Yes, most people have heard of Tahiti and probably more famous is the island of Bora Bora (also part of the group known as the Society Islands). After a fast 1.5 day sail to do 200 miles (and having to slow the boat down again!) we cruised into Tahiti. There was not a lot of info on places to anchor as most boats that were talking on the net were on mooring balls. At $10 per day I could not see the point when one can anchor for free!
We heard another vessel on the VHF mention that they were anchored near Tahiti Yacht Club and no one was near them. We zoomed over to their spot and dropped our pick in 65ft of water. A little deeper than I like, but thats the Pacific for you! I dusted off the rode that I had not used since Fatu Hiva (our first night) and shackled that on and dumped out about 4/5 to one scope. Glad I did as it was blowing 25knots.
We were behind the fringe reef and well sheltered from any swell (except the occasional fishing boat that liked to zoom past). All the fishing boats here seem to use a stick in the bow attached to steering cables as their helm. None of this fancy steering wheel stuff here!
As Tahiti and the rest of the islands are gearing up for the inter island festival / competition, there were loads of out rigger canoes (paddle only unfortunately either 1 man or 8 man being shunted up and down the flat calm inner reef area where we were anchored. Fun to watch. Also amusing were the kids in the optimists sailing around us. Loads of French chattering. Interesting that the locals all seem to be speaking French as the common language on the islands it was more Marquesan or Tuamotan.
That night we met our friends from Living in town. We were running a little late and hurrying along the road when a couple in a large truck (most people in Polynesia seem to drive fancy / new cars!) offered us a ride. It was completely in the opposite direction for them, but they took us into town and asked nothing in return (despite us insisting that they take some money from us). Polynesians are a great nation of people. We often get bonjour's where ever we go (Sally gets hooted at…a lot).
While in town Patrick showed us a spot to get great nosh. All these vans congregate in a car park near the water front and they have full blown kitchens inside. What amazed us was the amount of chinese influence in the cooking. This has a large to do with the amount of chinese that live in Tahiti. Interesting fusion of tastes. It was a brief 1 hour walk back to the boat from town as buses stop running at 5:30pm in Tahiti. No one seems to over do the whole work thing here.
The lovely thing about being where we were (most people go another 5+ miles to Marina Taina) was the proximity to town and the Carrefour (supermarket). A large European supermarket was like heaven since our last encounter with one was in Curacao (Caribbean) last year. I must admit we did get a bit carried away! Lots of goodies from New Zealand. If the products and produce are anything to go by, New Zealand gets a thumbs up in the culinary department!
We went to clear in (very much a formality as we had already done so in Hiva Oa). We just filled out a piece of paper with our details at the "yacht master's" office in the ferry terminal. We did not have to see immigration or customs.
From there we went off to get the important stuff. Our chafed lines needed to be replaced. Well, they probably could have lasted but we believe in only the best for our little ship. She deserves it. Also changing steering control lines out at sea is not much fun! So we bought a new roller furled reefing line and Dyneema control line for the wind vane. Along with a few other odds and sods. We exited the marine stores feeling financially raped. But some how justfied the costs.
We also decided to get staph infections! Nothing says "I have survived the South Pacific" quite like numerous physical scars from pus filled infections. Staph infections are a form of MRSA I believe. While plodding around town with the sore on my leg oozing funky stuff I decided to consult a pharmacist. With a lot of muttering and shaking of head and the odd prodding of my very inflamed and quite frankly rather owie pus filled cavity in my leg, he told me I would need antibiotics. The bad news was that in order to get them I had to go see a physician. This was starting to sound expensive. Around the corner was Mr Givet the GP. So up we went to see him. Before I could even negotiate examination costs with him, the friendly little dude had whisked me off to his office. It ended up being $30 for an examination (confirmation that it was a staph infection) and I got a free piece of paper with a list of antibiotics to take to the pharmacist. In for another $60 I actually received the pills. We really miss the Tuamotus!
Facebooking was also fairly expensive. $4.5 per hour here to use the net. You would think that would slow us down. Apparently not, as it is very important to us to be able to check that Timmy Johnson "likes" Dorothy Pages status of "out with friends in London" so that we too can comment or "like" it too! Note to self to add Mark Zuckerburg to my "people I don't think that I would get along with very well" list.
The only reason we stayed in Tahiti so long was due to getting our propane bottles refilled. It took almost 3 days (we only dropped them off on Monday after arriving on Friday).
Well, I write this lovely little post as the sun sets over our new bay in Moorea (Cooks Bay). It was a beautiful sail across here this morning. There was no wind in our anchorage and 15 knots offshore. We even flew the spinnaker for a bit. Perfect. I sit here with the gentle waft of wood smoke and coconut in the air and the sound of a million birds calling their goodnights to each other. The sky is an artist's palette of pinks.
