Now that we’re back in the world of fast internet connections, we were finally able to view the videos/movies that our crew last year, Aaron Hodgins, put together. Here’s the trailer!  You can view all of the others by clicking the “Videos” tab above or click right here!

Ahhh, Tahiti…not quite what I had envisioned over the years but it still managed to kick any Florida coastlines butt I’ve ever been to. The beaches there do not live up to the picture postcard images. In all honesty, you are lucky to find white sand that stretches more than a few hundred feet. There is still something to be said for this magnificent island, however, and luckily Drew and I got to see every inch of it’s coastline in all it’s glory. A some odd three months we spent in Tahiti, mainstay Papeete, and I have to say I’m going to miss the friends we made, the food, and walking it’s bustling streets.

Papeete is a place of convenience for cruisers and we will not see anything like it for quite some time. The market, the Carrefour, the restaurants,  and the roulottes offrered everything food wise we could possibly need. Well…expect for Ritz crackers. The Carrefour had them once and I have yet to find them again. That is very typical here…one day you see something in the store, if you want it you better buy it then because once it’s gone there is no telling when the shelf will be restocked.

I’m pretty sure we have prepared well for the following month(s). We are both super excited about moving along to new places and seeing new things. We are officially checked out of French Polynesia and technically have until the 18th of this month before we are supposed to be gone. We may extend our stay a few days past the deadline in Bora Bora but  soon after  we will be well on our way to the Cook Islands. Drew has drawn up a tentative time line of our travels on our “about the journey” page. So check it out and we can’t wait for you to follow along with us!

Nana (goodbye) Tahiti! It’s been a blast!

This ones for all the sailors out there headed this way.  It’s a long one I know.  I thought about putting it on a different page as some sort of “article” but alas…here it is anyways!

Coming from the Marquesas or the Tuamotu Islands, your first stop will likely be Papeete because you’re interested in getting back to a city, restocking you dwindling food supply, and maybe eating out at a restaurant or two. If you have the time and patience to do so, I recommend you aim for the northeast corner of Tahiti Iti, stop over at Tautira, and then daysail your way to Papeete in a two or three day hop. If not, you can always circumnavigate the island after you visit the city in a counter clockwise direction. It’s a fairly easy trip and you’ll get to see the *real* Tahiti; the one that mesmorized generations of sailors who arrived here in centuries past.

Leaving from Taapuna Pass just south of Marina Taina you’ll sail south down the coast to the southwest corner of Tahiti Nui. It was dead calm on the day we headed in this direction and we thought about jumping in Pass Maraa on this corner and motoring through the lagoon to take a look at West Avaiti Pass (I think it’s actually Ava Iti). At the last moment I decided to bypass this route since I’ve read the exit pass is hairy at best and we weren’t looking to stress ourselves out. Instead, we continued east to Rautirare Pass and entered the lagoon next to Pururu Island where I hoped to drop the hook and enjoy some clear water next to a sandy island. This is where I learned that Tahiti is basically covered in small rivers and streams that empty out into the lagoons and there’s almost always one coming into the lagoon inshore of a pass. To find clear water you need to anchor out farther from land, next to the offshore side reef. This can be difficult because many of the lagoons average 80-90′ of water and the reef is literally an underwater wall shooting straight up to the surface. You can go from 80 feet to 8 inches in only a couple of yards. The other thing I learned is that much of Tahiti is black sand which looks and holds more like mud. Our picturesque island anchorage wasn’t near as pretty as I hoped so we moved on, motoring through the lagoon in search of clear water. By the way, just behind the island, give the offshore side of the channel plenty of leeway and stay closer to shore. It gets shallow fast and looked to me like it invaded a bit of the channel on the south side. With a heavy cloud cover over the afternoon sun, we weren’t able to explore the reef side of the lagoon opposite Port Ataiti (near the Paul Gaugin museum) so we ended up dropping the hook in 45′ of water (mud bottom) just off a spit of land with a small car pull off about even with the eastern side of the reef in the middle of the bay. It was a quiet anchorage except for the car that camped out on the car park about 11pm and blasted music out across the water for a few minutes. I did love how the trees and bushes near the water shedded their flowers and they all floated out around us.

