Tahiti

“Tahiti” – usually means exotic tropical islands, turquoise blue seas, Polynesian beauties, Captain Cook’s adventures – but for me, it’s where we meet Rose! I’ve been getting more and more excited over the last couple of weeks, haven’t seen her in two months, and she arrives at 5am tomorrow to spend a few weeks on board. The plan is to gently explore up through the Society Islands to Bora Bora, where we’ll depart for the 1,000 mile leg due west to Niue. Can’t wait!

Leaving Toau a few days ago for the 230 mile passage to Tahiti, we managed to fly the spinnaker for a couple of hours before the wind dropped completely. On with the engine… which hammered away all through the afternoon, through the night and into the next morning. Hot and noisy; all the engine covers were open to give it some cooling air, down below decks it was over 37 degrees. The alternator belt was cooking, slipping a little, covering the engine in a fine layer of black dust and filling the boat with smell and light smoke. But the adjuster is as tight as it will go. It slips each time the batteries need heavy charge, as the alternator works double-hard, nothing new – so I have enough spare belts to get to Australia. Will try and find a shorter one in town so I can keep it tight. On deck in the sun it was closer 42, so I lay on the couch with the cabin fans on max, trying not to move, but still sweating cobs. Every now and then I came up for a fresh bucket of Pacific splashed over the head to cool off. Eventually a gentle breeze lets us turn off the engine, get the main up, and fly the spinnaker again. Rafiki goes really well on a beam reach in 10-12 knots of breeze with the big red and orange sail up, charging along at over 6 knots, bow wave gurgling, bubbles fizzing alongside, and a gentle roll as the southern swell passes underneath us. I try to get a photo with the kite, but there’s not quite enough wind to get it up far enough without risking it collapsing, which would mean losing the whole lot in the sea.

We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat, and doing a stock take on all the food we still have aboard. Apart from a few baguettes and a stack of Brie and Camembert we picked up in Taiohae, we’re still going strong on the provisions we loaded in Mexico two months ago. Pasta and rice is running low, and we’re out of eggs, cheese, meat and fresh veg – we’ll stock up again in Papeete for the rest of the voyage through to Australia, in the large French Carrefour, and the local indoor market. Just as we’re transferring beer and coke from the bilges in the bottom of the boat to the fridge, there’s a THUMP on deck, the sound of a line jumping on a winch, and then flapping around.

Skipper’s instinct immediately recognises it as “something gone wrong” … I jump over Dave and up the companionway, and see the spinnaker ripped all the way along the foot and up the leech, flying loose in the wind. Oh no! But it was cheap and old, and has done us well so far. I guess its time has come. With over 70 feet of stitching gone, it won’t be worth fixing unless I can get it done really cheaply somewhere, but even then I’m not sure how long the UV-degraded fabric will last. It’s not a sewing job I’m going to tackle by hand! Dave and Eva are quick behind me, and we get it down without any trouble, gathered away in seconds. There’s enough wind for the genoa now, so we unfurl that and get back to business with the beer and coke. A third of which have punctured and leaked their contents all over the inside of the locker under the floor – the tiny but constant motion of two months on board have worn through the cans which were lying on their side. Best get drinking that beer!

As the sun came up yesterday morning we pulled into Papeete, the capital, and docked in the brand new town marina.

There are a few other boats here but it’s pretty empty – early in the season. I spent a couple of hot hours trekking over to the propane station to leave our tank for a refill, and looking for spare alternator belts without success. Picked up some fish from the market, which I filleted and then grilled on the BBQ mounted to the stern rail of the boat for supper. Mmmm.

The double lane main street runs along behind the palm lined quay, busy with noisy traffic. Behind that, a few kilometres of town, and then the soaring mountains of the island. Another incredible skyline, like the Marquesas, jagged peaks and vertical cliffs – but we can’t see much from here as it’s hidden behind apartment blocks. Last night joggers came out to pace the waterfront when the sun went down, glowing iPods strapped to their arms and fancy neon trainers flashing in the street lights. Two of Freddie‘s sons are somewhere in Papeete – I wonder what kind of lifestyle they lead. A cruise ship came in stealthily overnight and is sitting humming away on the other side of the dock – crammed full of thousands of tourists who will swarm into town today. Every half hour a small plane buzzes overhead, taking off from the airport just along the coast, taking another load of people out to one of the other islands. There are more people around than we’ve seen in months, but it doesn’t feel oppressive, overly polluted or crowded, which I am surprised about. Here and there is evidence of a typical tropical town – wonky pavements, sun-cracked paint peeling from buildings, sand on the road … but it’s generally much cleaner and neater than most.

We’ll move south, closer to the airport, once I’ve had a shower at the marina, and caught up on internet stuff. Now that we have a good connection, I’ve spent some time going back through older posts and adding some photos.