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Tahiti Madness Part II

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We continue on with the Tahiti madness as we rush to get through our provisioning, shopping, and projects.  If you missed part I (click this link).  We were both up early again to try to get through all of our tasks for the day.  

Matt greased the main sail cars that take our main sail up and down the mast.  This is much easier to do when the 300lb main sail is not attached.  We wrapped up the long-stay visa paperwork and are ready to pass that off the documents to Tahiti crew next week.  Many loads of laundry, and a little boat cleaning all before 0900.  We are expecting Guillaume any minute and we wait…and wait.  We are eager to get going to run more errands, but we stand by.

Wouldn’t you know it, a down pour hits us, putting a huge kink in our day.  Guillaume posts pones the main sail pick up until the next day so we are free to work on boat chores.

I decide it’s time to wash all our blankets, bedding, and try to remove the many stains on our clothes.  Not sure what it is about boat life, but every cruiser has stains on all their clothes.  You just can’t find stain remover like in the U.S. and the washer is always on gentle cycle so there is no real friction.  Another 4 loads of laundry later and things are smelling yummy.

Guillaume comes on Thursday to pick up the main sail. We spend some time pointing out all the areas we want repaired or re-stitched and he is on his way to work his magic. (Coming up next is our blog on the main sail repair).

Tahiti Madness Continues

More errands to the post office, the marina office, the market, Maxi’s, and a few small stores downtown.  Part of the beauty of being at the dock is that we have easy access to all the stores and we can easily work on boat projects – and we have many. 

Our ceiling panels are 20-year-old corrugated PVC.  We replaced all of the ceiling panels in the salon a few years ago and a few panels in the master cabin and aft cabin. However, there are few more that need to be replaced and it is a huge job.  We start working on the port, aft cabin panel as it needs the most attention.  Bottom right photo shows the cracks in the panel.  Matt removes the panel without damaging it which is good because we need to use it as a pattern.  Then the fun process of scraping all the glue.

Using a slanted razor blade, you scrape lawyer after layer until you get down to the glue residue.  Then you use mineral spirits or acetone to get the last bit of residue off before a light sand.

Matt tries to seal up a leak while we have the ceiling panel down.  The good news: he identified where the leak is and can plug it from the outside.  The photo below shows the silicone that has given way around the pipe.

Fixing the leak

Fixing the leak

Cut your pattern out of the new smooth PVC, apply VHB double stick tape (which is amazing) and install.

Create the pattern, cut it, prep for installation

Create the pattern, cut it, prep for installation

We finish the project several weeks later with the new ceiling panel place and all looking lovely.

Sweetie is feeling deflated

Sweetie is losing air.  We woke up to a flat “Sweetie” several days in a row.  Weird.  We know we have a slow leak, but she was losing air every day for several days in a row (even after we pumped her back up).  Time to look for the new leak.

The dinghy has 3 valves that put air into the pontoons.  Each valve has two “fail safe” leak preventions.  The inner mechanism on one valve has a slow leak, but the secondary cap always prevented air from leaking out.  However, it appears that the cap is now leaking.  It was cracked either by being tightened too tight or being hit.  Bummer. 

The quick fix is to swap the cap with another cap to stop the immediate leak.  Then try to glue it.  Of course, the dinghy is 20-years old and is no longer being made.  So, trying to find a new cap is highly unlikely.

Sunday Market Days

Part of Tahiti madness is Sunday Market Days.  The local farmers host a massive market day on Sundays in the center of downtown Papeete.  There are always local farmers selling fresh produce at this center, but on Sundays it is 10 times bigger than regular days.  They start at 0300 and ends at 1000 (yep you read that right, 3am in the morning).  We got up and made it there by 0600 and it was crazy busy.

The great thing about French Polynesia is that the locals actually listen to their government and follow the set rules.  Despite the Tahiti Madness, everyone was wearing a mask and everyone was using hand sanitizer (all around the market).  Very cool.  Even with the precautions, we bought our supplies and got out quickly.

They have a section with fresh flowers, which smell devine and are stunningly beautiful.

An entire section is dedicated to chopped, flavored meats. We purchased 1 kilo of three different flavors, because why not?

Then there is an even larger selection of fresh fish, crab, and lobster.

A large assortment of pre-packaged food (posion cru, baked goods, potato mixes and more)

And then rows, and rows, and rows of fresh produce!   Just look at the beautiful colors on each table!  So vibrant and pretty calling you to buy them.

