Author: cruisingrunner

June 13, 16, 2014

Near the Intercontinental Hotel in Moorea is a spot where they have fed the sting rays (and sharks) so much they have become “tame.”  I put tame in quotes, because they really aren’t tame, but rather conditioned that people bring you food, so they aren’t afraid of people, and they aren’t much interested in stinging their food bearers.  The first time we went was when Andrew was with us, and since we weren’t entirely sure what the deal was, we didn’t bring any chum or anything.  When we pulled up and anchored the dinghy there were already a couple of tour boats there, but that was OK, because there seemed to be enough sting rays to go around.  I think Alex was the first one in the water, and wow, are those sting rays “trained.”  They were on him in about 2 seconds, blanketing him and waiting for some tasty treats.  They swarmed him for a while before they got bored, and one by one the boys got in to get their turn getting swarmed.  I opted out of this because it is my preference to experience nature as an observer, not as a participant.  I most certainly did not want to be blanketed by sting rays.  If they would just swim around me ignoring me that would be great.  It’s exactly like I don’t want dogs jumping on me.  Anyway, everyone had a great time swimming with the rays and also the sharks who have learned to get into the action while the rays are getting fed.  Tim, Alex, and Brenden enjoyed it so much that they did it a second time with Lady Carolina a few days later (Andrew had already gone home).   However, this time they were more prepared, and Tim speared some small fish on the way in order to have something to feed the rays and keep them more interested. 

A few months later we were talking to a friend who had also swam with the sting rays in Moorea, and he shared an amusing tidbit that there were some tourists there talking and one of the girls asserted that the sting rays had their stingers removed.  What!?  Where did she think she was.  No, the stingers are perfectly intact.  This isn’t the land of regulation and litigation.  This isn’t the land of mommy government taking care of you.  Here you can swim with sting rays if you want to, but you have to respect the fact that they are still wild animals that *can* be dangerous at times and you have to take responsibility for your actions and whatever happens to you.

As previously alluded to, Andrew joined us in Papeete.  He had a direct flight from LAX and he was arriving in the early morning, so I texted him (via inReach) to catch a taxi at the airport to the marina, and I would meet him at the marina and pay for the cab (so he didn’t have to worry about getting any local currency).  Does this seem rude?  When I told a friend that Andrew is taking a taxi from the airport he laughed at me, like how could I possibly NOT be going to the airport to meet my son whom I haven’t seen in 8 months.  I don’t know, it never occurred to me.  Taking a taxi was the most efficient thing to do, and Andrew is so independent and self-sufficient, and he’s like all grown up and stuff it just made sense to me.  And Andrew never complained.  The night before Andrew arrived the boys and I mused about what they remember about Andrew.  Brenden mentioned how Andrew would go to the store for ice cream if we ran out, but only if Brenden asked, not anyone else.  Yeah, Andrew always had a soft spot for Brenden.  I remember how Andrew practically carried Brenden around Hawaii, because Tim and I would just tell Brenden to suck it up when he got tired and whiny, but not Andrew.  Alex told me how he used to do the dishes for Andrew and in return Andrew let him play warcraft.  Too funny, I didn’t know about that one.  I guess when I used to rail at Andrew for not getting the dishes clean enough it was really Alex?  It was probably still Andrew too.

Our day in Papeete was a pleasant one, and Andrew’s first (and only) objective was to get a gift for his girlfriend.  We walked around the shops upstairs at the Gran Marche mostly looking at jewelry, and more specifically, mostly looking at black pearls.  I was in the market for a sarong myself, as they are so versatile.  Is it a wrap, a skirt, a dress?  Why yes, all three.  I picked one out, and right away Andrew said he really liked it and he wanted to get one for Jamie.  Of course it was the only one of the style, and he gave me puppy dog eyes (like Brenden gives him) and I relented.  Fine.  Give it to Jamie.  She better like it.  🙂  We also found some nice black pearl earrings for her, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a haggler, so I’m not sure we got the best deal.  With gifts purchased, it was time to find the beer.

On Exodus, Andrew spent a lot of time on the foredeck with shirt off soaking up the sun.  Like a mom, I kept reminding him to put sunscreen on, remembering the time at Coronado Island when he got so sunburned, he actually got nauseous.  Eventually, I let it go, since, like I said, he’s all grown up and stuff.  As luck would have it, Andrew’s visit was timed right smack dab in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals, and, of course, the Kings were in it.  Our first night in Moorea, we decided to visit the Hilton, which was nearby where we were anchored, to see if we could find the game on TV.  We knew it was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to try.  So, we semi-successfully “navigated” our way through the coral mine field in the dinghy over to the Hilton, and they had a TV, but no luck finding the game.  So, we just had a few drinks and enjoyed free, fast internet for a while.  They also had a pool table, which kept the boys entertained.

Our search for the Kings on TV did not end there.  The next day we went to the Intercontinental Hotel hoping to hijack a TV, but then we learned that the World Cup games were starting.  I guess we had been living under a rock.  Or just without internet.  Anyway, being in French Polynesia where hocky isn’t exactly a popular sport and there are tourists from all over the world, we stood basically zero chance of finding anything but World Cup on TV.  But we didn’t give up.  We trekked about a mile to a small shopping center with a few restaurants, and we found an empty cafe that appeared to have the setup to stream sporting events from the internet.  Since we were the only ones there, they obliged us and found the Kings game for us.  Yes!  We were in business.  If the Kings won, that would be it, they would win the Stanley cup.  And of course, it went into overtime, and the clock was ticking away for us because we couldn’t stay past dusk.  We had a dinghy ride back through the coral to think about and doing that in the dark wouldn’t be fun.  So, of course, we couldn’t stay for the end of the game.  Luckily, when we got back to the boat the internet actually worked for once, and we were able to listen to the audio feed live.  I think the entire anchorage must have heard us screaming when Martinez scored!  KINGS WIN!  It was so fun to be with Andrew for that, since he’s such a huge King’s fan.

