June 21, 2010 - Papeete, Tahiti – Enjoying Life, Even When It Rains!

Latitude:        17 32.407 S

Longitude:  149 34.247 W

Garyn and Jessica were able to secure a flight out of Tahiti on Tuesday evening, June 15.  That was good news for all of us.  It meant they could get home and that we would be able to fly home for Abby and Neal’s wedding the following week.

I don’t know exactly where the time has gone since I have not been writing daily logs, but we have been consumed with little projects, reading books, and visiting with friends we have met along the way.  On Thursday, June 17, we started to prepare the boat for the Puddle Jump Reunion/Moorea to Tahiti Rendezvous.  After only a week in port, we needed to take down sunshades, restow stuff we had taken out that works well at the dock, but not at sea, pay our bill at the marina, provision for the weekend, etc.

Each year for the past five years the Bureau of Tourism in Tahiti along with other sponsors like Latitude 38 put on a rendezvous for the cruisers that have been either officially or unofficically crusing the Pacific to Tahiti.  The festivities on the dock begin as soon as the boats start filling up the marina.  Radio voices that kept us company and provided us with advice while sailing the sea materialize in human form on boats whose names have become familiar….

                                                             Trim  (Ken and Lori)

                                                            Sula (Betty and Herb)

                                                       Freezing Rain (Marie and Don),

Windryder, Furthur, Sea Level, Puppy, Mulan, Fly Aweigh, Whosh, Endless Summer, Acapella.  Some of the folks we had already met, but many we had only heard and had yet to meet.  First meetings were more like reunions. “Ah yes!  We’ve talked with you on the radio.  We’re Worrall Wind.”  Everyone knows your boat, but not your person. 

The official party began with a cocktail party at City Hall in Papeete on Friday evening.  We were met at our gate dock by Tahitian Ukulele players who also turned out to be traffic controllers in traditional Tahitian dress.  Once the cruisers were assembled, we paraded to City Hall, blocking traffic in the streets as we did so.  There may have been 200 or more of us ranging in age from 2 – 80, dressed as fine as each could muster.

The party which was originally planned for the garden had been moved indoors as it

was sprinkling.  As we entered city hall we were welcomed by city officials and presented with fragarant leis to wear around our necks.  We were treated to beer, punch, wine, hors d’ouerves, Tahitian music and dance,

and a skipper’s blessing for the regatta the following day.   After a wonderful evening, we returned to the boat for an early turn in.  Ken and Lori on Trim were going to join us at 6:00 the following morning and sail to Moorea with us. 

The official regatta didn’t start until 9:30, but we wanted to get an early start and find a good anchorage and not have to jostle for position with 70 other boats in deeper water between the reefs.

Before going to bed, like the good skippers we are, we pulled up the weather forecast and grib files.  GULP!  It didn’t look promising. There was a big black smudge over the islands with wind barbs all around with 40 knots of wind.   We would check again in them morning.  It was a restless night for both of us.  Ken and Lori showed up at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  We shared the weather information with them and several others on the dock.  By 7:00, Sula, Freezing Rain, Trim and Worrall Wind, all having had enough excitement on the passage to Tahiti, decided that predicted winds of 28 knots gusting to 40, 4 meter (12 feet) seas, rain, lightening, thunder, and squalls  and 70 boats anchored closely together through the weekend, just didn’t look promising…..and usually the gribs and weather reports are understated!  

It was still pretty pleasant on Saturday morning as the other boats with all their flags flying high, left the marina and we stayed put.  Staying was sooooo difficult because we had looked forward to the festivities, but we were trying to exercise some lessons learned from being overly optimistic about weather forecasts and dragging anchor in heavy winds.  We watched as the boats left the harbor and while disappointed believed we had made the wise choice to stay behind.  We had already paid for our meals at the Rendezvous and had decided that if the weather didn’t materialize as predicted, we would take a ferry over the next day, rent a car and join the fun.

As the day progressed, we listened to boats on the radio reporting consistent winds of 30 knots and big seas.  We could only guess what was going on in the anchorage because we could not hear the boats tucked in the bay.  We had a relaxing day on the boat planning our calendar for the next couple of months and still debating whether to go New Zealand or Fiji for the cyclone season.  A couple of boats on the dock next to us that had also stayed behind organized a dock party bar-b-que which we all attended.  There were about 20 of us  on the dock gazing out over Moorea which was totally shrouded in dark clouds, happy with our decision to stay in the marina where the water was like glass.  The rain started about midnight in Papeete. 

We got up at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and could barely see Moorea through the rain clouds.  Nevertheless, the rain had lightened over Papeete, and we decided to take the ferry over anyway.

Herb and Betty on Sula, Don and Marie on Freezing Rain, Lori and Ken on Trim, and we on Worrall Wind, made our way to Moorea across the channel.  It didn’t seem particularly windy while crossing the channel, but the seas were big and close together.   The express ferry had only one of its two engines operating due to some mechanical problems, so the 30 minute ride dragged into 2 hours across the rolling seas.