The next day we continued east in the lagoon past the Gaugin museum and out Tamarauri Pass. We reentered the lagoon through Pass de Teputo which is the main entrance into Phaeton Bay, the only hurricane hole on Tahiti. We bypassed the bay and headed south down the coast of Tahiti Iti. We passed Maui Beach which the guidebook describes as “reminiscent of Matira Beach on Bora Bora.” That’s a load of B.S. It’s barely what I’d call a beach and not worth a stop in my book. This put us into the very wide bay of Tapuaeraha which is easy motoring and takes you past an elementary school and an old French naval base. Keep a look out for the flying dinghy inside its little hangar just north of the naval base. From here, we continued south around point in the well-marked channel into Teahupoo Basin. This is where is really gets beautiful. The green mountains come right down into the water. It reminds me of the western coast of Costa Rica, especially right around Dominical if you know the area. You can anchor out in the basin if you’ve got the chain or explore your way out to the outer reef here and find some shallower spots. It’s a stunning view looking back on the island. We wanted to be in the middle of the action (for the Billabong Pro) so we moved on towards the small marina at Teahupoo. Once you slide by a small point of land next to Pass Avaino (you’ll know because there will be swell coming into the lagoon) you can either head off to the left (north) into the marina or stick to the right and wind your way through a curvy channel into the bay opposite the marina. The channel itself is fairly easy but exiting the channel can be confusing. If it’s cloudy as it was when we came this way, you can’t tell when its safe to turn back to the north and formally head into the bay. Take it from us, as you pass the last red marker on you left, turn and head towards the spit of land that sticks out. We kept straight trying to give the inshore reef some leeway before we turned and smacked right into the outside reef (I say smacked, but we were only moving about 1 knot or so). Do not take a sharp left turn into the bay. There is a coral outcropping that sticks out and you will hit it. Instead, aim at that spit of land for a hundred yards or more before turning north into the bay. When we visited, there was a big yacht with “Billabong” down the side of it parked at the tip of this spit. Head up in there till you hit 40′ of water or so and drop near the middle. We had winds from every single direction during the two weeks we anchored here so you don’t want to be too far to the west (a reef) or too far to the right (the boat channel and land). You can head into the marina through the small boat channel (the inshore side of the two green markers). You’ll see lots of boats doing it…just follow them. You can also pull the big boat in there and fill up the water tanks (not through the dinghy channel though!) and they’ve also got trash receptacles. From here you can explore the famous surf break at Teahupoo (“cho-po”) by dinghy. If you’ve got a fast dinghy, head east past the point of land closest to the break and keep going for a couple of miles. In dinghy channels around the Societies, you keep the black and white markers inland of you and the all white ones to the outside. You’ll eventually see a river mouth you can go up into and anchor the dinghy. From there, it’s a 5 minute hike inland to a grotto where you can swim in complete darkness underground. You’ll probably see other boats in there if it’s a weekend. If not, flag a boat down and ask em where it is. Everyone is friendly in this part of Tahiti.

We left out of Passe Havae (the same pass as Teahupoo) and sailed close-hauled around the corner of Tahiti Iti and fairly close up the eastern shore. It’s a beautiful sail…just make sure you give Faratara Reef enough leeway. We decided not to stop at any of the anchorages along this coast. Not for any particular reason, we were making good time and having a great sail so we kept going around the northeast corner and into Tautira Bay. We pulled up toward the beach just south where the river flows in and dropped in about 18 feet of water. The anchorage is great when you’ve got normal tradewinds and seas but I’d stay away during any northerly or westerly flows. Although we experienced no swell or rolling at anchor, there is a mild swell washing up on the beach. We dinghied in on the north side of the river exit to the public beach area but be careful! The rocky reef formation just off the beach comes out of nowhere so go nice and slow or you’ll tear up your prop. It’s difficult to see because the water isn’t clear here. The black sand beach is STEEP and it was difficult to pull the dinghy up out of the swell so I followed a local’s lead and drug the dinghy across the small bar into the river. Once you get through the outgoing flow, it’s deep enough to drop the engine and crank back up. We tied off to a tree and jumped ashore from there. Later, I took the dinghy pretty far up this river and never ran into any problems. You could probably go upriver quite a ways and explore if you have the time. The public beach area is gorgeous. The sun sets back over the big island and the locals gather and play boule (bocci ball). If you walk north along this road it circles around the point and eventually ends up at the local magasin (store). It’s actually well-stocked for this side of the island! You can cut back through the neighborhoods to the beach side. Make sure you check out the old church. This was the without a doubt the friendliest place we visited on the island. Everyone greets you as you walk by and we were practically accosted by a guy who wouldn’t stop giving us fruit! He saw us looking up at a mango tree and stopped to ask if we wanted any. We said we were okay but he took off to his house and brought back a whole bag. Ten minutes later, getting in the dinghy, he showed up with a big bag of bananas! Then he took me over to someone else’s house for more mangos! He wasn’t looking for anything from us…it was just typical Polynesia hospitality.