The Madness Continues

Tahiti madness seems to be a necessary evil.  Always dread being here, but it is necessary to stock up the boat with marine parts, provisions, water, electricity and more.  Plus we get many boat projects down.

We took the opportunity to replace our fire extinguishers while we were here.  We could only find 2 in the stores so I called Incendie Moz Services a local person who comes to you!  I should have called him first because his extinguishers were $10 cheaper and he took our old ones!  Oh well, at least we have 4 new ones.  We had 6 extinguishers that were well over 10 years old.  However, they all had indicators in the green (meaning they were still good).  We decided not to take any chances and just order 4 new ones.  We kept a few of the old ones, just in case.

We dump some stuff we no longer need or use or want.

We made several more trips to random stores.  Picked up long flippers for Matt to help him with free fiving (diving without oxygen or gear), a hose to replace the outboard fuel line, a courtesy flag, flex tape, and a few other odds and ends.  The lower right photo is my 2nd pantry which is full to the brim.  Love it!

At the marina we have super cheap water.  So, we took advantage and did 3 more loads of laundry, pressure washed the boat, and filled our water tanks.  Tahiti Sails delivered our main, we grabbed a quick lunch and finally left the marina.

It was a short motor to the anchorage.  We dropped the hook and began the fun process of installing the main (check out our next blog on the main sail).

Marina Taina

The anchorage is just 5 miles from Marina Papeete but it is much closer to Marina Taina where we had lots of other business.  We could have come here on the bus but we were avoiding it due to covid.    Here is a list of things we did here:

  • Tahiti Crew: dropped off original documents for our Carte de Sejure renewal in February 2021 (see “Passport and Visa Mess” blog post coming up soon)
  • Tahiti Yacht Services: picked up a new baton to replace our damaged one
  • Dropped off a ton of crap (old batteries, old fire extinguisher, unwanted cables and miscellaneous stuff we could recycle 
  • Carrefore market – huge and final grocery run

French Polynesia faces a huge crisis with covid and there are threats of another lockdown as we are wrapping up our stay in Papeete.  We decide it is best to get out of town as quickly as possible as we don’t want to be stuck in Tahiti for lockdown.

Events from this Tahiti Madness blog occurred during the last week of October 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.

Marina Papeete Sunset

Tahiti Madness Part I

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A big part of me dreads coming to Tahiti.  First, because it is the epicenter for the pandemic.  The majority of the cases in French Polynesia are in Tahiti and people visiting this area have brought the virus back to the outer islands.  So, we have to be extra careful here to avoid catching covid.  Second, it means we have tons of chores, errands, and tasks which are exhausting.  And third, we will be spending loads of money.  It is why I call it Tahiti Madness when we come here.  A whirl wind of organized chaos and this visit is no different.

We arrived in Papeete around 10:15 from Huahine.  We had hoped to arrive much earlier.  In retrospect, we should have left on Sunday and arrived on Monday, but you know, hind sight is 20/20.  Our goal was to find a slip at Marina Papeete so we would have easy access to the downtown stores for a few days.  Then we thought we would move out to the anchorage and finish the rest of our errands from a different location.

The wind was blowing pretty darn good causing white caps in and around the marina.  Not a good sign as it can be challenging to maneuver the boat into a slip in those conditions.  But we got lucky as our friends on Garulfo helped us into the slip (after two false starts).  

Off to the Races – Day 1

After we secured the boat, we had to run to an appointment with the U.S. Consulate.  We were scheduled to meet him at 1100, but missed that time.  He graciously said he would wait for us if we could get there before 1200.  Well, that ruled out the bus because their schedule is on island time.  So, we hopped in a cab for the 10-mile journey.  $30 later we arrived, hopped out, and ran to the photo store to get Matt’s passport photo.  Then upstairs to the U.S. Consulate. (Stay tuned for a blog post called “Passport and Visa Mess” coming soon)

It was a huge relief to get that passport renewal process started.  Once we returned downtown, we headed for the marina office.  We needed to let them know we arrived, pay for the slip, obtain a security card, and load money on another card for our electricity and water.  Super nice folks at Marina Papeete!  Now that we are legal we headed to a late lunch because we were starved.