By the time we rented our cars (four to a car), and drove to the party it was 11:00 a.m.  Tents had been set up so that people could get out of the rain.  When we arrived it was overcast and fairly calm.

There were lots of boats tightly anchored off shore and the beach was filled with slightly soggy cruisers with more clothes on than we had seen in a long time.

Winds had blown throughout the night and some boats had drug their anchors and had some problems, but nothing serious other than a few boats dragging and re-anchoring.

It wasn’t too late to sign up for the outrigger canoe races, so Russ signed up with a group called the Random Paddlers. 

He had been looking forward to this event.  Ken and Lori took the car to the store to pick up some beverages and snacks.  The luau type lunch was still a ways off and we were all getting a little hungry.  They returned with some soft drinks and no snacks….Lori said they had gotten wine, beer, and snacks, but because it was Sunday, the store would only let them leave with soft drinks.

The missionary/religious  influence in FP is still very strong.   Reminded us of when we were in Virginia in the early 70’s and the old blue laws were still in effect.  You could go into a large market but could only buy necessities.  Depending who was at the cash register seemed to determine what was necessary and what was not…really and infringement of civil liberty imposed by religion.

We enjoyed mingling with fellow cruisers, listening to music, watching the canoe races, learning how to make palm frond hats,

 husking coconuts,

 and tattoo art.




Russ and his fellow paddlers, one of whom we knew, Ed from Acapella (front seat), finished their heat in third place, but not good enough for the finals.  Nevertheless, Russ was exuberant that they finished “dry”.

Several of the outrigger canoes flipped dumping all of the paddlers in the water.  I guess they are not as stable as they look.

By the time lunch was served, it was poring rain and the wind was blowing.  Not having had any munchies, we were starving.  Everyone was huddling under the open air tents trying to stay warm and dry. 

The traditional Tahitian lunch included vegetables of tarot root, poi, pumpkin poi, and breadfruit, and some mixed dishes of pork and spinach, beef, fish, and raw fish.  We tried a little bit of everything.  It’s a good thing we had eaten breadfruit before because honestly the breadfruit was horrible tasting the way it was prepared for this lunch.  The tarot and poi was also something we left in clumps on our plates.  It was hard to know whether it always tasted so bad or whether it was prepared poorly.  I suspect the latter although it could be a little of both.

The dishes with meat and fish were pretty tasty.  The pineapple was delicious.  We ate our wet and gooey meal with our fingers which is the traditional Tahitian way of eating and because no utensils were offered.  There were quite a few plates with leftover things folks cared not to eat.  It turned out to be a fairly light and expensive lunch ($35.00 each).

After lunch, there were still the paddle finals, banana carrying, tug o war, and rock throwing contests, but it was difficult to muster up enthusiasm  in the deluge for these activities from our little group.  By 2:00 p.m. we were soggy and cold enough to call it a day. 

We got in our chariots, took in some sights and drove around the island.  The wind and surf were picking up.  We stopped at a little beach restaurant for some liquid refreshment that we had eaten lunch in two weeks before with Garyn and Jessica.  On that day, it was so warm and sunny we sat in the shade indoors and gazed out over beautiful blue green water. 

On this day, the flimsy doors were “kind of closed” gapping and flapping as the strong wind whipped through, driving the rain and palm trees sideways.  We were glad to be inside the reef as we watched the raging ocean pounding on the reef and then smoothing out before the water came on shore.

We were also glad we could enjoy a beer together and not worry about our boats dragging anchor or having to head back to the mainland in our boats.

We arrived at the ferry dock about 4:30 to find the ferry office closed with a note in the window saying that our 5:30 express ferry back to Tahiti had been cancelled because of mechanical difficulties. Great!  Now what? 

Fortunately, the slower and bigger, 5:00 car ferry was still going (and would delay until 5:30), and we could get on that with our roundtrip ticket.   While we waited for the car ferry, we visited a little restaurant for cheeseburgers, pizza, fries, and ice cream.  We were all pretty hungry.  We also enjoyed a beautifully lit sky at sunset. 

The large ferry pounded for over an hour across the channel in the dark.  Plumes of ocean spray off of large seas flew up and over the second story windows where we were seated.  We were glad this was a bigger boat than the express boat that had been cancelled, but were still checking out where the life vests were stored.  It was a rollicking ride.  We arrived safely about 7:30 in Papeete with still enough time for more food at the caravans by the yacht docks.

We were glad we had left our boats behind, glad we had not missed the activities, excited that we had had a little different experience from the rest of cruisers, and very happy to return to calm waters and no wind where our boats were safely at rest in Papeete.

Russ and I are now preparing for our return to California where we hope to see famly and friends.  We will be returning to the South Pacific later in July to continue on to Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, Suwarruw, Samoa, and Tonga.

All is well on Worrall Wind.