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
