June 21, 2014 Tahiti

June 21, 2014, Tahiti

We have 6 weeks left on our visa and there are 5 islands in the Societies to  explore.  First there are all the practicalities to deal with.  Before anything else, we need to get checked in with the port captain. The next most important project is a new starter switch.  We cannot go anywhere if we cannot get that fixed.   Next is to get the sat phone internet connection working so that we can get weather reports while we are at sea.  We also need to find a sailmaker and get the main sail and the genoa patched. We need to find a good wifi connection and get online to download the next set of charts, from here to Fiji.  We are expecting a couple of packages, one with our new credit cards and one with new parts for the sat phone.  We also need to do something about the dingy motor.  With it’s solar panel not working we need to run the generator for 2 hours just to get the motor charged enough for one trip to shore.  If we forget something, too bad.  it will have to wait until tomorrow.    A lot to get done in just over a week.  July 4 is the race to Moorea and we want to be ready to keep going from there. 


The biggest surprise and our main difficulty here in Marina Taina is transportation.  We are 5 miles out of town.  It is a 15 minute walk to the bus stop.  The big marine chandleries and hardware stores are another 15 minute past the end of the bus line.  Most frustrating is that the buses stop running at 5:30.  This is also the start of the Heiva, a month long festival of music, dance, sports and arts and crafts which also covers Tahiti National Day and Bastille Day.  I have been looking forward to attending the Heiva since Mexico and now I find out that it will cost $40 to get a taxi home.  We finally decide the best answer is to rent a car. for a week.  We can get a car for about the cost of one taxi ride and Alan can run around to hardware stores and get all of the parts that he needs.

Finding a car turns out to be more complicated than expected, of course.  first we need a phone so we can call.  Once we have a local phone, I discover that almost all of the car rental places are sold out.  finally I locate one that will deliver and pick up from the Marina.  After lots of paperwork, we have wheels.  It feels good to be back on the road again, especially for Alan, an LA boy who has been driving since he was 15.  It is 2:00 on Sat by the time the paperwork is done.  We expect that most places will be closed but we head for town to check it out.  As expected most places are closed but at least we find out where they are.  Then we head to the Tahiti Yacht Club and Venus Point. 

From the cruising guides and the map, it looked like the Yacht club might be a better place to anchor but when we finally found it we realized that we are better off where we are.  It is almost as far out of town the other way, is a gritty industrial area and there are NO buses going this way.  After a nice visit and tour of the club, we headed on to Venus Point.  This is where Captain Cook came to observe the transit of venus in the 1770s.  We are a little unclear about what was actually accomplished but it is an “important scientific event”  and we wanted to go there.  It turns out to be a lovely black sand beach and grassy park.  There are a number of monuments around commemorating various historic event and a lovely lighthouse, built years after Captain Cook was here.  No other tourists here, just locals enjoying the warm still waters of the beach.  We had planned to have a beer and watch the sunset but when we tried to buy beer at the local grocery we were told that it was election day and no alcohol was sold.  Interestingly enough, when we got back to the marina that evening, the bar was in full swing.  No election day prohibition here.  Lacking beer, we sliced open a couple of pampelmousse and sat on the beach eating them and getting juice all over ourselves.  After a quick swim to clean off the juice, we head back in the gathering dark.  There is a small hiccup downtown, where the streets have been blocked off for the parade tomorrow.  Eventually we make our way back and opt for pizza and beer at the dingy bar before heading out to the boat.