Papeete is on the island of Tahiti, and it is the administrative capital of both The Society Islands as well as the capital of all of French Polynesia. All international air travel into French Polynesia must go through Papeete, so it’s no surprise that it is a major hub of tourist activity. Unfortunately, Papeete was our only stop on the entire island of Tahiti, so I can’t write much about what Tahiti was really like. But Papeete was a major city with lots of noise, traffic, large grocery stores, and not the friendliest people we’d met so far.
The passage from Tahanea was one of extremes in that the first night we had squall after squall and we were heavily reefed, and the second night the wind died, and we had to motor. This was our first major harbor we had visited in French Polynesia, so we (I) studied the buoy markers and the requirements for radioing port control. Transit and passage into the harbor and down the channel were actually quite easy. We just have to keep remembering green and red buoys are reversed here from what we are used to in the U.S. and Mexico (green right return just doesn’t have the same ring to it). The airport is right on the water and to transit the channel from the harbor entrance down to where the marina is, you have to radio port control for permission to pass the airport, and then radio again once you are clear of the airport. This seemed to be quite a burden for port control, but then I remembered that we were here during peak cruising season, and that the rest of the year the boat traffic must be significantly less.
We had heard from others that the marina was full, so we didn’t even bother trying to get a slip. We did have the option of tying up to the wharf near downtown rather than heading down the channel past the airport, but none of our friends ahead of us had done this, and they were all anchored down by the marina. So, we followed like lemmings. Our first stop, before even looking for a place to anchor, was the fuel dock. We knew we needed enough diesel that we wanted to pull Exodus alongside the fuel dock rather than “hand-bombing” the fuel from the gas station in jerry cans. So, I wanted to take care of this sooner rather than later, because more than once we’ve left fuel to the last minute before leaving somewhere and been foiled by a surprise national holiday or no fuel being available. Just next to the fuel dock is the high rent district, where all the super yachts are stern tied to the dock. The one just next to us when we were parked getting fuel was an absolutely beautiful 160 ft (or 180, I can’t remember, but what’s 20 ft really, oh, just half our boat) mono-hull sailboat called Mondango. It didn’t take long before the skipper came over and started talking to Tim. Turns out he noticed the boys, and he was interested in our cruising story, since he has a boy just about their age, and wants to bring him aboard some time. He was pretty relaxed, maybe because the owner of the boat had just left after being with them for a while, so he and the crew were getting a break. He invited us for a tour, which Tim took him up on. A few days later, Tim and boys went over for a thorough tour, and the boys were really impressed. The things I’ve heard about were that they have a freezer just for ice cream and a freezer just for trash. And they also have an extensive camera system, and they could see Exodus on the display via the camera up the mast. I’ve asked Alex to write an essay about it, so hopefully that will be forthcoming.
After a month in the remote anchorages in The Tuamotus, it was somewhat shocking how many boats were at anchor or on mooring balls around the marina, on both sides of the channel. It reminded us of La Paz, but more boats and not as much current. Needless to say, the anchoring conditions were crowded, and they were also deep. We found a nice shallow inlet that was actually marked as an anchorage on the chart. We did our usual depth survey, and it seemed perfect. We wondered if everyone else knew something we didn’t since no one else was anchored there. We decided to try it, and it was fine. In fact, over the next day or so, several other boats joined us, so eventually we had the same crowded conditions as everyone else.
A cold front passed through about our second or third day at anchor. We had pouring rain and winds in the 25-30 kt range most of the day. The boys and I had done laundry by hand on Exodus that morning, so all the clothes and sheets on the lines got an extra freshwater rinse. We were glad when the wind and rain eased in the evening, because we were able to go downtown for dinner with some new friends. The previous day we were just hanging out on Exodus and a couple dinghied over to say hi because they saw we were from San Diego. Exodus hails from San Diego, since we never bothered to officially change our home port, so “San Diego, CA” is written on the back of the starboard swim steps. This has happened more than once, that someone came to say hi just because we’re from San Diego, and I’m convinced San Diego is infinitely more popular than Los Angeles. Anyway, they were really nice and invited us to hang out with them on their boat, Maestro, which was about a 65 ft monohull and absolutely beautiful. The interior was decorated as if it were staged to be sold. It was that immaculate. I’m guessing they hadn’t taken it out of the marina in a while, which isn’t surprising since she’s about 7 months pregnant. They had a car, so they took us to dinner downtown to the “Roulettes.” This may sound funny given that at home food trucks are where you regretfully grab a quick lunch when you didn’t bring your own and you don’t have time to even go to the cafeteria let alone go out for lunch. Well, the roulettes are basically food trucks, and in the evening, a courtyard down by the waterfront is filled with them. You can pick and choose from various cuisines and there is outdoor seating and generally a very relaxed and slightly festive ambiance. Also, joining us for dinner was another boat family from Sweden, with a girl about Brenden’s age. Their boat, called Breeze, was on the hard in Papeete getting repaired from their encounter with a whale. It turns out that they spent some time in La Cruz the season before we were there, and Ella was good friends with the boys on Kenta Anae, who our boys spent considerable time with. Ella spoke very fondly of Kenta Anae, and I think it made Brenden a bit homesick as well. Well, not homesick, since we don’t live in La Cruz, but a similar sentiment.