We sailed out of Tautira Bay and down the outside of the reef almost to Taravao before we cut north and hauled butt in the 25 knot trades. We gave the northeasterly shore of Tahiti Nui a wide berth. We sailed far enough north that once we gybed we wouldn’t have to gybe again to clear the reef off Papenoo which sticks out 2 miles or so. Just after Point Venus, we turned south and dipped in for the night. This anchorage is basically the big brother of Tautira with a lighthouse. They look very similar with their big black sand beaches. We pulled up just under the lighthouse and dropped anchor in 15 feet of water for the night. Then came the rain. It rained all night and all the next day before we finally gave up going ashore and moved on. I would have liked to explore here but we were anxious to get back to civilization and meet all the new puddle jump arrivals. We thought about stopping at the Tahiti Yacht Club for the night but when we cruised by all the moorings were full and anchoring was only available in deep water. An hour later we were tied up at the quay downtown.

I’m including a copy of an email I sent Seth on Honeymoon with some info on Tahiti. It’s gives some good info about the quay downtown. If it sounds like I’m cheap and trying to stay downtown for free, I am. We mastered the art of “being sneaky” down there. If you disagree with that…oh well! However, I do have some revisions to make:

- The older port captain, Gerard, seems to have fallen for my charm. He is still a little gruff with some other sailors but for some reason, his attitude changed when he knew we were heading down to Teahupoo. We stayed downtown for probably another 2 weeks total after I sent this email and I never paid a dime….even when he knew we’d been there for several days. This was very different from what other boats experienced so don’t expect it!

- As of the day we left (June 5th) they now have a security guard who logs each boat’s name at night so fibbing your arrival day during the high season will not work. Also, Gerard (the older port captain) walked the docks every morning the last couple of times we stayed down there. If you want to impress him and get on his good side, here’s a tidbit. He’s the coach of one of the most prominent va’a (outrigger canoe) teams in Tahiti.

- The other, younger port capitain no longer has a receeding hairline…he shaved it.

- The ferries downtown suck. They need to slow down. Yes, it is annoying for us monohulls.

- The anchorage around Marina Taina is crowded but you can always find a space. Anyone who says it’s full hasn’t been to creative anchoring school. Keep in mind that many of the local French guys have maybe a 2 to 1 scope out since either their anchor is buried six feet under the sand or they’re on some sort of homemade mooring. Check outside the mooring field straight across from the fuel dock.

- They took the pitchers of Hinano off the happy hour list at the Pink Coconut.

- I thought I’d include my mechanic’s info. He’s a nice guy, a bit rough around the edges but he worked out for me including a replacement of my entire Perkins bottom-end. Do not expect punctuality. You should know what island time is by now. Pascal Maintenance and Logistic 74 42 26. He has his own boatyard. No travel lift but a crane instead. It’s not an “upscale” place but it’ll work in a pinch. His rate is 4500cfp/hr.

- Tom on Zen turned me on to Christian (74 68 01). I didn’t get to meet him but did call for some advice and he was extremely friendly. I believe he’s a Spectra water rep but also an all around good guy who can offer guidance.

- Dieselec did a great job on my alternator rebuild. Would highly recommend them for anything having to do with alternators or fuel pumps.

Hey Seth,

Yeah…it’s really great down here on the south side of Tahiti.  It rains a lot more and the green cliffs come right down to the water.  It reminds me a lot of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.  If you guys get a chance to come down here I recommend it.  You could sail here first and then up and around the west side of Tahiti and enter through the pass right there at the main marina facilities.  If you’re worried about checking in a each island, don’t.  No one seems to really care much around here and you could sail for weeks without checking in with anyone.

