Logged 25 Nautical Miles, 5 Hours Motoring

Logged 5 Nautical Miles, 1 Hour Motoring

April 20 -28

Tahiti

Tahiti is the beating heart of French Polynesia with Tahiti Faa’a, the airport and the administrative center of Papeete, the capitol. Because of its extremely mountainous inside, vestiges of old volcanoes, the island is mainly inhabited on a narrow strip following the seaside.

Entering Tahiti through Papeete pass we contacted Port Control for clearance at both ends of the runway. Then we continued south inside the fringing reef to a full anchorage. During our eight days in Tahiti we anchored one night stayed at Tania Marina five nights and spent two nights at the City Marina.

At Tania Marina we docked with our stern to the dock and anchored off the front of the boat, then used a plank from the dock to our transom steps to get ashore. This allows room for more boats. One night Dan was first woke from sleep with some light rain coming in our open hatch, next he noticed a different motion of the boat. At one point our wind instrument showed 47 knots, the air was cool and it rained hard. The fender on our transom step was being pushed up by the dock so Dan pushed off the dock with his hands and stepped on the fender to prevent damage from hitting the dock. We got a scuff on our rub rail but no real damage. On previous nights, even without the storm, some boats had damage from hitting the dock.

Laurent Bernaert of Polynesian Yacht Services brought our refrigeration parts and repaired satellite phone that we had shipped in form the US. Shipping these two items into a French territory cost us $450 in customs and declaration fees alone. He also had arranged for Tech Marine to weld and clean one of our diesel fuel tanks. In spite of the work being scheduled in advance, things did not get completed when promised so we would wait without starting other projects or going to tour, eventually being told it will be tomorrow. Dan got the refrigeration working and the satellite phone now charges properly. Although it was two days late the fuel tank repair and cleaning was done. Paul from sailing yacht “Footloose” helped Dan remove and install the fuel tank.

In between projects, provisioning and chores we did get to do some touring on Tahiti. On Sunday afternoon, we did a land tour with Paul and Emitt from “Footloose” in a car they rented. We rode the coastal road around the whole island starting with the west side of Tahiti Nui, the main island and Tahiti Iti the smaller island. It was election day so we saw numerous nonviolent roadside demonstrators. At PK 28.7 (road marker) we visited the Maraa Grottos; there was the underground Paroa Grotto, the largest underground aquatic cave in Tahiti and the Grotto Teanateatea. I have always been intrigued with caves and these were in a luscious rain forest setting. Our next stop was the Garden of Vaipahi which means gushing and mighty waters, a beautiful public garden with paths between ponds and waterfalls with many different botanical species by the time we reached the East coast, it was getting too late to explore.

We rented a scooter for five days in Tahiti and although the traffic was congested at times it was convenient to ride through the marina right to our dock as well as getting to chandleries, hardware stores, auto shops and grocery stores. It was common for motor bikes to ride between lanes of traffic, so during rush hours we did. Dan loved being on a bike, at times it was nerve wracking for me. One afternoon we made it back to the East coast to a blowhole where the ocean water comes out from under the road at the foot of a steep cliff with pressure. 100 yards further we visited one of the three Faarumia Waterfalls in Vaipu Valley. Lots of young people were playing on the roadside as we rode through the valley. The waterfall was very impressive with several small streams of water on both sides of the main waterfall. There was a tall bridge over the river.

The installation of the fuel tank was done just in time to return the scooter and fuel the boat before heading to five nautical miles north to the City Marina for the informal ARC Rendezvous. It was a fun evening with a Polynesian Blessing for safe travels and some Polynesian Dancers. Afterwards several of us went for dinner at a food truck and then for karoke with songs in French as well as English. ARC provided two night at the City Marina so we stayed a second night before heading out to explore more of the Societe Islands. On our last morning we managed to facetime with some of our grandchildren. It was wonderful to see their smiley faces and hear their lively voices. It is hard being away from family.