by Judy Handley | Jun 23, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 249, Year 1: Roadtrip Around Tahiti
Date: Friday, June 23, 2006
Weather: Cloudy Mixed With Periods of Sunshine
Location: Anchored Closer to the Reef, Still Near Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti
Today we drove our little rental car, a Fiat Panda, around the entire perimeter of the island of Tahiti and down the west coast of Tahiti Iti. This is the smaller island connected to mainland Tahiti by an isthmus. It was a great day, but since everyone but me is already asleep, you know it was an exhausting day. Tomorrow we head into Papeete to explore the city and we plan to take in a full-blown Tahitian dance show tomorrow night.
It is simply too late at night for me to recap all of today’s island circumnavigation in complete detail. We visited the tomb of the last King of Tahiti, Pomare V, viewed Papeete across to Moorea from One Tree Hill (there was only one tree here when Captain Cook arrived in the 1700’s), looked across the lagoon to Motu Martin from Point Venus, ran from the spray of the Arahoho Blowhole, saw numerous island churches, walked to beautiful Vaimahuta Waterfalls, drove down the west coast of Tahiti Ita and saw surfers riding the waves and an outrigger canoe haven, visited the Gauguin Museum in Papeari, walked through the public gardens at Vaipahi, visited the incredible Maraa Fern Grotto and the marae of Arahurau, made a quick stop at the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands. We ended up at La Meridian-the hotel where Lee and Mary Ellen will stay after flying back to here from Bora Bora. We saw so much and really enjoyed the day.
Tomorrow we will head into Papeete and see more of the sights there. It is great to be out here with family. Truly a special experience.
by Judy Handley | Jun 22, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 248, Year 1: Welcome to Tahiti, Lee and Mary Ellen (Mark’s Sister)
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2006
Weather: Cloudy with Threats of Rain
Air Temperature: 80 degrees
Water Temperature: 80 degrees
Latitude:
Longitude:
Location: Anchored Closer to the Reef, Still Near Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti
We officially welcomed Mark’s sister Mary Ellen, and her husband Lee to French Polynesia at about 7:00 PM Tahiti time. We had flower leas for both Mary Ellen and Lee to welcome them to Tahiti. The official welcome is, ” Ia ora na e maeva” which translates as “Welcome to Tahiti and her islands.” Lee and Mary Ellen looked great and were not as travel worn as we expected. They spent last night in Los Angeles and have slowly gotten used to the six hour time difference. We rented a car at the airport to take us all back to the marina and to travel about the island tomorrow. The weather is supposed to stay cloudy until Sunday, but we can deal with that for a few days. It is still beautiful here, cloudy or not.
We went to the fuel dock first thing in the morning to fill up with fuel and water. We then moved our location closer to the reef. Our hope is that we will be able to do some snorkeling in the shallow water near the boat. We also like the front door view of the rollers breaking over the reef with Moorea in the background. Once we reanchored, Mark took the sheets and mattress cover from our bed into the marina laundromat. Washing sheets is possible onboard, but the amount of water needed for a mattress cover is just too much. He took in his computer to take advantage of the wireless internet there. I sent some of the picture files from the Marquesas with him to see if he could send them. What a difference! He said it took him only seconds to send all 3 files, each about 4 MGs. We have not had that kind of connection since Boston. It has been taking a full 30 to 45 minutes to send just one picture file in the Marquesas and in the Galapagos. This is fantastic. We’ll send the rest of the photos this afternoon and I might even be able to send a few videos for our son Justin to post on the web. I sent some by snail mail from Panama, but have not been able to send any since then.
We spent the rest of the day going to the grocery store and tidying up the boat in preparation for having guests aboard. It was a good day and a great evening catching up on all the news from home with Mary Ellen and Lee. It is wonderful to be sharing some of this trip with family. Tomorrow we will tour the island in the rental car. Saturday we will tour Papeete and take in a Tahitian dance show. Sunday we will go to the early morning market and to church to hear some of the wonderful Polynesian singing. And on Monday or Tuesday we will leave Tahiti and sail back to Moorea. We will be staying there a couple of days and then sail to either Huihine or Raiatea-Tahaa on our way to Bora Bora. Lee and Mary Ellen have two weeks with us and we want to spend at least a week of that time in Bora Bora. We had hoped to be able to stay here in enjoy some of the Heiva celebration, but it doesn’t officially start until July 1 this year. Heiva is a famous cultural event featuring games, singing and dance competitions, and lots of traditional music. People from all of the French Polynesian islands gather here and join in the competition. If we stayed here for that, we wouldn’t have the time in Bora Bora, but maybe Lee and Mary Ellen can see at least one evening of competition when they return here to fly back home. Besides, we imagine the cost of seeing just one show will be pretty pricey-like everything else here!