The only exception is in Papeete.  You def need to visit Immigration and the Port Captain in the little blue house at the head of the northern cruise ship dock.  I think because Margie and I have our long stay visas we don’t have to pay the bond (they haven’t said anything so neither have I!) but if you haven’t done it already, this is where you’ll take care of that.  There are two port captains.  One thicker guy with peppered grey hair and one skinny, younger guy with a receeding hairline.  The younger guy is GREAT.  You’ll know he’s on duty if his motorcycle (looks kinda like a dirt bike) is parked at the rear door to the office.  The other guy has an attitude.  Neither one will charge you if you are only staying a night at the quay but with the younger guy you can get away with 2 nights sometimes.  If you plan on visiting the quay, I’d wait a couple of days after arriving or until they come find you before checking in.  I’ve seen boats sit there for a week flying their yellow flag.  The older guy will actually come down to the quay and sometimes you’ll find him behind your boat yelling “YOU CHECK IN????”  Whether it seems like he does or not, he really has no clue when you actually arrived so tell him you got there that morning and that you are coming over as soon as you get the boat cleaned up.  Don’t yell it from your boat, jump up on the docks and give him the usual Polynesian handshake (slap and tap) with a big smile.  I’ve dealt with the guy many times now and he’s much more affable if you deal with him like an old friend.  I’ve spent a total of 16 nights at the quay so far this year.  I’ve paid for 8 nights.  Last year when we stayed there it was 100 cfp /meter per night.  Now it’s high season and it’s 240 cpf per meter.  For the 8 nights I’ve paid to stay there the total cost (nightly plus trash, water, and tax) was 25,722 cfp.  Not a great deal but my mechanic was finishing up some work from last year and it’s closest to his shop so it was needed.  You can always show up on a Satuday afternoon and stay till Monday morning without anyone noticing or caring.

We like being downtown cause it’s close to many restaurants and the cheapest eats on the island.  For lunch we always hit the food stalls in the downstairs of the market or Oasis café on the backside of Vaima center.  For dinner, we LOVE the roulottes that gather on the square near the port captains office at night.  There are usually 15-20 to choose from.  Our favorite is La Boule Rouge (the one with the blinking red ball on top).  Their salted crepes are awesome most nights but if they are REALLY busy pass it over cause the quality goes downhill.  I get the one called Viagra and Margie loves the Tex Mex.  The Crème Freche pizza pies from the pizza cart are great as well.  Sunday is a really popular night here with tons of families and kids.  I think they like to take the evening off from cooking at home.   The have good homebrew beer at Trois Brasseurs near the Port Captain’s building too.  Right now they have a happy hour – buy one get one free – special going on.  UNHEARD OF in these islands so take advantage if it’s still offered when you get here.  If you are at the Quay on a Friday, it is pretty fun to go out in Papeete for a night.  We found a couple of upscale bars we really enjoyed last year if you’re looking to spend a little $ one night!  And the dance clubs can be a good time especially if you’re looking for a change from “boat life” for a night.

If you need parts, you will find them here.  Fare Ute and Motu Uta are the industrial areas with all the hardware, auto, marine stores, and the mechanics.  If you need something specific, let me know.  I’ve walked all the streets over there and found a good bit of stuff.  If I don’t know where anything you need is, my mechanic surely does and I’ve got to meet with him in a couple of weeks up there.

I would highly recommend a couple of nights at the Quay.  Even if the port captain finds you right off and you end up paying for a couple of nights, we think it’s worth it.  I mean, you can’t swim, it’s not beautiful, and it’s loud but it’s completely different from anything else in this part of the world and worth seeing once!  The other option is the Marina Taina area west of town just past the airport.  This place is FILLED with boats and many French sailors live here on moorings and at the docks year round.  I can’t comment on the costs of either the moorings or the docks cause I’ve yet to pay.  We’ve secretly grabbed private moorings that were vacant for the night here and there and we’ve only spent one night at the transient moorings before we came down here.  I figure if we’re only there one night and no one comes looking for us, I’m not gonna volunteer myself to pay.  Plus, I fueled up at the docks there so I figure they owe me a night!  There is anchoring available but it is tight and it’s only gonna get tighter as we enter the busy season.  It’s a high traffic area so you can’t drop the hook right on the channel and most of the reef side is covered in moorings.  You guys are on a cat so you may have more options than us (depth wise).  I would recommend looking on the southside of the docks just off the large dinghy dock.   We met a couple of boats that found some vacant area around there to anchor.  This is where you want to be to provision the boat.  You can get basically everything you need foodwise at the Carrefour.  You can walk there and push a cart full of groceries back to the marina.  Apparently someone from the store comes to pick them up weekly.  If you need it and can’t find it at Carrefour, a place called Cash and Carry near the airport has other selections at great prices and there is another Carrefour-type place (I think it’s called Hyper U) in the suburbs east of Papeete our friends took us to.  There is one more place called Cost and Co. that carries a lot of Kirkland (Costco) brand products.  We haven’t been there yet but I know where it is next to downtown, within walking distance of the Quay.

There is a cool bar/restaurant at the marina called “Pink Coconut”  They have a happy hour specials and I’ve heard bands there on Fridays and Saturdays.  Our buddy Kyber
(www.mysticsail.com) spent several months in this area and he says Thursday nights are the best.  It’s got almost magical views of the sunset looking across the mooring field and on towards Moorea.

