July 30 (Satin) – Despite not having Suwarro in our sights or plans to visit, we decided given the nasty weather approaching Rarotonga in the Cook Islands we’d be better off heading for Suwarro. Before departure, Harry had kindly asked me to cut his hair, the night before, because I told him how I cut Dave’s hair. I’m not a professional but I can do it. He jumped at the chance for a haircut saying that his friend who usually does it won’t return to Maupihaa until September. I offered to do it early in the morning before we left.
Today marks a first: I was paid for my services. I went ashore, he sat in a chair with a little piece of material wrapped around him. He called me a professional. I laughed and told him to wait and see after I’m done. I pulled out the little shears and a comb from the kit Dave purchased for our trip. I carefully trimmed his hair while we chatted. His little puppy named “Winnie” lounged under foot nearby scratching like crazy. Laurie came ashore and chatted with us too. She was scoping out the road for her running the next day.
After I finished he went over to his wheelbarrow and bagged up half a dozen shucked coconuts all ready to slice off the top and drink out its liquid gold. He paid me in coconuts! I was thrilled and so was Harry.
Off I went with my bag of coconuts. All in a day’s work!
Once back at the boat we prepared to depart. Once we weighed anchor we were joined by Scott and Laurie on their dinghy as escorts out of the pass. One must have nerves of steel for this entrance. It’s so narrow and shallow on either side. The current rushes out always between 3-6 kts. Once inside, you think you’re home free but instead it gets even more shallow, and since it’s so clear, one can see all the coral and rocks below. It looks like we’d hit bottom at any moment. The best advice is follow the marker lines and you’ll be just fine at 15 feet of depth. Phew!
Once out, we waved goodbye to our escort, and began pounding up and down through the waves at the swelly waves just outside the entrance. After clearing the stir up, it settled down or rather the swells evened out, spaced further apart and we set up the main sail. All was good. I breathed a big sigh of relief.
We ran the main and head sail for a bit but the winds were so light I insisted we hoist the spinnaker. Finally after rousting Camille to help and convincing Dave to send it up (he was worried what the wind would do, stay light or pick up), we ran it up and flew it all day with very good speed. Took it down just after sunset when the winds began to pick up and make it untenable. Just in the nick of time. Another phew! So far with light winds, we’ve been sailing easily and comfortably. Even now with the main and head sail out, at 13-17 kts we’re sailing comfortably. Even the sea is cooperating. The waves are small and far enough apart. I like it! I really hope this lasts. Enough breeze but not too much.
We all had a lovely burrito dinner. Food coma. Dave is reading and the girls are watching videos/movies, despite Camille needing to finish her History test. She complained it was too long. Whan whan whan! ————————————————- Do not push the “reply” button to respond to this message if that includes the text of this original message in your response. Messages are sent over a very low-speed radio link.
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Maupihaa-style Anniversary
June 29 – Married for 18 years to Dave, my sweetheart, and were still adventuring along together I’m very thankful to have such an amazing partner. Normally we try to do something special or unique on our anniversary. When we got married, our reception was on the old Skansonia boat. Never did I imagine in my wildest dreams that this many years later we’d find ourselves on a remote island in the middle of the South Pacific for this anniversary. The day was perfect just like our setting. On the island of Maupihaa with beauty surrounding us we ventured out to the narrow pass after breakfast to snorkel through it. Our friends on Muskoka had just done it and reported via radio it was fantastic. We all got ready, hopped in our dinghy and sped towards the pass. We threw ourselves in the water about 200 yards inside and floated out with the 3-4 knot current. It was thrilling and exhilarating to see just how narrow the channel was that we came through, the big fish (sharks), little reef fish, sting rays and even an old wreck at the very bottom. On one side, the shelf dropped straight down, on the other side it sloped gently up, both to only about 1 foot depth of reef. The sharks were curious about us but didn’t bother us. Afterwards Scott on Muskoka steered us a to nice bommie to snorkel on. Beautiful reef fish, coral, and a gray shark that came to check me out. The current was still pretty strong here too, so we anchored the dinghies. Upon returning we ate lunch and restarted our Tzolkien game where we had left off. The joy of playing a board game without being encumbered with chores or time. All four of us just played for several hours. Before the sun slipped away, I insisted we go for a walk together; our anniversary