G'day all.... I hope you are well wherever you may
be. It's been a few
days now in Tahiti and we are currently in the
main port city of Papeete
..... Enjoying the big smoke.... Waiting for a few
parts and generally
loving life.
We sailed into Tahiti in the very
south of the island at a place called
Teahupoo on Matt's birthday on the
14th August just in time to see the
opening ceremony of the Billabong Pro
Surfing competition. Our original
plan to arrive in Tahiti did not involve
the competition as we had no
idea it was on, but after some heads up from a
few locals in the atols
we decided why not.... And we are so very grateful
for the tip. We
ended up staying a week and what a week it was.
The first day of the
competition was incredible. Big swell from the
south caused some big
heavy sets that made for some amazing surfing. We used
Providence as a
viewing platform which was quite the experience being so
close to so
many spectator craft, not to mention the massive swell breaking
on the
coral reef (we were the only yacht out there.. if anyone sees a yacht
on
you tube etc with an inflatable kangaroo on the bow, that's us!!)
We
soon settled down (out of the local tour boat's way!) and it was a real
pleasure having friends from Italy, USA, South Africa, France and St
Helena on board. Not being committed surfers ourselves, we found the
power of the waves being surfed astonishing - accomplished surfers would
have appreciated the skill (and craziness!?) even more! Seeing elite
athletes having to be rescued by the jet skis, and then not return to
the competition due injury, was a real reality check.
Despite the next couple of days being less consistent,
we managed to get
some more viewing in, meet some of the competitors, and
generally get
into the spirit of the event. However, as always, the
time came to move
on and we bid farewell to the south of Tahiti to
Papete.
We will be here in Tahiti and Moorea for a week or so
waiting for some
parts, but also to catch a few flights. Nigel will be
off in the next few weeks to head back to Australia for work. But he big news is
that Rohan has been offered and taken a job back in the North Sea and flew out
on Sunday (the 24th)
for the rest of the year. So... After
two and a half years and over
28000 nautical miles and more stories to bore
even the dullest of you
;), the original Providence team of Rohan and Matt
will be parting ways
for new horizons. Best of luck Rohan and we will
be thinking of you as we sail further west and try to recover from your farewell
weekend!!!.
Lets see what Tahiti has to offer........
Matt, Nigel and Didi
