22 June 2014 Papeete, Tahiti
We've got a really good internet connection from a hotel across the road, so we were able to talk to our son, Brett on Skype for an hour - first time for about three months. Glenys took advantage of the free water on the dock to do some washing. She was hoping to dump it all into a laundry, but they charge an outrageous $20 per load and we’re not paying $100 to get our laundry done.
Later in the morning, we walked to the supermarket and, on the way back, discovered something going on in the waterfront park. Teams of people were setting up TV cameras, so we asked one of the TV crew, who told us that a traditional boat was arriving from Hawaii and there was a big welcoming event later in the afternoon.
After lunch and another small siesta to catch up on lost sleep, we walked back to the park to watch the arrival of Hokulea. This is a double hulled voyaging canoe similar to the ones that Polynesians used to travel huge distances, hundreds if not thousands of years ago. Hokulea was built in the 1970’s and was completing a voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti using only traditional navigation methods and knowledge of stars, sun and current.
It was a fabulous afternoon. Dozens of outrigger canoes paddled out to meet Hokulea with local ladies dressed in traditional pareau and flower garlands on their heads. The voyaging canoe arrived at the beach accompanied by a flotilla of canoes and powerboats. A huge crowd had gathered to await them and there was lots of play acting starting with a lady chanting a welcome across the water as they approached.
Hokulea tied up to some moorings and the crew swam ashore, but were kept in waist deep water while a guy dressed as a fierce chief strutted around on the beach listening to the captain of the Hokulea pleading to be allowed to land. The chief eventually relented and the crew were greeted with great rejoicing and garlands of flowers.
The event was attended by the President of French Polynesia, who took part in the ceremonies, with very little security around him - just one Tommy Lee Jones look alike trailing behind him. The crew and dignitaries were taken to a cleared grassy area, where we were all treated to a couple of hours of traditional Polynesian singing and dancing - grass skirts and wiggling hips abounded...
After the event, we stumbled across Robert and Hiedi from “Nuwam” and ended up going to the Roulettes again, then for a beer. We only had one beer because a round of four beers and one small bottle of water cost nearly $30 - God knows how the locals can afford to get drunk here.
23 June 2014 Papeete, Tahiti
It was Monday morning and the start of a couple of days of running around. Our first stop was at the Dockmaster office, where we met Ken who's a really helpful guy and gave us the low down on the local area and the formalities. We then walked about a mile to the customs office and sorted out our final clearance into French Polynesia and obtained a duty free fuel certificate, which was fairly effortless.
While in the area, we walked to API Yachting to see about getting our sail repaired, but the owner was out and I don’t think that there would be much chance of getting it done quickly. I tried to ring the owner a few times during the day, but he never answered, so I’ve given up on him.
Our Caribe dinghy is now on its last legs and I have to pump it up two or three times a day, so we’re hoping to buy a new dinghy here. We wandered around the chandlers, but there’s a very poor choice of RIBs available. We found a 9.5 foot Zodiac for $5,300US and slightly smaller 9 foot Apex for $3,900 US. The Apex is the last of a line - the salesman said that they’ve fallen out with Apex and are not going to be selling them any more. He knocked off about 20% and gave me a deal at $3,150 US. I went away to think about it.
We then spent hours wandering around the chandlers and hardware stores looking at what was available and buying a few things. Everything is twice as expensive as it is in the USA, so we quickly revised our buying list to only getting essentials - I'm getting more keen on visiting US Samoa and having parts delivered out there. The most exciting thing was finding a plug cutter which will allow me to make 10 mm teak plugs for the deck - I lead such a shallow life.
In the afternoon, at the request of the Dockmaster, we moved the boat onto a “med” mooring. This simply involved picking up a thick mooring line, attaching it to our bow and then carefully man-handling the boat around 90 degrees, so that we are now stern to the dock. It means that the Dockmaster can fit more boats on the dock, but is pointless at the moment because we’re the only boat here. Unfortunately, getting ashore a lot more difficult now because we don’t have a passerell or plank and are having to swing off the davits and leap onto the dock.
We finally had our Roast Lamb for dinner with a nice bottle of red wine, which was wonderful.
