No stories today, funny or serious. Just an update on Jaime and the outboard. Both are still broken. The cruising community -- in particular the South Pacific Cruisers Net (0230 UTC 6224.0) -- is proving particularly helpful in getting us organized. Today, we will sail over to Raiatea. The second largest city in Polynesia is located there at Uturoa. We'll hopefully get Jaime into a dentist tomorrow (Wed) and the motor into a mechanic this afternoon. If Jaime needs to return to Tahiti for surgery, a northeastern light breeze is helpfully coming in this weekend to blow us down there in reasonable comfort.

As always is the case when the issue of medical care in a foreign country arises, opinions on medicine in French Polynesia is deeply divided. We hear reports that the French locals always return to France when they want medical care and avoid the local services. On the other side are Polynesians and forever cost-conscious cruisers who report positively on the quality of medical care here. We already had reason to visit a Polynesian doctor and health clinic. The experience left DrC and I feeling satisfied and moderately impressed. The care was not as cheap as Mexico and considerably less expensive than the United States. The staff were highly competent and friendly, the facilities and equipment modern and clean. The pharmacies are well stocked and carry medicines in both familiar brand names as well as generic alternatives. The doctor was French and trained in France. Moreover, he was nice about my broken French. Trust me, they don't teach you in high school French any of the words I needed for that visit. The bottom line is that I see no reason for us to fly to the States or New Zealand should it become necessary to have any of Jaime's teeth pulled. The only reason we might have to go to Tahiti is if the extraction is going to be sufficiently complicated that it requires someone who isn't in Raiatea. Given the small population, there may only be one oral surgeon in the entire country.

As for the outboard, I'd love to buy a new one. Folks in the comments recently suggested I put a donation button on the blog. Instead of "Donate Now", I think our button should say, "Fix the outboard already, we're heartily sick of hearing you bitch about it!" When I told DrC, oblivious and annoyingly thick man that he is, he suggested that if people had money to donate, they should give it to a charity. I hit him. No kidding. I just grabbed the nearest pillow and smashed it into his chest. While I'm no James Herriot, I'd like to think that my stories are stories. There was a time when story writers actually got paid for their stories. *gasp!* It is not so much that I feel I need to solicit donations, as there is an old school part of me that really likes the idea of getting Paid To Write. So I want to thank those of you who suggested the idea. If nothing else, it is tremendously flattering to know that there are readers who enjoy this blog enough that they would consider paying for it. It also encourages the slightly delusional notion that someday, I'll skim off the cream of these stories and compile them into a book. As for my husband, I'm thinking of putting a poll button on the blog instead with the question: "Is DrC -trying- to get murdered in his sleep? (Yes/No)"