After lunch, we swung by two sporting goods stores to see if they had a volleyball and volleyball net for our friends in Gambiers (Herve and Valerie).  Remarkably, we found both, noted the prices and headed back to the boat. We needed to confirm with them that they still wanted these items and had not bought them since the last time we were there.

Marina Work

Back at the marina, Matt took advantage of the cheap water and washed down the boat.  It was incredibly salty from our passage and needed a good rinse.

As Matt was working on the outside, I was working on paperwork for our long-stay visa renewals and Matt’s passport. 

Before we knew it, it was time for the net and I was net controller.  As I’m wrapping up the net, I hear someone tell Matt that we have to move.  We are in their private slip.  Seriously!  Ugh.  I wrap up the net quickly, enlist our friends on Garulfo again, and we move 4 slips down on the same pier.  This spot was taken earlier so we were super happy it was available now.  The winds had virtually stopped and with the help of our friends, we eased in with no issues.

To wrap up our first day of Tahiti madness, we had happy hour on Garulfo.  It was a short night as we were exhausted from the lack of sleep during our previous passage night.

Tahiti Madness – Day 2

We slept long and hard waking up refreshed and ready for our busy day.  There was lots of ground to cover so we got started early.  Left the boat at 0730 and headed for the industrial area which is 1.2 miles away.  Matt needed to purchase bearings for the water maker.  Lucky for us, the guy had exactly what we needed and within 5 minutes we were walking toward our second stop, the Champion grocery store.  This will be the first of many grocery runs.  Back to the boat to drop off the first load.

Ocean 2000, a marine store was our next stop.  They close at 12n so we had to hustle to make it there on time.  We picked up the red button for the Yamaha kill switch, teak oil for our exterior wood, fuses, some other bits.  On the way back toward the boat, we stopped in Maxi’s which is a store where you can buy food in bulk (like Costco or Sam’s).  We had to be careful here as we could only buy what we could carry.  Unfortunately, we went overboard buying in bulk (minced garlic, snacks, ziplock bags, salsa, peanut butter, etc…).  Will have to come back for round 2.

Loaded down, we started the long walk back to the marina.  On the way, we made one more stop to Olympian Sports to buy the volleyball net and ball.  It was on the way, but seriously I needed a break from carrying the bags.  We continued on to the marina and unloaded our 2nd load.  This photo shows only the first load, we return to the market and bulk store the next day and the fresh market right before we left Papeete.

The Madness Continues

A quick lunch at the market, and off we go again.  We are in full blown Tahiti madness mode.   A mile later we arrive to Sing Tung Hung another marine store where we grab a few items.  Then we stop at Ace hardware (2 stores) for more boat supplies (cleaning agents, brushes, silicone, blue tape, etc…). A quick stop at the bank for local currency and back to the boat for the 3rd time.

Finally, back at the boat, but we are not done yet.  The sun is still up and there is work to do.  Matt starts working on removing the main sail.  (Look for the post “Main Sail Maintenance” coming soon).  As Matt is working outside, I work on stowing our goodies.  It’s not as easy as you’d think as we remove all packaging (cardboard attracts bugs), label all lids with content and expiry date, wrap blue tape on all metal items (cans), and then stow it safely on the boat.

We walked over 8 miles today, most of it schlepping bags.  No wonder my body is protesting!

Sunset in the marina

Coming up next, more of our Tahiti madness adventures.

Events from this blog occurred on 21 October 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.

The Konis's: Troy, Kimberly, Cole, Cameron

The Konis’s Hit the Society Islands: Part I

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My sister and her family came for a visit to the Society Islands.  Kimberly, Troy, Cameron and Cole {the Konis family} arrived in Tahiti at dawn.  I greeted them with fresh floral leis and fresh baked rosemary bread.  After a quick stop at the boat, we rushed them to the fresh market to pick up fruit and veggies.  The market is located in the center of Papeete so they got a quick glimpse of downtown and a feel for the local life as a Polynesian.

The Konis's: Troy, Kimberly, Cole, Cameron

The Konis’s: Troy, Kimberly, Cole, Cameron

We returned to the boat and began the fun process of unpacking and uncovering new goodies for the boat.  Our pack mules delivered a 50lb bag of stuff just for us, sweet! 