24 June 2014 Papeete, Tahiti
We decided to buy the 9 foot Apex dinghy, which on the specifications is only slightly smaller than our old 9 foot Carib dinghy. I walked over to the chandlers, paid for the dinghy and then got them to fill in a duty free form, so that I can get $435US refunded.
It’s a bit of a palaver - I have to get the form stamped by customs when we arrive in the next country and send it by post back to the Customs office here in Tahiti. The customs office then tells the chandlers to refund the money to us, which will get transferred to our bank account. It’s a hassle, but it means that we get a new RIB dinghy for $2,700 US, which is a great price.
Having made our major purchase, I wandered around for another couple of hours, further hammering our credit card by buying some more essential parts for the boats.
Glenys paid the Dock Master the $40/day berthing fee and then strolled around town. She went to the colourful Central Market and had three pearls mounted onto a leather bracelet for $7 and had the pearl that Valentine gave me in Toau put onto a leather necklace for $8. She also managed to get some New Zealand dollars, which we’ll need if we visit the outer islands of Cook Islands and Tonga, where there’ll be no banks.
In the afternoon, Glenys did some more browsing around town, while I rushed around looking at waterproof, “tough” cameras. I eventually found four good shops with cameras and after a lot of agonising bought a Nikon AW110, which is waterproof down to 18 metres and should be good for taking pictures while snorkelling. Electronic goods are nearly twice as expensive as in the USA, but the camera I bought has just been replaced by a newer model, so it was a good price. It’s had good reviews, so I can’t wait to try it out.
25 June 2014 Papeete to Taina Bay, Tahiti
We were up at crack of dawn and followed a buoyed waterway, which goes around the island inside the fringing reef. The channel goes around the airport, so we had to call the Port Control a couple of times to gain permission to pass both ends of the runway. As we left Papeete harbour, a local guy in a single outrigger paddled up behind us and kept with us at six knots for a couple of miles, using us as a shield against the wind and waves.
The anchorage outside Marina Taina is packed with cruising boats, some on mooring buoys and some at anchor - there’s got to be over 100 boats out here. We were fortunate to be able to pick up an available mooring near to “Nuwam”. The anchorage is 18 metres deep and with so many boats and swirling winds, it’s easier to be on a mooring - at only $40 per week, it’s a bargain.
We put the dinghy in the water and went ashore to have a look around. It’s like being in Falmouth Harbour in the West Indies. The outside dock of the marina is dominated by very expensive super-yachts with their 100 foot masts and 100+ foot hulls gleaming in the sun. There’s not much in the marina itself - a couple of small chandlers, a couple of bar/restaurants and some dive shops.
There’s a Carrefour supermarket about ½ mile down the road, which is large and has a good selection of food items and well as clothes and household goods, so we spent a couple of hours wandering around - the weirdest thing that you can buy is a whole carcass of veal, presumably spit roasting is popular here.
On the way back to the boat, we called in at a trimaran called “Samba”. The owner, Michele, does sail repairs on a large platform on the back of his boat. He’s a nice guy and seems to know what he’s talking about, so we’re going to get him to repair our main sail. After lunch, we took the mainsail off the mast and got it into a bag just before a couple of strong squalls hit us. This damn weather is so variable.
26 June 2014 Taina Bay, Tahiti
First thing in the morning, we took the sail over to “Samba” and agreed that Michele will replace the leech tape, put a 6 inch wide reinforcing patch all the way along the leech and do a few other small repairs. It’s going to cost us $900US to do the job, but it’ll be a relief to have it repaired properly and especially to have a leech line again, which will stop the irritating fluttering of the trailing edge of the sail.
Having received a firm quote, we took the sail back to Alba and spent the morning unpicking the old leech tape and all of the repairs that we’ve done on our way across the Pacific. I dropped the sail off at “Samba” and Michele says that it should be ready on 1st July.
In the afternoon, we picked up our new dinghy and towed it back to Alba. I put the 15hp outboard onto it and we went for a quick spin. It’s slightly smaller than our old Caribe dinghy, but planes well. Unfortunately, the bow is nowhere near as high and, in the 1-2 foot waves going back upwind, we got soaked, which is annoying, but there’s not a lot we can do about it, we’ll just have to get used to it.