sunset stroll. We went ashore and met several locals including Harry who owned the shack where we landed our dinghy. He was quite a character and really nice. Him and his friends (neighbors) were sitting around chatting and sipping his strange homemade brew (water and sugar and who knows what). They had just said goodbye to their spouse, grandson, daughter, wife who went on a cruiser’s boat back to the small island of Maupiti. Their kids were going back so they could start school in a few weeks’ time. Harry’s wife was escorting his grandson. Summer break is mid-June through mid-August, which meant the kids had spent their vacation on the island. It seemed early to return, but after much discussion we learned the locals hop on cruiser boats heading back to “civilization” whenever they can because they never know when another chance will come. And the supply ship only comes once or twice a year. Harry’s wife will return in a month or so. She’s the mayor of the island and president of the small community of which they’re part of the larger community of Maupiti. She has the only government issued satellite phone which everyone uses to call their relatives on their birthdays or special holidays. We strolled over to the ocean side and collected some shells. We saw the little power boat cruisers puttering along with their family headed to Maupiti. We saw a gaggle of birds swooping and diving in the bushes lining the beach. They were making such a cacophony it was hard to hear any other noises except, of course, the waves crashing on the outer rim of reef. We ducked back into the interior of the island and gingerly walked down the only road made of crushed coral and maybe some gravel with grasses growing tall in the center. We marveled at how this rough road was built. Harry had a vehicle and so did a few others but most only have bikes that they ride up and down the 8-total km of unpaved road, overgrown by grass. We passed a house with barking dogs and then popped through to the lagoon, interior, side and walked along the beach until, again we were passing the house with the barking dogs. There were 2 men and a young teenage boy sitting outside chatting and listening to music. They were friendly, so we walked up to chat with them. We asked them questions about how long they lived here on this island, when they return, how they get supplies and what they do. Similar responses as Harry and his friends. After we said goodbye, we kept strolling as the sun set, sinking behind some clouds. The sand was warm on my feet and the waves were non existent since we’re on the lagoon side. Back at our dinghy we were greeted by Harry who kindly offered us coconut water. He invited us to bring our dinner and dine on the beach with him and bring our friends on Muskoka. I explained we would ask, so it was a maybe. Returning to the boat we found the dishes done by Camille – ah so nice of her! We started cooking up our anniversary dinner since Scott had invited us over after dinner for dessert and to play Mexican train. I felt bad, but we didn’t want to dine with Harry on the beach in front of his house because the bugs were biting, the ants were everywhere and flies too. Just a little much for me to bear and I certainly didn’t want to expose Camille to that scene since the bugs love her. Camille and I returned to tell Harry we wouldn’t come to dinner. I brought him a new t-shirt (a bright yellow one from Whangerei New Zealand) and two packets of the strange tomato pizza sauce from the Galapagos that tasted like a mix of ketchup and BBQ sauce. Harry had set out a table, laid it with a lovely table cloth, set it with nice glass cups and bottled water. He had combed his hair and put on a nice polo shirt. When I told him we weren’t coming, he seemed so sad and lonely. Upon returning to the boat, I told Dave and he felt so bad that he suggested we go back to fetch Harry and bring him to our boat to dine with us. We did, and he was happy to join us for Dave’s expertly grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes and lettuce with wine. Harry enjoyed himself and the food, as best we could tell. After dinner we gave him a tour of our boat. He explained how they see sailboats like ours come to their island but only a few every now and then. One time a big Italian sailboat came and trolled by the entrance for hours deciding whether they could make it in through the pass given their fixed keel and drafting nearly 12 feet. He went out to greet them. They finally made it in. He said it was a grand boat. Afterwards we went over to Muskoka and had dessert – Scott made a fabulous tapioca pudding. They served us a heaping bowl of it. I was so full I could hardly move. Harry regaled us with info about the island, explained why it has two names (one Tahitian and one French) and many others tidbits. Finally, we returned Harry to shore and came back to play Mexican Train. A fun time was had by all playing the game even though Dave won the game – as usual! I couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary day on a remote island surrounded by beauty and clear waters beneath us.
