Miti Miti comes to life…
In exchange for the use of photos of Ripple over the last 5 years, Achilles, Inc. bestowed a brand new inflatable upon the Voyage of Swell! Neither the maze of driving in L.A. from the warehouse to the air freight shipper, nor the 5 hours I spent talking the dinghy through customs in Tahiti subtracted from my excitement about this…
Ripple had been on her final leg of life for some time already⦠she was leaking air from here and there, requiring multiple daily inflations. While the air leaked out, water leaked in! I was constantly bailing and pumpingā¦I could have made a great workout video with it, āā¦and 1 and 2, and pump and bail!ā But after all the good times and amazing adventures we had shared, I still a sort of sentimental attachment to herā¦
The new dinghy sat in its box on the foredeck as I searched for a buyer for the 25hp engineā¦my new ride is smaller, so I was looking to downgrade for a few less horsesā¦
But days went by, Ripple deteriorated further, and nobody bought the old engineā¦
So one afternoon, just before leaving the marinaā¦I opened the boxes and unveiled my new ālagoon wheelsā. She was essentially the same as Ripple, but 11ft long instead–the Achilles SPD-335 model. This would give me a bit more room on the foredeck and less weight to haul up and downā¦not to mention, sealed seams and a leak-less underside!! Yippeeeeee!
Pump pump pump pumpā¦I wrestled in the floorboardsā¦pump pump pumpā¦she began to take shape. She was light grey, nearly white, and sleek and plump with a slight flip in the nose.
Pump pump pump pump⦠ā¦soon it had come to life! ā¦but what would I call her?
Returning from a surf a few days later, I stopped by to see some Tahitian friends. The grandmother asked in Tahitian, āFaahee, miti miti?ā āEhā my friend replied.
āWhat did she ask you?ā I asked, eager to learn Tahitian now that my French was good enough.
āMiti miti.ā He replied. āIt means ‘little swell’. She asked if it is a small swell.ā
“Miti miti!” I repeated…The new dinghy had its name!
***GOOD NEWS: The ripple now has a new owner, a surfer who plans to restore her and keep her adventuring for a few more years!!
************** THANK YOU ACHILLES!!!!***************************
1 Comment
Carson
December 10, 2010It’s sometimes a good thing to have spare oars, so as to paddle should a motor malfunction when out in the ocean…