We did more than watch (or listen) to the Kings games while Andrew was with us.  As I mentioned earlier, we played on shore, went snorkeling and hiking (ok, walking), and we even rented a car and drove around the island.  We snorkeled around some coral heads inside the reef near the anchorage at the mouth of Opunohu.  It was some of the worst snorkeling we have done.  Visibility was poor, coral was mostly dead, and the fish were few and tiny.  Funny thing is that Andrew didn’t care or know the difference, and he told us to stop complaining about it.  He was such a good sport about the walk and the car ride, and his presence made those activities so much more fun.  The boys enjoyed Andrew’s company, but in different ways.  Brenden likes Andrew, but Alex wants to be like him.  Brenden likes to be around Andrew, but Alex looks up to him (even if he’d never admit it.)  They had fun playing together, and I had fun watching them play.  One of my favorite moments was when they were all three out there playing on our two standup paddle boards.  There was sheer joy and Alex and Brenden’s faces having Andrew out there messing around with them.  They missed him when he left.

It turns out there is a ferry that goes back and forth between Moorea and Tahiti, so very early in the morning the day of his flight, we said good-bye to him at the ferry terminal.  He took the ferry back to Papeete and then a taxi from the ferry terminal to the airport.  Again, is that rude?  Well, whatever, I don’t think Andrew thinks so.

For just a few days, the void in our life was filled and our family was complete again.  Andrew has his own life with work and school, but we are really hoping he visits us again in New Zealand.

Moorea is a small, heart-shaped island that is very close to Tahiti, just to the West.  There is a lot of tourism there also, which is understandable since it is very easily accessed by air or by ferry from Tahiti.  It was the most picturesque of all the Society Islands we visited, but the shoreline is dotted with all of the over water bungalow hotels, and there’s quite a bit of traffic on the road along the water that circles the island.  We had a four-hour motor sail from Papeete to Baie d’Opunohu on the north side of Moorea. This is a stunning location.  The first place we anchored was just inside the fringing reef, but outside the mouth of the bay, and we were there with probably 20 other boats.  The water was a gorgeous blue, and seemed crystal clear from the surface, but compared to the Tuamotus, the snorkeling was crappy.  Poor visibility.  Dead coral.  Not many fish.  Fortunately, there was a very nice public beach with a large grassy area right near where we were anchored, so we spent some time there hanging out and playing football and soccer.  Well, the four boys played.  I mostly walked around looking for stores and doing general recon.  From here was also a very easy dinghy ride across the mouth of the bay to the other side to the site where you can swim with sting rays and reef sharks.  The intercontinental hotel is also right near there, and they didn’t care that we tied our dinghy up to their dock, walked around, and hung out by their pool.  Drinks and snacks were ridiculously expensive there, but it was just about a mile walk from there up the main road to a small shopping center and a few restaurants.  

For a change of scenery, we moved anchor locations to deep inside Baie d’Opunohu to a spot referred to as Robinson’s cove.  Here, the holding was not great as it is deep soft mud, and while setting the anchor we actually dragged a bit before digging in.  But we held firm as a front blew over with strong winds and pouring rain.  There was so much rain in such a short period of time that the deep water in the bay went from its usual dark blue color to a gross brown from the land runoff.

From this location we had easy shore access to a “trail head” to go up the hill to The Belvedere (which I think means lookout or view in French).  Trail head is in quotes, because it wasn’t a trail but a road, and it wasn’t so much a hike as an uphill walk.  But the five of us were together as a family, and we had a great day.  Along the way there is an agricultural school that has a little outdoor cafe where they sell juices and sorbet, and we all enjoyed a snack and a rest from our grueling hike.  Once we got all the way to the top, we realized why all the guidebooks say you must do this, because the view was absolutely stunning.  It overlooked both Opunohu Bay and Cooks bay to the East.  We enjoyed some peanut butter crackers, chased some wild chickens around (OK, that was only Brenden), and got wet in the rain before heading back down the hill.   

Moorea is a small island, so we decided to rent a car for the day to drive around and see the sights.  We picked it up at the Intercontinental Hotel, and there was either no notice or no concern that my CA driver’s license is expired.  So, we circumnavigated the island on four wheels, and to be honest there wasn’t a whole lot to see.  I think overall we made just three stops: 1) A mock traditional Tahitian village where they do dinners and shows for tourists.  There was no activity while we were there, so we just wandered around, snapped a few photos, and made fun of ourselves for stopping at such a tourist trap.  2) The Champion grocery store.  Since we had the car and all I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some heavy provisions like UHT milk.  3) A lookout point facing East with a view of Tahiti.  OK, this was worth it.  There were amazing views of the Moorea reef as well as of Tahiti and the ocean beyond.  This almost made the cost of the rental car worth it.  When we got back to the boat there was still a lot of daylight, but we really couldn’t think of any other use for the car.  We offered it to Lady Carolina, but they didn’t need it either, so Tim ended up using the time to go to the gas station to fill some jerry cans with gasoline.  I’m pretty sure Steve went with him, you know, because errands like that need moral support.  And maybe they stopped for a beer.  Maybe.

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.