Bora Bora
With a single island in the center and a towering peak Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to (beautiful; yes but it is also very touristy). The whole island is covered in tropical plants due to the rain that pours over Bora Bora almost every night. We had multiple adventures around the island that were all very exciting.
The first one was a short hike up one of the ridges to World War II guns overlooking the bays bellow us. We started up a muddy and rocky hill and the farther up we ascended the muddier it became. Eventually the mud was sticking to our shoes and it felt like we were walking with an extra five pounds on each foot. One thing led to another (aka I don’t remember how it started) and Eoin and I began throwing the mud at each other. That ended in a few bruises and a very dirty coat that it now clean curtesy of mom! When we arrived at the top there was a gorgeous view of the bays, motus and extensive barrier reef. From that height the water looked so turquoise blue and you could see all of the coral bombies in the water. We sat on the huge guns and enjoyed the view before making our descent back to sea level.
The second great adventure happed over many nights and one eventful morning. During the time that we were in the Society Islands there was a month-long festival happening called Heiva. It was a big festival on each island but because we were at Bora Bora they had huge dancing troops, choirs, and other musicians performing every night. So, each night at around eight pm we would head in to town and watch the traditional Tahitian dancing. Some nights they told stories (in Tahitian), other nights had slower dancing and some had fast dancing but all of it was fantastic and showed off the skill of the dancers. The women were amazing at moving their hips in separate motions than their upper body and walking while doing so. We also attended the parade one morning. It was mostly a parade of people in different shirts sponsoring hotels and other businesses around Bora. All in all, the Heiva celebrations were very entertaining! We saw the dancers almost every night and one-night Kyra didn’t want to go mom asked, “How often do you see Polynesian dancing?” and Kyra mumbled, “Every night!” (one of my favorite things she’s said)
Another escapade we embarked on was a dinghy trip around one of the motus on the other side of the bay, out across the reef and around the far side of the island to an outer motu for a snorkeling trip. We came around the small motu and into an outer anchorage and there, near the reef, was a mast sticking out of the water. We pulled the dinghy up to a mooring ball right next to the sunken sail boat and plunked in the water. We snorkeled around the 30-foot boat for a while before continuing on to a recommended snorkel site. It was full of fish and tons of different types and colors of coral. I could have stayed there much longer if I hadn’t gotten cold and had to get out.
The last jaunt we went on before leaving Bora Bora was a circumnavigation of the island via bike. We got up that morning and prepared everything for a day on the road but when we got to Avis they told us that they had already rented out all of their bikes for the day. We continued to look around town but couldn’t find anywhere else that rented biked and so Papa rode our folding bike around the bay to where there were more resorts. There he found and place that we could rent bikes from so the rest of us took the dinghy across the bay. After a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the beech our day on the bikes finally began. We rode around the island on the main road by the water. The road was mostly flat except for one hill that allowed as a view of the tall mountain. We continued around the island making for a 20-mile round trip ride with gelato as a treat at the end! Those were four of my favorite times we had in Bora Bora!