Hopefully this helps someone out.  I enjoy reading other people’s accounts and sometimes I feel like I don’t put enough “useful info” in my posts.  If you have questions, drop me an email.  I’m happy to help if I can.

Drew

For much of the last week, we shopped. As interesting as that may sound to a few of you out there, it really wasn’t. Everyday, we’d make a list of things and head over to the Carrefour to see if we could find stuff that somewhat matched the items on our list. Some days were a success, others not so much. I’ve read warnings in many other blogs to not over-provision here in Tahiti. As you know by now, it’s expensive and apparently much of the same stuff is available down the road for less. However, it’s pretty difficult to walk around a store the size of Walmart and not think about buying stuff in bulk. Speaking of bulk, there’s no such thing here in Polynesia. If a box of wine (yes, we drink the good stuff) costs 650 cfp by itself, a case of twelve costs 650 times 12. Same goes for beer and anything else you can find in cases. So anyways, we’re walking around trying to only provision for the next 45-50 days and all we can say is, “damn, we love these pretzels…they probably won’t have these pretzels on _____ island. We should buy at least 7 or 8 boxes.” So twelve go in the cart and we’re right back to “over-provisioning.” Oh well.

We met a kid on the docks the other day. He was a little scraggly looking but nice so we stopped by to talk with him. Turns out, he’s from Austin, TX and has been living in South America for three years. He jumped on board a sailboat in Colombia hoping to get all the way to Thailand but his owner is slow and out of money. They’re behind schedule and now he’s low on cash and headed home to work. He worked for one year in the oil/gas industry and made enough money to bum around S. America. Now he’s become a true bum. When he started telling us how about the food and leftover bottles of wine he finds in the dump behind the Pink Coconut, Margie’s eyes glazed over and we dipped out of the conversation. So many interesting characters out here.

Speaking of the Pink Coconut, we had an excellent meal there last week with Mark and Sherri who we randomly met at happy hour. Marge heard them talking English and saw they looked a little lost so she invited them over to join us. They were from Long Island, NY and it turns out Mark surprised Sherri with a trip to French Poly for her birthday. They were flying out the next morning after a week in Bora Bora and Tahaa. Marge invited them to join us and in return they took us to dinner! Now that’s hospitality! Thanks guys…you’d better stay in touch!

Monday, we had dinner on Honeymoon with Seth and Elizabeth and another guy named Tuomo who works on one of the mega yachts docked at Marina Taina. They met him in the Galapagos where he works with a yacht agency. Elizabeth made an outstanding….and very healthy….lasagna and Marge fell further in love with catamarans. Seth’s parents fly in today and we’ll see them again this weekend in Moorea.

We’d planned on leaving Tahiti today but Pascal hasn’t brought down the little Honda generator.  He wasn’t able to fix it without ordering in some parts and we aren’t waiting!  We’re stoked to cast off from Tahiti tomorrow.  All together we’ve spent over 3 months on or around this island.  It’s enough time to realize Tahiti IS NOT Papeete.  There’s a whole other side of this island most cruisers don’t see.  If you get the chance, I highly recommend a visit to the south side.  It will change your entire outlook on the place.   We will truly miss our friends Lydiane and Youri and all their friends and family we were introduced to.  I’m still upset we never made it back to the Marquesas to visit Fara, Paru, Moana, Tino, and the rest of the Bruno tribe.  I guess that means we’ll have to go back through there one day…right Marge?  So long Tahiti.  Thanks for the experience.

When you’re shopping in French Polynesia it’s important to have your priorities in order.   I won’t rattle off a list of items and their corresponding ridiculous prices but take note of the pic below. 1895 FCP is about $22 US and yes, that’s YELLOW TAIL!

You need to have a list and stick to it. For me, I walk into the Carrefour grocery store in Papeete with the 3 B’s mentioned above in mind and first, I make a “B-line” for the bacon. You have a choice of frozen American Smokehouse bacon, deli-fresh bacon, and classical French lardons. I usually gather a selection of all three since my rapidly expanding culinary expertise calls for all three and we all know there’s no such thing as leftover bacon. Next I’m off to the beer isle. At $50/case there’s only room for twenty-four in the cart with a hope and a prayer it lasts all week. There’s cans of Hinano, big bottles of Hinano (best deal but not realistic to store on Dosia), and regular sized bottles of Tabu. We prefer the Tabu but those cans of Hinano are just so damn easy. Lastly, it’s off to grab a couple of baguettes. No need for more than two. If they sit on the boat more than 36 hours, you’ll break your jaw trying to gnaw a piece off. For Marge, she agrees on the baguettes in her top three but her other top priority items are lunch meat (jambon de Paris is our favorite) and, of course, Diet Coke.