And the Adventure Begins

Several hours later, we decided it was time to head back into town.  We enjoyed a tasty lunch at the Bora Bora Yacht Club (which is really just a restaurant), did some shopping, and discovered pearl picking.  We walked to the market, found a cool post office box and noted the empty streets.  It was Sunday after all and covid still is in play.  Not the best introduction to the Society Islands, but it still was fun.  We did stumble upon a tiny park called Parc Bougainville with a quaint coy pond and shaded pathways and greenery.

Welcome to Tahiti

Welcome to Tahiti

For dinner we took them to B3 Brasserie where we enjoyed half price beer and pizza for dinner.  A few other cruisers showed up and “gave us our space” because we had guests visiting from the states.

Our first day was a big day.  We retired “early” to be ready for tomorrow.

Our goal during this trip was to visit 7 islands within the Society Island Archipelago.  Starting with Tahiti, Mo’orea, Huahine Nui, Huahine Iti, Raiatea, Taha’a and finally Bora Bora.

Day 2: Mo’orea

The next morning, we made a healthy breakfast to ready our new sailors for their first passage across the Pacific.  It was less than a 20nm trip from Tahiti to Mo’orea, but still a “passage.”  Our crew did wonderfully as we sailed with the jib across the pond.  We anchored in Oponohu Bay in 2.5 meters of turquoise, sandy water. 

Mo'orea

Mo’orea

After lunch, we headed the short distance to sting ray city by dinghy.  It is a fun dinghy ride between coral heads and a reef and past the Mo’orea Intercontinental Hotel (which was closed).  We grabbed a mooring and jumped in.  Dozens of black tip sharks and sting rays hang out here and they greeted the Konis family nobly.  These majestic creatures are just as curious of us as we are of them.  They swim close enough to look them in the eye and touch their wings.

Sting Ray City off Mo'orea

Sting Ray City off Mo’orea

Then you have the dozens of black tip sharks that are looking for scraps of anything.  They are all pretty fat and healthy looking so you know they are not going hungry.  They don’t swim too close, which is all right with me.

Sting Ray City off Mo'orea

Sting Ray City off Mo’orea

A fun tour guide telling us that the sharks only like to eat men (not women or children).

Day 3: Mo’orea

A quick zip to shore to explore the town of Vaihere.  We were in search of an eatery to have lunch.  Unfortunately, the Oponohu Bay does not have much activity, hikes, or places to see.  We found several places for good photo ops though.

Konis's in Mo'orea

Konis’s in Mo’orea

However, we did find a super cute pension (small, local hotel) willing to serve us lunch at Fare Maheata.  It was situated right on the beach overlooking the beautiful bay and served a tasty lunch.

Lunch at Mo'orea

Lunch at Mo’orea

We headed back to the boat, after everyone was well fed and had a little exercise.  Preparations were made for the Konis’s first night passage.  Our next island is 85nm away.

Night Passage: Mo’orea to Huahine

The longest passage between the Society Islands is from Mo’orea to Huahine (if you are going from island to island in sequential order).

We left late afternoon so the Konis clan could start the trip in the day light.  It would be a downwind sail with light winds and fairly calm seas.  However, that doesn’t mean “smooth” sailing for newbies.  The motion of the boat was odd because the waves were coming from the quarter panel.  Slightly pushing us forward, but also rocking us side to side.  Everyone slept outside or in the salon as sleeping is more challenging down below in the cabins.  Lucky for us, everyone slept through the night – despite claims of wanting to pull a night shift 😉 

Night Passage Mo'orea to Huahine

Night Passage Mo’orea to Huahine

We arrived in Huahine at dawn and found a lovely mooring in the flats between the two passes.  Each of the Society Islands offer different experiences from landscape, to activities.

Day 4: Huahine 

Everyone was tired upon arrival.  Even though they slept through the night it was a restless sleep being under passage.  So, we took it easy in the morning and did not head into town until lunch.  We walked around town, checked out a few shops and artisan markets and headed to our favorite eatery in French Polynesia called Izzy’s Burgers.  For dessert we stopped by the Distillerie Huahine Passion for rum tasting. Chocolate rhum – yum!

Huahine Izzy's and Distillery

Huahine Izzy’s and Distillery

The distillery serves dozens of flavors ranging from 80 proof to liqueurs to basic rums.  We started out with 3 shots splitting 2 people per shot and ended with one shot and all 6 of us tasting the one.  With 4-25cl (1/4 of liter) bottles in our bag we headed back to the boat.

