7/30/14 update

When we left Apataki, we stopped to anchor behind a coral head in the middle of the lagoon. We were about 5 miles from either side of the atoll, quite isolated. We had to get very close to the coral head for it to be shallow enough for us to anchor, even then we anchored in 60 feet of water. The coral head proved to have an abundance of different corals and fish, plus a few small reef sharks checking us out.

Gigi and I liked swimming upside down under a coral outcrop to see some different animals. Axel liked snorkeling in the shallows to see all the staghorn corals and bright fish.  We saw a large black puffer fish.  A very worthwhile diversion.

Village in Apataki Pass

Coral reef in middle of Apataki

After our snorkel, we left the atoll and sailed towards Tahiti. We had an uneventful passage. Maybe too uneventful, the wind died and we had to motor the entire second day. During dinner that night we ran out of propane. Fortunately we had a few little green bottles and used one on the BBQ to finish dinner. In the morning we pulled into Port Phaeton, which is in the isthmus between Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti. A nice anchorage, but reminded us how far we had been from civilization for so long, as the sound of the cars seemed so loud to all of us. We searched around and found out that we could only fill our American style tanks in Papeete. So the next morning we pulled anchor at 5:30 am and headed for Papeete. By noon we were tied up to the dock in downtown Papeete. This was the first dock we have been to since we left San Diego, and in the middle of a major city. Everyone liked being able to easily walk to food, shops, bars, …

It was Friday so our first priority was to get the propane tanks filled, since we assumed that couldn't happen on the weekend. Well as it turned out, Friday afternoon is too late, so we had to wait until Monday morning to bring the tanks in and Tuesday to pick up the tanks. Fortunately some Aussie cruisers loaned us their spare tank to get us through. Which is good, as it was Angela's birthday, and it is hard to bake a cake without propane. Gigi made her a delicious chocolate cake. We all went out and watch polynesian dancing after dinner in the nearby park.

 

 

In Papeete, the stores are open until about noon on Saturday and then closed until Monday. Only the market is open Sunday morning from 6-9am, so there is no sleeping in around here if you want to get the best produce of the week. The Sunday market is definitely the most interesting market for the week. All the locals come to buy their food. More vendors bring produce and fish to sell than during the rest of the week. There are so many vendors that they spill over into the streets surrounding the market building. You can buy a huge variety of fruit and vegetables, many which we can't identify, lots of fish including the beautiful teal blue parrot fish, meats, breads, baked goods, crafts and black pearl jewelry.

Parrot Fish in Market

 

Monday was Gary's birthday, so the Mitchell family rented a car, the smallest thing I have ever seen called a BYD, to tour around the island. We checked out many nice beaches, picnicked at a beautiful park, and hiked to 3 waterfalls. We got back to the boat late, so we went out for dinner at the food trucks. These sell a variety food, from poisson cru, a raw fish marinated in coconut milk, to crepes, to pizza. Very tasty any reasonably priced, unlike most things in Papeete.

 

Tuesday we moved from the dock downtown to anchor in the area off the Marina Taina. This is an extremely popular anchorage area with approximately 500 boats. There is a massive grocery store, Carrefour, near the marina, so we intend to re-provision there.  We did a check of our food and drink stores and realized that we have consumed 1 handle of rum per person per month, 24 beers per person per month, 8 liters of wine per person per month and 1 jar of peanut butter per person per month, plus other more mundane items. We haven't been roughing it too much.

In a couple of days Harrison and Angela will fly back to Canada and our friends, Tom and Casey will arrive for a 2 week vacation. We are looking forward to that. Until then we have plenty of boat projects and school work to complete.

Cheers,

Julie