We’ve been anchored out here in front of Marina Taina for a few days. It’s an okay place; really crowded but close to the best store in French Polynesia. My little Honda generator is still out with the mechanic. He brought it back to me when they got it running but it had some voltage drop problems when I turned on a heavy load item like the battery charger or water heater. Yesterday was a holiday here so everything was closed and EVERYONE was out on the water. We met up with Seth, Tim, and Jessica from Honeymoon and later Les, from Obsession, on the sandbar south of the marina for a few afternoon beers. Figured we ought to celebrate the holiday even though we haven’t a clue what the holiday is.

We’re heading over to Moorea tomorrow for the weekend. Sounds like we’re not the only ones so it should be a good time. Sending out a Happy Happy Birthday to Margie’s mom, Janice Kopp today!

Dosia was starting to get a little lonely over the past week or two but lucky for her more and more boats are starting to arrive. Drew and I had planned to move around to another marina last Saturday but awoke to new neighbors, John and Les, that morning. Both are from California and have been cruising the high seas on Les’ boat Obsession. In roughly two weeks or so John’s girlfriend and Les’ wife are flying in to spend ten days here on the boat with them. We spent Saturday afternoon hanging with them in their cockpit, drinking beers, and the usual routine of “gettin’ to know ya” in the cruising world. I apologized to them later for having “talked their ears off” that day. We were just so excited to have English speaking people around!

No need for maps or directions, Drew’s a regular ol’ tour guide for newcomers if they pull into downtown Papeete. We’ve been here long enough and enough times that we can pretty much tell everyone exactly where they need to go to find any given thing. Most people pulling into Papeete are coming off a multiple day crossing from the Tuamotus so grocery stores, boat parts, and alcohol are usually in high demand. Three days or so of not very good sleep and A LOT of sitting around (which can suprisingly really wear on you) is like one or two really long days of lots of yardwork. You reward yourself with a refreshing cocktail and most of the time, one has never tasted so darn good!

“Okay…we’ll leave tomorrow morning instead…” was the plan as of Saturday night. Sunday morning came early and in comes Elizabeth, Seth, and their friend, Tim, on Honeymoon. Seth and Elizabeth got married last August and instead of going the normal route, they decided to prolong their honeymoon into a year long journey around the South Pacific. Drew and Seth had been chatting back and forth via email so when they pulled in we knew exactly who they were. After letting them get their boat anchored and settled in we went over to introduce ourselves face to face. Naturally that led to “let’s do dinner tonight” so we stuck around that day as well, eager and excited to get to know as many people as we could! After dinner they came back to the boat, we invited John and Less to join us, and we had our first cockpit party of the trip! I LOVE to host and have people over whether it be on a boat, in a house, or in an apartment so I was just in hog heaven. Ummm….hog heaven….not sure if that will be understood by all. It’s a southern term and one of my faves. The beers and the rum went down really well that night. Must have been the great company!

Monday morning came a lot earlier than Sunday for me. We cleaned up, tossed out the evidence from the night before, and motored over to Marina Taina and set up shop in about 19 feet of the bluest, clearest water right off the coral reef. New week, new friends, and a new spot to call “home” for a few days. We had our first grease fest at McDonald’s that afternoon to try and soak up some of the varnish from the night before and Drew and I spent the rest of the afternoon napping on the couch. How quickly one forgets how heavy that junk weighs on your stomach….

We reloaded at the large Carrefour today on groceries and plan on sticking around here for a few days to see who else pulls in. We’re gearing up for a three to four week island cruise around Moorea, Huahine, and Bora Bora. More details of that to come!

Living on a boat is interesting. Drew and I usually find ourselves to be one of few couples, or groups, in our age bracket that have chosen to spend this time in our lives sailing. Most people whose waves you cross out here are closer to our parents age and this has been their dream for as long as they can remember…often times longer than Drew or myself have been alive. We constantly try to remove our feet from our mouths, having to say “oh…we didn’t mean it that way” when we refer to the older age bracket of most of our fellow travelers. There is never an ounce of disrespect in our words. Just blatant fact. It’s okay mom and dad…god willing, Drew and I will be listening to our kids do the same thing one day.

However, believe me…there may be a few more years notched on their belts but whatever the age, be it 40, 50, 60, or even 70…EVERYONE OUT HERE IS YOUNG AT HEART.