by Judy Handley | Jun 21, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 247, Year 1: A Weather Flip-Flop
Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Weather: Cloudy, Rainy, and Cool (79 degrees)
Location: Anchored Near Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti
Our plans to move the boat closer to the reef and to get fuel and water today had to be put on hold. A cold front from the southern ocean has flipped the weather here from sunny and beautiful to cloudy and rainy. It feels cool, but the temperature is still 79 degrees at 9:45 in the evening. I guess it is really not cool, but it does feel that way.
We will have to try again to move the boat tomorrow. We turned our attention today to getting the boat ready for company and I took advantage of the cooler weather to bake bread and make granola. I also worked on organizing pictures for the website and hope to get to a fast connection tomorrow to send those.
This weather is supposed to stay with us for a few days, but I’m hoping there will be a bit of sunshine for Mary Ellen and Lee’s first weekend in French Polynesia.
by Judy Handley | Jun 20, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 246, Year 1: Papeete, Tahiti
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Weather: Tahiti Supreme
Location: Anchored Near Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti
Talk about clueless. First we had no idea Father’s Day was on Sunday. Then late this afternoon I told Mark that I thought he should call his sister before she leaves in the AM headed for Tahiti. We thought she was arriving Friday evening, but we learned in the phone call that she is arriving Thursday evening. She has sent two e-mails just this week listing her complete flight schedule, but we have been so busy that we hadn’t carefully read these. We actually reserved a car today for Friday evening, but that will be easy to change. Mary Ellen had sent an e-mail early on listing Friday as the arrival date and that is what got recorded on our calendar. Sure glad we called!
We got up early today. I did the laundry (on Windbird, not in the expensive laundromat) while Mark went into the marina to meet Laurent, our PYS (Polynesian Yacht Services) agent, to get us officially checked into French Polynesia. All of the other check-ins in the Marquesas were just a formality. What really counts is the check-in here. We have felt that there are many more cruisers out here then we expected, and Laurent confirmed that this morning. He said the official count of boats checking into Tahiti is twice the number that came through last year. He says there are more cruisers this year than he can ever remember.
I think I mentioned before the reason we hired the agent, but just in case, I’ll go over that again. In order to be in French Polynesia, you either have to have a plane ticket out of the country or pay the $1100 per person bond. We, along with many others, found it impossible to get the money in the Marquesas, so we went with the agent. We will pay Laurent about $340 dollars, but he takes care of all checking in and out formalities, takes our propane tank to get it filled, gives us a 20 per cent discount at a local chandlery, plus we get duty free fuel anywhere in French Polynesia which saves us about half the cost of diesel here. We pay about $2.50 instead of $5.00 per gallon. If we had been able to pay the bond, we would have gotten it back, but we would have lost money on the exchange. It is a toss up as to which is really cheaper. Laurent seems very nice and is very helpful, so we are fine that we have gone this path.
We hopped on Le Truck this morning and headed into centre Papeete. We thought we had to transfer, but we didn’t. The traffic here is horrendous, so the three mile trek takes about 20 minutes. Papeete is a modern city with a mixture of architecture. There is nothing tremendously appealing about it, but it is okay for a city and people are very friendly. Most speak enough English to get us through. We walked the waterfront, found the Tourist Bureau and got brochures, walked to the far end of town where the chandleries are found, and then wandered back through town stopping at the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was built in 1875 and is very nice, but after seeing the beautiful churches in the outback in the Marquesas, it was diminished in grandeur. We knew better than try to eat lunch in any restaurant in Papeete. The cheapest thing on any menu is $18.00, but there are sub shops where you can buy a piece of pizza for $3.50 or a sub for $3.00. We bought one sub and one bottle of water and split them between us. There are McDonald’s everywhere here, but we opted to skip that one!