Painting Pareos
After crossing from the island of Moorea we spent a windy, and rainy night in a large bay deep in the Island of Huahini. The next day we skirted around the north end of the island and headed down the easterly shores of Huahini in the inside of the reef, towards the south bay to meet up with our friends on a catamaran, Counting Stars. Played all different types of card games and board games while the parents went to have drinks during happy hour. The next day the two girls, Merin and Isla, and their mom were picked up by a lady who make pareos on the island, and was going to teach them how to paint their own. We made a plan with her to make our sarongs the following day. We then had a delicious lunch at the resorts restaurant with the oldest, Eoin, and his dad followed by an afternoon of swimming in the rain. The next day was full of more rain and wind. Then in the afternoon we were picked up my Natalie and taken to her house farther south down the island to paint our sarongs. When we arrived, we were greeted by her five dogs and the single cat that lived in her shop/studio. But don’t let the single cat fool you, twelve more lived within the house and the grounds but the fluffy black and white one didn’t get along with them so she got a small house all to herself. There were three pieces of cloth stretched taught between their rectangular, wooden frames. We each chose the designs that we liked from her already completes racks and worked with Natalie to put them together in the way that we desired. I chose dark blue and dark purple as my two colors. I have three large flowers with oval like petals diagonally across the middle, a hibiscus flower on the top and a dolphin on the bottom. The big flowers in the middle separate the colors; purple on the top with a blue hibiscus and blue on the bottom with a purple dolphin. The flowers in the middle are brushed with a little bit of blue and purple with the background of the petals remaining white. This makes the flora in the middle the main eye-catching part of the piece. To paint the cloth, we used water-based paints and rubbed the color into the fabric with big paint brushes until the color was dark enough that when it dried, the color wouldn’t completely desert the textile. When we finished we left them with her to dry and picked them up the next day while we had our rental car and were touring the island we stopped by her house to retrieve them. The only thing left to do was soak them in salt water then dry them to allow the color to set. After this I sent mine through the washing machine to take away the crusty feel and salty smell from the beautiful and finally complete piece.
Bonfire on the Beach
The day before we were going to leave Huahine our friends planned to have a cookout/bonfire on a beach three miles south of where we were, for their 2nd year anniversary of living on their boat. We didn’t want to dingy because it would use a lot a dingy fuel and we didn’t want to return in the dark, so we drove big boat (Anila) to the bay near the beach. We drove to shore in the dingy right after we anchored and brought a big bag of Doritos chips, fresh fish to cook, and a couscous salad. The others had brought baguette, fish and cake. First, we had cake and chips to celebrate, then all the kids played games before the sun went down.
We started the bonfire and started cooking the fish. When the first fish was done, I made a fish sandwich by putting the baguette around the fish. When the next fish was done I plated some up and ate it with baguette and salad. The fish was so delicious I could have had more but I had to save room for marshmallows. When everyone was done eating we cooked marshmallows and ate them. I made three for me two for Camille and some more for mom and dad. When most people where done roasting their marshmallows on the coals we collected coconut husks and other wood and made the fire huge again. When I got bored of that, I watched the stars, looking for constellations I recognized, until I was tired and ready to go back to the boat.
4th of July Road Trip
We had another awesome Fourth of July. Although it wasn’t sailing around the San Juan Islands and hanging out in Roche Harbor with friends, it was still super great! We rented a car and drove around the island of Huahine. When we got the car, we went to the grocery store and bought some baguette sandwiches for lunch and snacks, then we went to the Agricultural Festival for Heiva. At the Agricultural Festival there were stands of people selling things (we bought honey, a shell necklace, pillow case covers and a woven bag.) At the festival there were also men and women doing contests. The women were making bouquets by weaving beautiful baskets and holders to put the flowers in and arranging the flowers. The men were weighing taro roots that they grew to see who had the heaviest. There were also animals including rabbits, chickens, horses, goats, cows, and pigs to view.
After going to that festival, we started walking back to the car but we saw a craft store which we browsed around and I got a cowry shell. When we got back to the car we looked at the map and saw that the Shell Museum was the first stop. It was two rooms with a ton of shells this person had been collecting for 30 years! There was some jewelry and stuff you could buy in one room and the second room had the shells in it. There were shells in cases all around the walls and a case in the center of the room. The man who had collected all the shells told us about them, like which ones were common and which ones were rare. Also, he showed us which shells where poisonous. Before we left we bought a book of French Polynesian shells/fish.
When we left the shell museum we continued down the road about 15 min to an archeological site. It wasn’t that interesting because we weren’t really sure what the ruins were and the hut that was supposed to have artifacts and things to read about the site was closed. We tried to find a place to sit down and eat lunch but there were a lot of fire ants everywhere, so I didn’t sit down while I ate.
