17.30S 149.49W
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Sun 27 Apr 2008 20:18
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Hi All
Alan here! There have been a few subtle comments like " WHERE ARE YOU?"
and others less subtle, so I though perhaps now would be a good time to update
the BLOG.
We arrived Tahiti on the 14th, an age ago now I
know! Tahiti was a bit of a culture shock from the quiet of Oa Pou, and
the Tuamotus, but it's a lovely place, fantastic scenery and friendly people. We
arrived here a bit earlier than expected, but at least Peter had a little time
to enjoy here before he flew back on 17th.
We stayed for a week or so at Marina
Taine, a few miles to the west of Papeete, which was really nice, good
facilities, WATER, electricity and restaurants. It also had the facilities
we needed to do a few repairs!
Initially we thought the boat would need to be
lifted out for the rudder repairs, but in the end the rudder was removed whilst
the boat was in the water - strange to see yr rudder floating to the surface and
carted off - and wondering why the boat didn't sink , water pouring in the hole
we had in the bottom (the top of the rudder housing is 18 inches above water
line!) Anyway no real problems - just a resin patch and then the same
operation in reverse.
Other repairs are now done, some going well
others not so. We had the watermaker spares brought to Tahiti by Blue
Water people, they're now fitted and working well, The main sail now has
wear patches as the sail was rubbing on the spreaders a bit - its now back
on the mast and seems OK, All genoa sheets and furling lines have been
changed as chafe, and general wear and tear are a constant concern here, but all
in all the boat is in pretty good shape now.
We then moved from Marina Taine to Papeete in order
to join the rest of the fleet on the "Quai de yachts" and join in the activities
there - The boats were asked to "dressed overall" (lines of signal
flags from bow to masthead to stern) - made a great sight as the
backdrop to the official welcome by the Tahitan authorities. They also organised
a day of outrigger canoe racing and proa sailing across the harbour in
which everyone took part, whilst on the quayside there was fruit,
refreshments and exhibitions of their handicrafts. In the evening we were
all appropriately adorned with garlands and treated to a performance of
traditional Tahitian dancing with later welcoming speeches
from representatives of the Tahitian government - in all a great
day.
A round island tour was also organised for the next
day and visited notable viewpoints and landmarks - Venus point where Cook landed
(actually went aground more like!), and the Paul Gauguin museum in the south of
the island which was very interesting, and also to a lovely restaurant of the same name, where we enjoyed
traditional Tahitian food.
Our final stop was the Museum of Tahiti, but
we arrived there late - only half hour before it closed so rather than rush
we thought to leave it for another time Whilst there, nearby we saw a
group of Tahitian guys throwing spears at target - a coconut on a pole 30 feet
in the air!! and hitting it!! It seems this hails back to the time
they used to hunt birds. Some rally people had a go whilst others cowered
in the coaches - the rally people were not very accurate!!!!
The rest of our time in Papeete went by quickly,
quite a bustling town to enjoy, shops and a market too Many boats (and us)
still trying to get things done - many boats have repairs more critical
than ours, sails ripped, boom damaged, and other people with generator problems
(ours still OK touch wood - but report going back to Jeanneau). The rally tends
to swamp repair resources in the smaller places we go, and the ARC boats
are around too, so its not surprising work gets prioritised, and so we decided
to leave our bits and pieces for another time.
We are now in Moorea!! We left 26th and had a
lovely sail across the 15 mile gap between Tahiti and Moorea, through the reef
pass into breathtaking scenery and a lovely anchorage in Cooks Bay
opposite the thatched bungalows on stilts off the Bali Hai beach club.
Cooks Bay is long, and steep to, with mountain peaks all around, which seem
to cut the clouds like a knife, the peaks again appearing above the
cloud. The clouds swirl and eddy all round the high cliffs and sharp
pointed peaks, you watch them simply fascinated!
We intend to stay here a few days and maybe move to
a another bay "Oponohu Bay" which is similar. We hope Peter will catch up
with us there, hopefully by 1st May - but I guess we present a moving target at
the moment!! Later plans are to visit other islands in the Society Islands
group, ending up in Bora Bora which everyone, even locals here say is absolutely
fantastic, a lagoon in paradise. We might never leave!!!
Anyway enough, A rally social in the hotel beckons,
a short dinghy ride away
Bye for now
A
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