Tahiti

16th May 2017

We motored out of the pass at Fakarava as the sun set and set sail for Tahiti. Winds were light to start with, so to make sure that we arrived in time to meet Julien, we motor-sailed the first night until the wind picked up enough to maintain my desired speed. After two nights we woke to find the slopes of the 4000' mountains of Tahiti angling steeply up to left and right into cloud ahead.

As we closed the land it took form and colour, showing deeply ravined valleys, richly covered in vegetation. To our right the land formed a low promontory called Venus Point, where Captain Cook set up his observatory to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun to determine the distance between the Earth and sun.

Approaching Tahiti

Beyond this the surf broke heavily on the outer reef, beyond which yachts were anchored on flat water. We could see lots of buildings up the lower slopes of the mountain, and much development on the shore line with large rocks ahead. I called Port Control on VHF Ch 12 and was allowed to enter the port behind a fast cat from Moorea. They then told me off for going left towards town quay rather than right to the Marina. I tried my best Polynesian politesse with "Mauru uru!" or thankyou, and then set off round the airport runway, needing a chat with port control at each end so that we could pass safely between flights landing and taking off.

We were lucky to get a place in Marina Taena immediately, and we parked behind motor yacht Duet and met Nancy & Ron.  It was a great luxury to be able to walk on and off the boat whenever required, and to have as much electricity and water as we wanted. We went ashore to the bar at the Marina called Casa Bianca where we could sit out under shade.

Justin and I had a few beers and then Anne and Emily arrived with new friends Christophe and Carina.  They were looking for a boat with Raymarine equipment and had seen us come into the marina.  They need to  link up and load firmware onto their new equipment.

A metre of beer and a metre of pizza!

Having paid our bill we went in to supper and ordered a metre of pizza and a metre of beer for CFP 9700 ($97).   It was lovely, but too much beer for me and I felt quite drunk.
Unfortunately Casa Bianca charged twice for the drinks which left us all feeling furious.  Justin very kindly picked up the whole bill.



The row of super yachts was impressive, and when we gate-crashed the super yacht crew party that night we learned that Annata had the tallest mast in the world until last year, when a newer yacht took the record. We met her nice skipper, Fabien, and some hospitable crew who plied us with punch and small eats. It seemed that none of the yachts were put out to charter, and all hung endlessly in port awaiting the whim of the owner. One Maltese deckhand, Luke, said that they had waited for 9 months for orders in San Diego. The owner had only been on board for three days in 14 months. They never put up the mainsail unless the owner was on board, for fear of damaging it, and in any wind over about 25 knots would have to take sail down. Every time they sailed they broke things it seemed. It
became a 9-5 job, endlessly polishing the boat, waiting for the owner to call.

Next day we explored Papeete a bit, and found it a charming town along the harbour front with a dual carriageway boulevarde shaded with mature trees. It seemed to have every kind of shop available and a fantastic covered market.

Papeete Market

Evening out at the roulettes

 One evening we returned to visit the roulottes, which are food vans, twenty of which form a well organised open air food market in the evenings, with a neatly laid-out grid of dining tables under pretty lights. The range of food was impressive with a preponderance of Chinese, but also grilled meats, traditional burgers or galettes. We settled for Chinese, and
 I had one of the national dishes - chow mein.

Anne and I took the dinghy out to the reef, and came across a great Saturday party where boats anchored along the calm inner edge, and people partied in waist-deep water on sand. Barbecues were set up, each on a single spike driven into the ground, music pounded from big speakers, and young and old boogied in the clear aquamarine water. Surfers were paddling across the lagoon to the breakers, and one hitched a lift with us and we towed him out to the edge of the break.

We hired a car for a day and drove halfway round the island on the thin strip of flat land between the sea and the impressively steep mountainsides cleft with deep vertical ravines, all clothed in mature rain forest. We stopped at Vaiapu to see the water gardens. Here a sacred waterfall roars down into a pool, and here the legend of the conversion of a spirit into man is rooted. We enjoyed the gardens through which the clear waters from the falls meander in streams and pools, overhung with massive trees, giant ferns, bamboos and palm trees. We climbed a steep trail up the mountain to a viewpoint 200 metres above the plain which gave excellent views of the lagoon, and the lower island Tahiti Iti. In flip flops the muddy path and steep slippery steps were rather a challenge, but thankfully there was a new installation of thick rope handrails which stopped us skidding off the cliff. At the bottom we washed our feet below the waterfall, slightly nervous about the four foot long eel that came fearlessly to investigate as soon as we entered the water. It reminded us that when we swam in the waterfall pool in Fatu Hiva there was something that slithered disconcertingly past us in the water.

The time came to say farewell to Justin, but with the nice thought that he and Siobhan will join us in Tonga soon. Julien arrived and he and Emily spent a few days in an AirBnB nearby. Finally Mark arrived laden with much needed spares - engine mounts for the generator, cooling water hose, navigation lights, deck hatch locks, and all sorts of items that I'd emailed him to get.