Our next stop was the sacred Blue-Eyed eels. When we first got out of the car and looked down into the stream we only saw one. We walked up stream a little bit and saw a huge swarm of the eels. They were all there because some people where feeding them canned tuna. When the eels went into the sunlight you could catch a glimpse of their blue eyes.
After the eels we drove up this super steep hill to a beautiful view point that overlooked the ocean and the island below. We could see the clear blue water and the boat in the anchorage below. We could also see the red rock in the hill. Right before we were about to leave we saw a rainbow. The view was amazing especially with the rainbow.
We kept driving along and we stopped at one or two more viewpoints. Then we also picked up our hand-painted sarongs/pareos we had made the day earlier. The lady Natalie was very nice and gave us the dried pareos we had painted and she had helped fix some mistakes we made on them. Finally, we got back to town then returned the car. It was a great Fourth of July!
Avoiding some weather and diving
We’ve been struggling a bit with time and bandwidth to get more posts up and we know you are eager for more updates about our adventure. We’ll have more updates for our travels through the Society Islands, but I think you’ll like some fun dive photos first.
We made our way from Tahiti to Moorea to Huahine, when it looked like some strong winds and weather were headed our way. Take a look at the system from our PredictWind weather app:
We are just west of Papeete in the red area with 25+ knots of wind. We crossed from Huahine Saturday morning July 7th and tucked into Faaroa Bay on Raiatea. It looked well protected from the wind and has one of the few navigable rivers (really creek) in French Polynesia. As we set our anchor, a local man James paddled up in his kayak and encouraged us to come down the river and see his family plantation. Everyone was hungry for lunch, so we made some sandwiches and lowered the dinghy.
After lunch, we hopped in as James paddled over again and guided us through the shallow spots and twigs down the buggy river (oops, we forgot the bug spray again) to the plantation. At this point, we didn’t know if he was trying to sell us some fruit or something else, but he seemed friendly enough and knew the way. We passed several homes and arrived at a concrete ramp near another old boat and a pile of coconut husks.
James guided us up the hill, pointing out pineapples, guava, orange, and a particularly smelly noni fruit that is popular with some locals supposedly. It looks enticing, but trust me it smells awful. We’re not sure if it was a bad specimen or this is normal. None of us were willing to try a bite after smelling it.
Anyhow, James continued the tour and told us the local legends of the islands and mountains and how they came to be while showing us the rest of the gardens spread across the hills of his family’s property. He even brought us a branch of some tiny red peppers that turned out to be very hot and very good in our Thai coconut fish dinner and picked some oranges from the trees for us. We returned to the river where he opened and shared several coconuts with us and thanked us for coming. We were very grateful for his generosity. He was a happy guy who likes to paddle around the bay and show visitors the land and how they live.
There wasn’t much else to do in the bay, it the wind was predicted to come around to the south-east and shoot straight up the bay so we eyed more protected anchorages in north Raiatea or Tahaa. Buddy boat Manna had tucked into Faaha Bay on Tahaa, but let us know the wind was coming straight in, so we decided to head around to the northeast side of Raiatea to Marina Apooiti for the best protection.
This turned out to be a great decision. While the water is 80+ feet deep around the marina, they had at least 8 moorings available for rent as well as space on the guest dock. We picked up a float as we didn’t want to worry about security or slapping water at the dock. The marina is also home to the comings and goings of Tahiti Yacht Charters, Sunsail, and the Moorings. We have a feeling we’ll be back someday. They also have WiFi, a laundry room, and a dive operation, Hemisphere Sub. Things were looking up.
While the weather rolled in and we sat in our rainy, but protect anchorage we took care of laundry and email, all the while eyeing the dive boats heading out every morning and afternoon. I also pulled out the folding bike and rode two miles into town at Uturoa to get some fresh bread and investigate rental cars. Finally, with a few chores out of the way (they are never done), we decided to get a rental car for an island tour on Tuesday and book a dive for Wednesday. We’ll talk about the island in another post someday.
