Tahiti
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Thu 22 Jun 2017 19:44
As feared, the wind did not pick up on the passage down to Tahiti and stubbornly remained at 8 to 9kts. We could have sailed at around 3kts with the cruising chute but with one of the two marinas at Papeete completely full and the other (more centrally located) not taking advance reservations we were anxious to get here and if necessary wait close by for a berth to become available. With one eye anxiously on the fuel gauge we motored overnight on Saturday. Dawn revealed the pale grey outline of Tahiti with, as is usually the case for the mountainous islands, a thick capping of cloud. Cook could have had a similar view and as we approached Point Venus on the north west coast we eagerly awaited the canoes with local women keen to barter our nails, beads and buttons for fruits, fish and themselves. Cook might have appreciated the lighthouse to guide him into the Baie de Matavai and a room at one of the shoreside hotels to relax after his long passages but unfortunately for him he arrived a little too early. Unfortunately for us we were too late for the welcoming canoes and all we could see were three yachts at anchor. We will spend a night there before we leave Tahiti (at anchor, not in a hotel).
With Cook on his voyage was the great botanist Joseph Banks, later to become the founding and longstanding president of the Royal Society. Banks went native and lived with the islanders, learning their language and taking a wife(s?). He was an important intermediary between Cook and the Islanders and had a rather more enlightened approach to understanding their culture and customs than the usual expectation that British values were the standard for everyone. His approach was a tad more immersive than than we are likely to manage but ours might include a short visit to a tattoo parlour for that truly authentic touch................
Four miles to the south of Baie de Matavai is the capital, Papeete. Tropical paradise for Papeete consists of a long harbour wall (built on the reef that surrounds the island) topped by fuel storage tanks, yacht masts and the low rise development of the town behind. It is a large harbour right in the town centre and the marina is as central as it gets. There was one outside berth on a pontoon remaining for us, in fact the first berth on the edge of the marina, with a wonderful view across the harbour entrance to Moorea and sufficiently away from the roadside main berthing area to be quiet and uncrowded - the perfect place to be based for up to a month! The only traffic noise we get is the occasional emergency vehicle siren that, in France, always make me think I am in an Inspector Clueso movie and the voices of joggers on the adjoining harbourside path. Everything by way of shopping and supplies is within a 10 minute walk and I have a serious expectation that my fold up bicycle will be put to good use.
After months of remote anchorages with nothing more than a small village to occasionally bring us into contact with people other than yachties it is surprisingly exciting to be berthed in a busy harbour with town amenities to hand. A bit like Cartagena. With the lovely view of Moorea to remind us we are still in French Polynesia and the prospect of a decent chandlery I think I will cope with three weeks of solitude without the usual marina fever setting in. We are also continuing our tour of the worlds airports and can see the end of the runway from here, with a surprising number of aircraft flying in and out. There is an inside channel between the reef and the airport marked with a maze of red and green lights at night that you would think might confuse with the similar red lights for aircraft approaching the runway. The only downside to our berth that I can envisage is a vulnerability to swell when the wind is from the west. There is a weather system coming through later this week that we will need to keep an eye on both for the prospect of a westerly wind and a potential delay to Annie's flight.