We made the 200-mile trip to Tahiti in great time, sailing overnight in a full moon and having our best 24 hour run so far of 163 nm. We made it through the pass into Papeete harbour at sunset on Mar. 5 and tied stern-to at Yacht Quay. This moorage turned out to be terrible as it is next to the busy Rue Pomare which connects the downtown with the island’s freeway system. In addition, the anchorage is subject to a fierce rolling swell through the mouth of the pass and the foot traffic of vagrants and thieves along the waterfront. On the upside, it is close to the stores and restaurants in the downtown. In the evenings the roullottes, traveling kitchens, set up in the square in front of the cruise ship terminal and sell pizza, burgers, Chinese food, crepes, and desserts. During the day, at the internet café I caught up on email and put in a much needed order to Westmarine of spare parts and replacements for shipment to Tahiti. Stephanie sent wedding orders to Hawaii via telephone and email. An hour of internet costs ten dollars in Papeete, even if you use your own computer!
We spent a week moored at Yacht Quay before being rescued by a couple of locals, Lilou and Alain. They had come by to have a look at Wheatstrong since they have a Formosa 46, a similar design, made by another Taiwan boatyard around the same time as the Peterson 44. We got to talking and they invited us over for drinks and dinner on Taiko, where we met Lilou's lovely daughter Manon. A couple of days later they managed to arrange moorage for us at the Tahiti Yacht Club. This turned out to be a great change since the anchorage is calm and protected and has none of the dangerous traffic of the Papeete waterfront.
With Lilou and Alain, we went on a 4x4 safari into the interior of Tahiti where it is rugged and unspoiled. After a rollicking drive over gravel roads we had a bottle of wine at an isolated mountain-top inn, swam in a mountain stream and picnicked on a rock.
We also met up with our friends from the Swan, Cygnus Montanus, and took a tour around Tahiti with one of their crew Tom, a renewable energy consultant from Cape Cod, and toured the Gaughin museum and parks on the south end of the island.
Side trip to Moorea, Mar. 20, 2004 – Mar 25, 2004, 14 nm
Moorea is a smaller, considerably less developed island a few hours sail west from Tahiti. On the north side are a couple of inlets that make great anchorages - Cook Bay and Opunohu Bay. We went over to Moorea with Alain, Lilou and Manon, buddy boating with their Formosa 46, Taiko, and Wheatstrong. We started our race to Moorea in fresh winds over the starboard quarter amid a fleet of racing catamarans that was taking advantage of the great sailing conditions. Taiko, with her longer waterline and larger 150% genoa began pulling away so I had to pull out the heavy artillery. We unleashed the massive green and gold asymmetric spinnaker and ran dead downwind as the wind clocked. Wheatstrong pulled into the lead while Taiko hurried to bring their spinnaker up. Just as Alain got his aso flying the winds died out. As the afternoon waned we agreed to call the race and declare it a draw. We motored through Passe Irihonu and once inside the reef we cut left and anchored in a few meters of clear turquoise water. Immediately the hook was down we jumped in and swam and snorkeled around the boats.
The Papeete gang had to get back at weekend’s end for work and school but Stephanie and I remained for another few days on Moorea touring the island, relaxing in the calm anchorages, seeing the sights and hiking up to the fabulous Belvedere with a view of both Cook and Opunohu bays. Usually the wind blows from the east down here - against the direction we needed to go to get back to Tahiti. But on our return we sailed the boat back to Papeete in a rare northwest breeze. So instead of having to beat into the wind for five or six hours we had a nice beam reach for two hours and arrived in plenty of time for cocktails with Taiko.
A few days later Lilou, Alain, and another new friend, Cyril, took us to the airport for our flight to Maui to visit with family and friends who were flying in from all over to come to our April 2 wedding. The wedding was lovely and picturesque on the beach in Lahaina. We stayed two weeks vacationing on Maui before flying back to Papeete to continue the hard work of sailing the South Pacific.
After we got back to Tahiti we spent a few days sailing with Alain, Lilou, Manon and Cyril on Taiko to a place on Tahiti Iti, the southern lobe of the island of Tahiti, called Aiurua, then returned to Papeete and provisioned Wheatstrong for our passage to the Leeward Society Islands, les Iles Sous le Vent: Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora. Our friends Julie Mello and Chris Peara joined us for ten days to help us honeymoon. We first went to Moorea for a couple of nights at Cook Bay and then made an overnight hop to Raiatea..