Kyra wasn’t interested in diving this time, so I, Satin and Camille signed up. Wednesday morning Camille had a bit of a cold so she decided not to go after all. We met at the office at 8 am to gear up and head to the western reef between Raiatea and Tahaa. Both islands are enclosed by a single reef system. Despite the stormy weather, the conditions were nice around the reef with good clarity. We saw sharks, bright coral, coral fish, and many other cool sea critters. Check it out:
After returning they let us know the next dive would be a wreck of the 3-masted schooner the Nordby around the corner from Uturoa. Satin decided not to go, but I can never turn down a wreck dive. It was directly off the bungalows from a shuttered resort and unfortunately, the visibility wasn’t so good. But there was still plenty to see, and we got to swim through the hull and get close up views of more cool sea life.
Overall we had a great stay in Apooiti and fun diving to go with it. We can’t believe our stay in French Polynesia will be over soon and we’ll try to catch up on posts during our passage to Rarotonga next week.
Stormy Entry, Welcome Sight of Tahiti
June 9 – Woke up to a little wind but not much so I suggested Dave fly the drone before the wind picked up and we got busy with preparations for departure today. He went up deck and started but then I heard a terrible whirring thud and him yelling, “No, ow, no, no, no, ow!” I peeked up, out the salon windows in time to see him struggling to grab the drone that had flown into the mast and halyards and he was desperately trying to grab and stop it. In the process he was getting his fingers macerated and chopped by the blades. I know how this feels. When in Tahuata I grabbed it mid-air and a blade hit my ring finger on my right hand. Only a small thwack but it was good enough to hurt pretty bad. It was a strange hot, stinging sensation. His thumb was bleeding and his pointer finger was completely blue and bruised. Eek gads!
Once bandaged we went into town with Camille. I was in search of whether the clinic would be open today, Saturday, and how we might be able to get a ride there. I asked around and after 3 out of 4 people said it was closed today, I opted to just walk to the store with her to purchase a few things then return. We’d be better off making for Tahiti and bringing her to a doctor there. Poor dear announced the night before she felt like she had a bladder infection, UTI. It was painful to pee and wouldn’t come out much even though she had the sensation she had to go pee. Typical! I know how painful these infections can be. I gave her my over-the-counter remedies I brought just in case something like this happened. Cranberry pills and another one to ease the pain that turns your pee orange. She happily took them.
No luck with the clinic, we returned to the boat. We ate lunch while Dave went back to shore to use the WIFI at the restaurant called “Chez Lili”. He ordered us fries so when he returned we supplemented our lunch, while we prepared for anchors away. We decided to head up the inside of the atoll and out the north pass figuring it would be easier than the south and something different to see.
This time I had Kyra drive the boat while Dave and Camille pulled up the anchor. I made her wear the headset and do the driving. Amazingly enough this was her first time by herself and she did great! So proud of her because I know she’s nervous about it. I hope she realizes how easy it really is. Camille willingly offers all the time. She’s happy to take charge.
I was a little nervous about having enough daylight to see as we navigated up the atoll but Dave assured me it was a well-marked channel and we had plenty of light. He was right of course! With no wind to speak of, the water was a flat calm. We easily slid out the north pass and eased into a route headed up around the north end of Rangiroa. Once around the top of the island, Dave set the course directly for Tahiti. We wouldn’t need to change until we got there. Direct shot!
The first night was a breeze – well, actually no breeze so we motored with a bit of main sail up. The swell was even so light I hardly noticed we were out on blue water. Watching the sun set with the family is never a tiring act for me. I love these times, these moments, the beauty. After a snacking dinner, I went to sleep to get rest before my night watch.
I took over around 3:30am and then hung out reading a book because it was so calm.
June 10 – The next day it was so calm in the morning that the water was actually void of ripples and waves. I could stare straight down into the water and see the depths below. Oddly enough, I’m not sure what that meant when people would say it before, but now I know. I want to be able to describe it properly. Not sure I’ll be able to do it justice.
I could see multiple colors of blue swirling around with light waves bouncing around making ribbon tunnels of blue beneath the surface. I could see bubbles drifting up and imagined a big fish was just a bit further down where I couldn’t see it. Sparkles of silver intertwined around the blue ribbons. I tried as hard as I could to capture this on a camera but nothing I shot did it. I did not achieve the image my eyes saw.