In general, Papeete had the luxuries we are used to from home. We spent several nice evenings at happy hours at a place called “The Dinghy Bar” at the marina. They had 2 for 1 microbrews, and it was the best beer we’ve had since leaving home. They would give you a ticket for your free beer when they brought you the first one, and you could still cash it in after happy hour was over. So, we’d order extras, and as a group it seems like we’d always have a stack of tickets on the table by the time happy hour ended. Some people tended to use more tickets than others, and you know who you are. 🙂
Surprise, surprise, they had a McDonald’s there, within walking distance of the marina. It was crazy expensive though, like US$13 for a “value” meal. The boys ate there once. Just once. Laundry was also crazy expensive, just like everywhere else in French Polynesia. However, the marina had coin operated machines for a more reasonable price, but still more expensive than home. We still didn’t use them, though, because it seemed like every time I walked by, someone was there waiting for them to come fix a machine. Hence, the handwashing we did in the rain.
There was a big grocery store, called Carrefour, within about a mile of the marina. It was HUGE (i.e., like an average size store at home) and I went several times to catch up on provisioning. You had to deposit a coin to get a cart, and when you brought the cart back, you got your coin back. But the great thing was that they had a cart return right next to the dinghy dock at the marina. So, you could push the carts from the store back to the marina, rather than pack it all on your back or take a taxi. Well, it was only in theory that this was a great thing. It was absolutely ridiculous how hard these carts were to control. At home, just the font wheels on the carts rotate, so you could turn the cart, but not slide it sideways. These had all four of them rotating. Which was great when they were lightly loaded and you wanted to slide your cart off to the side out of the middle of an aisle. They were NOT great when heavily loaded while pushing a mile along a precariously narrow and sometimes steep sidewalk. The boys and I were like a comedy of errors. We had two overly full carts, and this would have been fine if we had four people. Most of the time Alex pushed a cart himself, and he did great, but oh my god, what made these people think four rotating wheels was a good idea!?! Anyway, somehow we made it back to the marina without losing a cart, but that was the only time I pushed a cart back. I will stick to my backpack, thanks.
It’s funny. We were in Tahiti, and I’m not writing about snorkeling or hiking or beautiful turquoise water. I’m writing about microbrews, McDonalds, laundry, and grocery shopping. That just shows what our priorities were while we were in Papeete.
Our last day there, Andrew was with us, so we spent the day exploring downtown. The weather was mild so instead of taking a bus, we took the dinghy the 5 miles back up the channel, and there was a boat tied to the wharf that let us park our dinghies with them. At that point I was wishing we had brought Exodus down and stayed our last night at the wharf downtown, but the opportunity for making that decision had come and gone, so we just pressed on. Our first stop was the “Gran Marche” which is a huge two-story market. The bottom floor has fresh fruits and veggies (I almost wept over the selection of leafy greens), craft vendors, and a few food stands. We grabbed some sub sandwiches with French fries and sat on a curb for lunch. The French fries were actually IN the sandwich not on the side, mmmmm, and sitting on the curb reminded us of farmers markets back home. The top floor was filled with clothing and jewelry stores, and Andrew and I shopped for a bit while Tim took the boys on a boat related errand. We all met back up at the Brew Pub. That’s right, the beers we were drinking at the Dinghy Bar come from a restaurant right across the street from the wharf. Andrew and I had some time to sit and chat and enjoy a beer before the rest of the gang joined us again. Then Tim went off with Steve to do more boat errands and the three boys and I walked around town. Our first mission was to head to the industrial side of town to find the U.S. store. Lewis and Alyssa (s/v Eleutheria) showed up at the brew pub all excited with tortilla chips and salsa, and we knew we had to have some too. We found it no problem, and in addition to chips and salsa they had Cheese-its! The boys didn’t even mind carrying the load all around town. Next, we did some touristy things, but nothing was really worth writing about. We saw the cathedral, and a few other mundane sights before heading back to the brew pub and just chilling until Tim came back.
We grabbed dinner again at the roullettes again before heading back to the boats in the dinghies. Lady Carolina agreed to give a couple other friends a ride back since the busses stop running early, so we brought Kyle with us in the hopes that both of us could still plane. Planing wasn’t a problem, but not running into reefs turned out to be a challenge. Tim managed to navigate around them, but Lady Carolina ran into not one, but two reefs on the way back. I have always envisioned that if you hit a reef in the dinghy at planing speed that it would come to a grinding halt, and everyone would go flying out. Luckily, that’s not what happened. Everyone stayed safely in the dinghy, it was getting it OFF the reef that was the challenge.
Gresham Family Exodus 