Alan on “Victoria” invited us over for dinner in the evening. We last saw him in Ecuador in January, so we had a lot to catch up on. He came via Easter Island and had a good time there, but trashed his main sail and genoa while heading for the Gambier. He was forced to miss out the Tuamotus and come straight here for repairs - the Pacific Ocean is rather brutal on boats.
27 June 2014 Taina Bay, Tahiti
There’s a huge low pressure area tracking to the south west of Tahiti, bringing a big low pressure trough and north winds across our area. Last night was horrible with strong squalls and torrential rain. The morning wasn’t any better, so we hunkered down below. After rushing around for the past week, it was nice to do our thing and chill out.
Glenys did some sewing, making some new shower curtains and I slaved over a hot computer editing photographs and our website.
In the evening, we went ashore to a bar in the marina and caught up with some other cruisers, including Michael and Charlotte from “Salamander”, who we've not seen since Nuku Hiva.
28 June 2014 Taina Bay, Tahiti
We gave our old Carib dinghy to “Salamander”, who are thinking of upgrading their 3hp outboard and want to try out a RIB. It’s sad to see it go and I'm still not too sure about the new Apex dinghy, but we've bought it and have to get used to it.
We went to the supermarket and did a big shop, loading two trolleys full of food and drink. The supermarket doesn't do deliveries, so we trundled the trolleys for ½ mile along the pavement back to the marina. It’s an accepted thing to do - there were fifty or so trolleys lined up in the marina, presumably, someone from Carrefour comes to get them.
We've been in Tahiti for a week now and have done nothing apart from running about and doing jobs. Taina Bay is an impersonal place even though there over 100 boats at anchor - it’s just too big and spread out. We can’t wait to get away from here and feel trapped because we have to wait for our sail to get fixed.
Glenys made a Roscoff Salad for dinner, which is a delicious prawn and potato salad. It only has a few ingredients, but it’s the first time for months that she’s been able to get them all at the same time.
29 June 2014 Taina Bay, Tahiti
I spent five hours servicing the engine and generator. Both are fine apart from a small leak around the shaft of the sea water pump on the generator, which I removed. I have a spare pump, but it’s faulty and needs repairing as well. I'm going to take them into town tomorrow and see if I can get new seals and bearings or get someone to repair them for me.
For the rest of the afternoon, we chilled out - I played my guitar messing about with Guitar Rig, which is a computer program that acts a guitar amplifier with lots of cool effects like echo and distortion. I can make my acoustic guitar sound like a heavy metal electric guitar, much to Glenys’s dismay.
We invited Grant & Carli from “Viandante” and Michael & Charlotte from “Salamander” over for a few beers. All of us were in Bahia de Caracas in Ecuador, so we did some reminiscing and caught up on our various adventures getting here. They are all 25 years younger than us and it’s funny (if a little depressing) how they talk to us like they would to an older aunt and uncle.
30 June 2014 Taina Bay, Tahiti
First thing in the morning, we caught a bus into town and spent the morning wandering around. I walked miles looking for seals and bearings for the water pump, but only managed to find some seals. They cost $30 each for a simple lip seal, so I just bought one to fix the immediate problem - no point in servicing a spare pump at these prices.
We called in at the Harbour Master and told him that we were leaving on the 3rd July. He will only give us a national clearance to continue up the islands to Bora Bora, so we weren’t able to buy any duty free booze. Apparently, you can only get duty free if you are leaving Papeete directly for a foreign port.
On the way back to the boat, we called in on the sail maker and found that he hasn’t started the sail yet. Michele loves football and we’re half way through the World Cup, so I suspect that watching the matches is slowing him down somewhat. He says we should have it by the 3rd July.
I stripped down the sea water pump, replaced the seal and fitted the pump to the generator. I seem to have sorted out the problem, which is pleasing.
I ran the generator to make water and also topped up the refrigerant on the drinks fridge. While I had the floor panel up, I noticed that we still had water in the main bilge and found that there was a steady trickle of water coming from the engine bilge. Further investigation revealed that we have a water leak in the exhaust system for the generator, which is hidden below the generator and impossible to get at without lifting the generator up - oh miser!
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