Everything was quiet for a moment when I saw this. No one was awake yet. The motor roared but for some strange reason it was like the noise was blocked from my consciousness and ears. My ears only heard ribbons of blue fluttering beneath the surface of the water. I cursed my shadow that blocked my view since it was very early and the sun was still low in the sky behind me, casting a shadow as I tried to stand on deck peering into the deepest blue ocean.
Later when Dave awoke, and Kyra crawled out of her nest lazily, the ocean had already begun to change. The swells came, the clouds arrived, eventually completely darkening the sky until rain pelted down hard. The weather deteriorated throughout the day as we went along. By late afternoon we were cloaked in darkness with dark clouds all around. We marched onward straight into what looked like a storm ahead.
By evening, none of us felt very good, including Dave which is saying a lot. He usually doesn’t get sick or feel so bad. He tried to sleep but the wind and waves were straight on the nose making us hobby horse most unpleasantly. He dragged himself up to the cockpit while I laid on my back on the floor next to the salon bench next to Kyra. Camille was in her room trying to hold on.
The night was no fun! When I’m seasick, I just want to die and end the misery. I feel so horrid inside. I insisted Dave rest down below instead of in the cockpit. I went up every 10 minutes checking while he rested a bit. I could just barely make out the lights of the island way off in the distance. I had to check frequently because as we got closer there is certainly more boating traffic of all kinds: pleasure yachts and commercial boats too.
By 3am, Dave got up and was in better spirits. He was making sure we’d arrive in Tahiti by 5:15am to go through the pass. I dozed off a bit before waking close to the arrival in Tahiti.
Eventually we came out from under the dark, cloudy sky. It was behind us. The stormy sea finally settled down as we made our approach to the pass. We ducked in between two large freighters or tankers. In we went and I got on the radio calling “Papeete Traffic” requesting permission to pass in front of the airport as we wound our way south to the marina and anchorage. We were cleared to pass by the runway at the airport and now I see why we must request permission. The runway literally ends at the water’s edge where the channel begins. I could easily see how airplanes not quite so high could hit a tall mast such as ours. We definitely wouldn’t want that.
Calling on the radio proved to be super easy. We glided past. I watched the busyness of the port to our left, while Dave spied on the AIS who else was in port (Aquijo – the biggest ketch in the world that we saw in Costa Rica, Arranui 5 that we saw in Hiva Oa and other smaller boats). We glided on through the channel while paddlers tried to keep up with us by paralleling us. I was impressed with one guy who started at the beginning of the pass and went all the way down with us and then was making his way back through the wind.
After the airport, I could see the anchorage and my mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe my eyes how many sailboats were anchored in the bay. Kyra’s guess was 300 or more. I agree. We called Marina Taina but they had no space. Told us to call back tomorrow and check because maybe there would be some departures and some space would open up.
Quickly we realized all the boats on the right of the channel just inside the reef were on mooring balls. The boats on the left side of the channel, closer to land were mostly on anchor. It took us a while to find ample space to throw down anchor. The wind had picked up and the depth was about 48-63 ft. so we wanted ample chain out. We ducked into the anchorage field but found everything much too tight for our liking. So we threw it down on the edge of the channel and found a good holding in 48 feet of water. The anchor dug in nicely. The wind just kept increasing throughout the day. We dinghied in to shore in the chop. We found the marina manager, Philip. He was so nice and found us a spot, med-tied on the end of the big, main dock but said we should come the next day in the morning. We went to Tahiti Crew and got checked in.
Back at the boat we made some calls about getting a rental car. We found “Eco Car” from an ad in a magazine offering 35 Euro per day for a small little Fiat. Seemed most economical to get a car for a day or two so we could sightsee and deposit me at the airport instead of paying for a taxi. It might be about the same amount to take a taxi as we’d pay for a rental car anyway.
We finally settled on receiving a rental car today since they couldn’t meet us tomorrow morning with the free delivery to the marina. We met at 4pm just outside the Pink Coconut restaurant right at the head of the marina.
