk, I had tuna tartare with avocado and shared some with Pat because her salad wasn’t the best choice, and Joanne enjoyed a fishburger.

Joanne went in the water a bit.  I tried but there were just too many sharp rocks and I was too big of a wuss.  This getting old is nasty. But, we do what we can and this was one pretty good day. On the boat ride back, we passed what used to my dream accommodation.  More than half of them are boarded up now.  Tahitian tourism has either fallen off a lot or these just weren’t sustainable.

We got back, tired and happy, cleaned up, went to the Sea View Bar for sailaway, had dinner and saw the comedian on the World Stage, Simon Palomares.  I did find him funny.

Monday, February 23, 2026         Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bloody Mary’s is closed for renovations and the hotels aren’t doing nice lunches with beach time anymore, there was a newsletter due, and I had a talk to prepare for Hong Kong, so I just stayed on board and worked. I didn’t even go to the show.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026        At Sea

Web got Newsletter Number 8 out today.  It was full of good stuff.  Akos Laki, a Hungarian saxophonist, whom Dee and I know well, was at the table and there was another good production show on stage.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026    At Sea

I put in more work on the disadvantaged segment people case, worked on my HK talk and at 3:30pm, toddled off to the Wajang Theatre where Skip was getting set up for his talk at four o’clock on the SR-71, the fastest operational airplane the U.S. Air Force ever had. A good 50 people attended and 18 of our DV people came to dinner.  Daniel Thompson was on stage with a Johnny Cash tribute and he was excellent.

Thursday, February 26. 2026       At Sea – Crossing the Date Line

Crossing the Dateline means there will be no tomorrow.  There will however be a next day, so don’t panic.  I worked on all the stuff I work on, including Newsletter No 9, which was coming out November 28 and that was now tomorrow. Simon Palomares, the comedian, was good again.

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Akos Laki and his sax were on stage and he was very, very good.

Sunday, March 1, 2026               At Sea

It will be Auckland tomorrow and Sydney in 5 more days.  We’ll have farewell letters, welcome letters and a newsletter to get out and I am planning an overnight with Pat in Sydney before she flies back to California and I sail the rest of the way around the Pacific. People are signing up for our evening at the Occidental Pub in Auckland.  I am sure Elvon is smiling on his cloud because he started this one and it’s become a real favorite. Pat and I played Bridge as usual and Daniel Thompson was on stage again, with more “Country Gentlemen”.  I liked him better when he was all Johnny Cash.