Bleeding money in Tahiti 1 Aug 19

17º 35.119s 149º 36.923w

Thu Aug 01 2019

We arrived at the quiet, calm anchorage behind Point Venus around 2100, a few hours after dark. We had been warned that there would be some unlit local boats anchored there, something we’ve become accustomed to at the La Cruz anchorage in Mexico. No moon – not much for shore lights – pretty dark out, so we eased in slowly, navigating with the electronic chart plotter and radar. Several boats were in the very large anchorage but with Isabel on the bow sweeping the area with our super deluxe creamin’ LED flashlight, we easily found or way to a spot in 25’ depth with 600’ swinging room all around. Anchor down, celebrate our arrival with a shot of Don Julio 70 tequila, and off to bed for us!

We voted and are pretty sure this was likely our best sailing passage ever! Almost flat seas aft of the beam, true wind angles that kept the apparent wind around 90 – 120 degrees, and true wind speeds in the 8 – 15 knot range. JollyDogs scoots right along in these conditions, and it was an absolutely spectacular 35 hours underway. As we approached the coast line both our cell phones began dinging away with various notifications; it had been some time since we had any data access. The upside of that is no ridiculous daily news feed that serves only to raise the noise floor of life; the downside the inability to manage e-banking such as investments and bill paying. We’ve gotten accustomed to putting credit on our card statement so that we never get whacked with interest payments if we can’t find internet connectivity to pay our bill on time. In this world of automatic debits for Google Fi service, PredictWind weather and Iridium Go, etc. that saves us a fair bit of cash.

Up like a piece of toast the next morning, a hearty breakfast and plenty of coffee saw us raising the anchor and motoring slowly up to the “big city” of Papeete. We eased alongside the check-in dock at Marina Papeete in the main harbor near the ferry terminal and cargo ship docks, and after some paperwork and negotiating were assigned slip D26 on the outward pontoon, away from the city street. The place reminded us a bit of the superyacht marina we spent a couple weeks at in Palma de Mallorca in 2017, the town’s main street and a nice boardwalk right up against the harbor, and heaps of boats moored on the other side of the wall. Karoke bars and 2-stroke scooters and those French sirens you hear in the movies (and in France), total bedlam after our last few months at sea, the Marquesas or in the more remote Tuamotus. Or excitement, depending upon your point of view. . .

After arriving in “civilization”, it’s the captain’s duty to take the crew out for an evening of fun and libations, and Mark didn’t disappoint. We found the local craft brewpub, a place on the front street called 3 brasseurs, and discovered an IPA that would make a Southern California dweller proud. They were certainly proud of theirs, getting almost $12 US for a half liter mug of the golden elixir. Putzing around over the weekend we found that dining out in Papeete can be extremely expensive unless one wanders away from the downtown business district, nevertheless there’s good food to be had.

Papeete is where yachties can get “stuff”, so we hoofed it around town to all the various chandleries to see “what they got”, filing away in our noggins who seemed to have bits and pieces we might need. Prices for many things are impressively high, but at least they’ve got it or can get it. It’s easy to whine about the cost of boat parts and services but try not even having access to any of that when you’re in need.

The days and days of rain we endured in at Fakarava combined with a structural crack in our water tank (that means a leak if it’s more than a bit half full) have motivated us to access the services of local project manager who knows the best canvas and fiberglass repair folks. Laurent Bernaert of Polynesia Yacht Services had been corresponding with me for several days over Iridium Go email, and he had selected vendors to look after our needs, as well as arranging a slip at Marina Taina where the folks can more easily work, as parking is easier and many of them have their shops nearer that location.

Guillaume of Tahiti Sails and Christian the shipwright who will accomplish the fiberglass repairs to the water tank each visited us then promptly submitted quotes for the work. Quickly reviewing each, we contacted Laurent with the message “full speed ahead”. Laurent’s job is to make sure the work is done in a timely fashion and that everyone ends up happy; after some of our experiences in Mexico dealing directly with the vendors we’re happy to pay Laurent for his efforts. So now the canvas patterns have been made and we’re hopeful that in a week or so that project will be complete. We’re on target to begin our water tank repair on Monday, so in anticipation of all that we relocated yesterday (July 30th) to Marina Taina. That job should take 3 – 4 days and will disrupt our lives a bit as the saloon will be virtually unusable. It’s going to be ugly, but the best we can do is get it over with quickly and end up with an excellent result. Good lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we’ll be done with marina life in a week or so.

The anchorage just outside of Marina Taina is quite appealing to us and many boats we know are out there, but it can be difficult getting a slip on an inner pontoon here so we hustled on down when Laurent found an opportunity. Up at Marina Papeete we were in standard slip, but down here it’s Med mooring style which is a bit more of a palaver and once all tied up you get a very long plank to walk from the stern to the quay. Not something that Isabel is the least bit fond of, and had we ended up on the outer pontoon where there’s a good bit of surge, she would NOT have been happy. So here we are! Darned if the marina supplied wifi internet doesn’t actually work if you sit on the patio just outside the office, so we’ll get caught up on everything digital and have a place to hide during the worst of the fiberglass work. There’s a giant CarreFour grocery store about a 10-minute walk away (think French version of Super Walmart) so provisions are close at hand, and in the shopping complex there’s a sports bar with a local IPA from another local brewery. Yachtzee!

Including the marina fees and – oh yeah, a port engine alternator rebuild, I reckon we’ll be into around 4 or 5 boat bucks in labor, materials and marina fees by the time all the repairs are finished. For innocent bystanders our current definition of a boat buck is $1000 US. With luck the work we’re doing here plus the boat buck worth of bits and pieces our friend Shawnee will bring in September will keep us ticking along another year or so. Today’s plan is to arrive in New Zealand by November 2020, where we’ll certainly have to refresh our bottom paint. That said, lots could happen between now and then.