Truth is…whether you’ve had this dream for thirty years, or ten, there is a connection you find amongst yourselves, no matter the age difference, unlike that of anything I have ever experienced. The more I learn about sailing the more I’ll be able to participate in conversations but for now, I mostly sit back and listen to Drew and our newest companions (usually males) talk about types of engines, outboard motors, dinghys, satellites, weather patterns. All the while laughing to myself as they each try to hide behind their polarized sunglass lenses when the occasional female walks by on the dock or glides by in in a boat. And even though I might not understand it all just yet, my heart is happy because there is never a time that Drew’s face lights up more than it does when he is talking about his pride and joy, Dosia

We often get the questions that you would normally expect people to ask us–how are you able to do this at such a young age…how can you afford it…what do your parents think about you being all the way out here…(the inevitable) how did you guys meet (we always have fun telling that one)…what about jobs…are you nervous to go back at the end and basically start all over…

We cant, and won’t lie, that returning back to the states after our journey is over (whenever that shall be) is scary. We pretty much know our life as far as November and even that is not set in stone. After that’s its an open book. Drew does his best to keep us in a position where we will not go home to nothing but you do find yourself faced with the fact that according to the “norm” we should be settling down, focusing on careers, saving money, etc.

I have not had the pleasure to meet the couple below, Antonia and Peter, just yet, or their one and a half year old son, Silas, who has joined in their journey and is now on their boat with them. Drew met them in the boatyard in Ecuador. They are now getting ready to leave New Zealand and move to Fiji on their boat. And we want to introduce you to them because she is hands down one of the funniest and best blog writers we have ever come across. I wanted to correlate this blog in with one that she wrote and it all has to do with the many questions we face spending these years in our lives on a boat. I have never heard it said better…

“The first time I decided to go sailing, it was 1999, and everyone who knew their way around a computer was busy making their first million, while I savvily decided to drop out on a sailboat in the Caribbean. This earned me a net profit of zero dollars, though it did set my life on a fairly consistent path of seeking more boats on which to drop out, spoiling any long-term career ambitions I may once have had and ensuring that any money I ever made would quickly be squandered on marinized stainless steel and underwater epoxy.

But now I’m thirty-four years old, a real grown-up, a mother. Silas is just learning how to walk. I should be shopping for the best preschool, working my way up the corporate ladder, saving for college and retirement, buying a home and a better car and acquiring a mortgage. Or at least, that’s what the pictures on TV tell me I should be doing.

But one day ten years ago, while sailing through the Bahamas, I leaned backwards over the lifelines and I saw: the pink sky at dawn over a rose-tinted sea. The sun glimmering over the horizon and the moon, watchful in the heavens. I had the sensation of skimming over the surface of a water-washed planet, a human with a place in an intricate cosmos.

That’s what I want to give my son.”

Cheers to that.

Looking back on the month I spent alone in French Polynesia I have decided I’d rather not spend a month alone in French Polynesia again. It’s beautiful here. I love swimming and snorkeling. The sailing has been fantastic. But what good is any of that is you can’t share it with someone? At least that’s the way I feel about it.

It finally hit me that I’m living every sailor’s dream out here. Eight months cruising around the islands of the South Pacific is the type of trip I’ll remember and talk about for the rest of my life. And there is no other person in the world I’d rather share this time with than Margie. Saturday, sitting in two feet of water on a sandbar dotted with coral heads a half mile off the south side of Tahiti, I asked Marge whether she’d ever thought she’d find herself here. She looked around at the scenery before her, the group of Polynesians surrounding her, and her toes in the clear water below. Without looking up she grabbed a potato chip out of the bag floating by on a life preserver and said “not in a million years.”
Our two year anniversary of meeting each other comes up in two weeks.

If you’re ever invited to dine with Polynesians, remember this rule. You must fix your plate first or you will sit there all night. We finally figured out why it always took so long to start meals here. The food would be ready, the places set, and we would just sit there. No one ever told us we should go ahead and fix our plates so we were being courteous guests and waiting for our hosts to begin. We finally had to ask Friday night at Youenn’s house. “Are you guys waiting on us?” Yep…sure enough.