We took possession and then whizzed downtown to find the clinic for Camille. We found it, no problem and it wasn’t busy at all. We were ushered in to a nurse, I guess, who listened to her problem then asked for a pee sample. She produced one. He checked her pee with a little steristrip thing and confirmed what we already knew, she was positive for a UTI. Next step is to send her to the doctor upstairs and the sample to the lab for further testing to culture it and find out exact bacteria so they can prescribe the best antibiotic. He showed us upstairs the doctor’s office. We waited our turn.
While we waited me met a very nice woman and her husband. He spoke perfect English with no accent. Turns out he’s American, and she’s from Tahiti. They lived in San Jose and raised their kids there but then returned to live in Tahiti near her family. He was an army brat so grew up everywhere, including a stint at Tai’ohea in Nuka Hiva. He was impressed with our sailing adventures and visiting all the islands. Meanwhile inside Camille was chatting with his wife, unbeknownst to us. When his wife went in to see the doctor, Camille came out and showed us her business card saying how nice she was. She works for Air New Zealand and promised to bring us to a local pearl shop and give us guidance for shopping tomorrow if we came to her office. We settled on 11am. That sounded great! This is what our trip is all about: meeting locals and learning about their stories.
After Camille saw the doctor, he prescribed an antibiotic and cream for her finger (separate problem). We went straight to the pharmacy and paid for the prescriptions. The doctor visit was $70 and the pharmacy was less than $50. Unbelievable! I guess that’s what socialized medicine means. The doctor even gave me his email to write and check back in 3 days for the results of her culture.
We popped into the Geant grocery store right next to the clinic and all three of us were in awe of all the fresh produce and choices like a regular grocery store. We haven’t seen this since Costa Rica. Oh, it all was so lovely.
I knew Kyra was back at the boat out in the anchorage and I didn’t want to leave her any longer than necessary, so I had to force myself and them to quickly make our way through the store and not buy everything, even though we wanted to. We did buy delicious stinky French cheese and wine. Ah, heaven! We then rushed back to the boat. It was dark already. Kyra was a happy clam though playing with her Barbie dolls. She missed us and wondered why it took so long but she was ok. I admire her ability to play so contentedly by herself for so long. This is a good thing and a special skill.
Departing for Papeete tonight
We are pulling up anchor from Rangiroa tonight and headed for Tahiti! We should arrive Monday, but might be facing some headwinds. We’ll have better Internet once we get there and promise to upload more pictures. Here’s our wonderful anchorage for the past few days:
Chocolate Makes Everything Better
May 29 – Another day with a broken water maker made everyone on edge and stinky (no showers until it’s fixed). Stinky body. Stinky attitudes! The girls did school work begrudingly, then Stella from Blue Zulu came over for a bit to interview Kyra – something for her school work. We went a shore and took a stroll along the road with the Pakokota Lodge owners (Matthieu et Agnes) dog named Kiera. She’s super sweet and so cute. She loved the walk as much as we did.
Upon our return, we inquired about doing laundry. She could do it for us today, no problem. I would bring it back shortly. After lunch I dropped off the laundry.
Dave kept working on the water maker with little to no luck. He was more than a furious mad-hatter so we all tried to stay clear of his negative energy, but it’s difficult when we’re in such close quarters. I really wanted to help and kept offering to do whatever he needed or wanted.
Finally, around 5:30pm I made him clean up and get ready to head to shore for dinner at the lodge. We had made prior reservations and I wasn’t missing this. It was a good thing we were heading “out” because the boat was such a disaster and impossible to cook with all the tools out, seat cushions pulled apart and all of Camille’s stuff displaced since he was working under her bed.
As we dinghied across the water, delicious smells wafted along. Was it chocolate cake? Potatoes au gratin? I had wishful thinking which turned out to be exactly what was served along with grilled duck and a delicious salad of cabbage, carrot, tomatoes. Everything was super delicious and so wonderful. We all ate well!
Dessert did not disappoint – it was chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream. Thank goodness for chocolate to raise Dave’s spirits after a day of disappointment with the stinky water maker.