We walked back to the waterfront and headed in the direction of the marina. The main street runs along the waterfront, but there is room for a park between the road and the bay. We think this was Bougainville Park. We continued walking past an area where there is tremendous mount of construction. We finally realized that this construction is all in preparation of Heiva Nui, the celebration of independence here. The preparations are massive. When we passed this area we come to the Cultural Center. It was here that we found out about the schedule for Heiva Nui. It really doesn’t start until July1 and we will be gone from here by then. We are hoping that Mary Ellen and Lee will get to attend some of the competitions when they fly back here from Bora Bora. We might get to attend some preliminary shows, but that is still to be determined. No schedules are being issued until Monday, July 26, so we will find out then.
Tomorrow we will pull up anchor and head into the marina to fill up with fuel and water. Our watermaker has not been working since our passage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas, so we have been filling up one jerry jug at a time when we have been in ports with drinkable water. Our new watermaker will arrive with Mark’s sister Mary Ellen, but we are very proud that we were able to make it until today without running out of water. We had water last night, but this morning when I turned on the faucet to brush my teeth, I heard the sound of an empty tank. Lucky it didn’t happen until now, although we have enough drinking water aboard in gallon jugs to get us through. It is just not as convenient as turning on the tap. When we move to get water and fuel, we will also try to find a better location closer to the reef and in range of wireless internet. That would be fantastic. Being able to swim right off the boat and to browse the internet from the boat is all it takes to make us happy!
by Judy Handley | Jun 19, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 245, Year 1: Windbird in Tahiti
Date: Monday, June 19, 2006
Weather: Not Recorded
Latitude: 17 degrees 35 minutes S
Longitude: 149 degrees 37 minutes W
Location: Anchored Near Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti
Windbird has arrived in Tahiti. We haven’t seen much of it yet, but it is certainly the biggest city we have seen since Panama. Moorea is such a quiet, low-key island. I can tell already that Tahiti is not. The sail from Moorea to here is about 28 miles from anchorage to anchorage. The pass between the two islands is only ten miles wide, but Cook’s Bay is a few miles from the pass. And once you get to Tahiti, you enter the Passe de Papeete and have a few more miles to go up the Chenel de Faaa. The reef separates you from the ocean and the airport is on your land side. When you first enter the pass, the city of Papeete is directly in front of you. Some people stay on the quay in town, but theft there is rampant so we decided to head to the area near the Marina Taina in “suburbs”. It is three miles from here to town by boat, but I’m not sure how far it is by land. This we will discover tomorrow.
We are anchored in a little bay close to the Marina Taina. The view from our anchorage across the reef is of Moorea with Tahiti’s resort hotels in the other direction. We can use the marina dinghy dock, the expensive laundry ($11US per load to wash and another $11 per load to dry, and the showers there for just a $10US deposit that is returned when we turn in the key. The marina is very modern and the facilities are better than anyplace we have seen on this voyage. We can purchase time on the marina’s wireless internet connection. They actually sell an antenna to boost our capacity to receive the wireless onboard. We have been looking for an antenna like this since we were in Bonaire, but have not found one. Matt, the internet guru here, is a very friendly and helpful young man. He will come to the boat with an antenna and let us see if it gives us the needed boost before purchasing. If we can’t receive wireless on the boat, at least we can take our computer into the marina and communicate from there. When we walk through the marina and out to the main road, it is just a stone’s throw to the left to a traffic circle where we can hop on Le Truck. Le Truck is the cheaper way to travel into Papeete, but you do have to transfer. To the right, we can catch the Tahiti “Greyhound” bus with air conditioning. The cost is $2US per person into Tahiti and another $2 back home. If we walk about 10 minutes to the left, we reach a huge shopping complex called Carrefour. We walked there today and were in awe of the huge variety of things available. Some things are extremely expensive ($11 for a US fresh artichoke) but others are very reasonable ($4 for a frozen chicken). Drinks are the really expensive items. It costs about $50 for a case of beer and about $15 for a case of coke. But you have to eat and drink, so you just pay the price.
We are looking forward to exploring downtown Papeete tomorrow and will report on that venture in tomorrow’s log. Every day is a new adventure and we are very much looking forward to our explorations here in Tahiti.