Day 5: Huahine Nui

We had reserved 6 bikes for a leisure ride around the island.  However, the local kids did not return them so we had to hoof it on foot.  Our goal was to walk to the Fare Pote’e museum and archaeological sites with Marae.  It is a 4.2 mile walk one way so we were in for a long walk.  About half way to our destination we passed by a beautiful lagoon called Lac Maeva.

Huahine 8.2 mile walk

Huahine 8.2 mile walk

We arrived to the museum on a beautiful, sunny morning.  The calm waters and bright blue skies showcasing the marae and museum nicely.  Matt and I did not go inside the museum (as we’ve seen it and posted about it several times).

Huahine Museum

Huahine Museum

After the Konis family filled their brains with local history, we hiked up to the Marae Mata’ire’a Rahi which is another archaeological site marked by a large banyan tree.  It is an easy trail up the Chemin de Randonnee.  We tried to find the other marae but the trail was hidden in the dense bushes.

Hike to Marae in Huahine

Hike to Marae in Huahine

We returned to town clocking in at 8.2 miles.  Not a bad walk.  Lucky for us, we were able to secure 6 bikes for the next day.  We enjoyed some cocktails at the Huahine Yacht Club and returned to the boat for a tasty pad thai dinner.

Day 6: Huahine Nui

Attempt #2 to ride bikes around Huahine.  We were not technically planning on riding the bikes all the way around the island because there is a rather large hill on the opposite side.  It would make it challenging to go up it and treacherous to go down it after the rain.  So, our plan was just to bike to the Sacred Blue-Eyed Eels which was about 16 miles round trip.

We should have taken a photo of our bikes, but we forgot.  The Konis family was amused in the quality of the bikes as most did not have breaks, some had faulty steering, all had crappy seats and were rusted.  But these were fabulous compared to the bikes we rented in Hao.

We pushed the bikes to their limits and rode hard to Anguilles Sacrees de Faie.  I took the boys down to the water’s edge to hand feed the eels.  The eels love sardines which are horribly smelly!

Sacred Blue Eyed Eels

Sacred Blue Eyed Eels

A local tour guide and his group showed up a few minutes later.  The guide showed us how to exercise the eels by placing sardines on the little ledge. Pretty wild to watch.

Exercising the Eels

Exercising the Eels

Quick Stop at a Pearl Farm in the Middle of the Lagoon

On the way back to town, we stopped to take a tour of a pearl farm.  They pick you up in a small panga and drive you 5 minutes to the pearl farm located in the lagoon.

Huahine Pearl Farm Tour

Huahine Pearl Farm Tour

They sold pottery, shells, pearls and jewelry.  It was rather pricey, especially compared to Gambier prices.  But I guess they have the market here.  Every Society Island sells pearls, but none are more beautiful or cost effective as those found in the Gambiers.

Huahine Pearl Farm Tour

Huahine Pearl Farm Tour

Cole and Cameron enjoying a breezy spot on the deck of the pearl farm.

Cole and Cameron

Cole and Cameron

Relaxing after a long bike ride

After our brief tour we headed back into town.  We returned our bikes and enjoyed some drinks at the Huahine Yacht Club.  Our friends on Flip Flops were there so we invited them over for sun downers on Sugar Shack.  Troy booked flights from Bora Bora to Tahiti at the local Air Tahiti office so they are all set.  We had a gorgeous sunset during our sun downer party.

More Fun photos on Sugar Shack with the Konis’s in the Society Islands.

The Konis Family on Sugar Shack

The Konis Family on Sugar Shack

Day 7: Huahine Iti

We had not intended on spending this much time in Huahine, but we had to show the Konis family Huahine Iti before they left.  We motored the 5-miles to Hana Iti beach located on the western side of Huahine Iti in the Baie Teapaa. Huahine Nui (large) and Huahine Iti (small) are both located in the same lagoon and are connected by a bridge on land.

We had a superb beach day, hanging out in the water, SUP’ing, playing volleyball and bacchi ball.

Huahine Iti Beach Day

Huahine Iti Beach Day

Back at the boat, Matt taught the boys how to dive between our davits into the water.  Kimberly was down below during this time – thank goodness.

Tune in to the next blog, “The Society Islands Welcome the Konis’s: Part II” as we continue our adventures with Cameron, Cole, Kimberly and Troy Konis.

This post was written in July/August 2020.  Our blog posts are usually 6 to 7 weeks behind are true adventures.