We’re anchored out in a small bay just across from the Teahupoo Marina. We have lush green mountains coming right down to the lagoon on one side of us and the designated “most powerful wave in the world” on the other side of us. The surfing at Teahupoo is legendary and much of life in this village revolves around it. The marina houses the boats and jetskis that shuttle the surfers back and forth, the long line of snacks (small, shanty-looking restaurants) at the mouth of the river feeds the surfers, and the store sells the beer they drink all night. We’re here at the biggest time of year for this community. The yards are clean and landscaped, the signs for paid parking and camping are displayed proudly, and the guesthouses and private homes are overflowing with the tanned, buff bodies of international surfing playboys (yes Margie’s single-lady friends…we are telling them all about you…). This place is the polar opposite of the busy streets of Papeete. The people who live here go there only when they need to and from here out, we’ll do the same. We hope to stay here a couple of weeks before heading back to town to collect the little Honda generator that’s being repaired, provision the boat, and begin the dance westward to cheaper waters.

We’ve heard through the grapevine that it’s getting warmer back in the states. Right before I left to join Drew it was a constant 60 to 70 degrees during the day but at night it was still dropping down into the low 50′s. Stepping off the plane in Tahiti was like getting hit by a brick wall of heat. It was almost 80 degrees and only 4:30 in the morning. Man….is it HOT over here!!!! Thank heavens I did not waste money on too many backup supplies of my makeup because at this rate I don’t forsee myself wearing much, if hardly any at all! Tissues to wipe my forehead have replaced my mascara and concealer so it’s too bad for Drew he has to love me and think I look good regardless : )

This past Thursday Drew and I decided to go people watch a little bit and headed to happy hour at the only microbrewery in French Poly called Les 3 Brasseurs, located on the waterfront in Papeete. On the way we stopped off to phone Youri, our friend from Ua Pou who helped us fix the boat last year. He had emailed and said he was going to be in Papeete so we thought it was worth a shot to call and see if he wanted to catch up over a few beers. Now…I know that there are courteous people all over the world. But for whatever reason it seems that there is multitude of them in French Polynesia and we must have befriended the cream of the crop.

Youri was estatic to hear from us and said he’d meet us at the brewery right away. He had no more than sat down when he asked what we were doing for dinner. We shrugged and said we had planned to just head to the roulottes and pick something up there after happy hour was over. He said his wife was in the car and that we should “come back to their house and eat with them.” So we slammed our beers and off we went. Lydiane, Youri’s wife, is the sister of Fara and Paru, our good buddies we met last year. Kindness seems to be a staple that runs through the veins of every single person in this family because Lydiane was just as nice and sweet as her brothers, father, mother, and children.

Over a delicious dinner of chow mein, lemon chicken, curry chicken, won ton soup, and pepper steak, we learned that Youri makes these trips to Papeete to train fire fighters here. He pretty much island jumps around the south pacific and teaches young men how to become fire fighters. Aside from that, he also owns the two fishing boats we spent time on in Ua Pou last fall and his main goal or dream is to own a ferry that carries people to and from the islands. Lydiane is in Papeete going to school to become a teacher, one of the few jobs she says is available to women on the islands. She has been living in an apartment in Papeete for several years now while she attends school and her parents take care of her and Youri’s two children back in Ua Pou.

Dinner was phenomenal. The bill from this dinner had not even been payed before they were asking if we wanted to stop off at the best pizza restaurant in town to grab a pie to take back to the boat with us. Despite being so full we could barely move, Drew probably contemplated the thought but I quickly shot it down! Drew + Pizza=true love

So we made plans to tour the island on Saturday. Times got mixed up so Drew and I were sitting on the boat at seven a.m. thinking we were supposed to be ready for them to pick us up. Needless to say we were way off because they didn’t show up until almost eleven. Who cares though right? You’re on island time! We took off in their truck having no idea where we were going or what we were going to see. First stop…the only doughnut shop in French Poly. I thought I was going to have to wrestle Lydiane to pay for the doughnuts, as they had picked up the tab for dinner Thursday night.

Afterwards we spent a couple of hours breezing down the road. We stopped at a natural grotto, a few fruit stands, and the home of their good friend, Youan. His house is right in front of the location for the Billabong pro surfing competition that will begin in May. A couple hundred yards out is the wave, Teahupoo, where the competition takes place.

A mere hour later we were dining on poisson cru, baguettes, and getting to know some new friends. Youan owns a fishing store in downtown Papeete and is also the manager for one of the Tahitian soccer teams. He houses several of the players that he manages. Because of how far he lives from Papeete and because of traffic, Youan leaves his home at 3 in the morning to be able to make it to work by 6:30 or 7! Everyday…. ugh, I could not imagine…

One Heineken after after another, Drew and I couldn’t help but feel like we had known these people for years. Youan said we are more than welcome to come stay at his home during the surfing competition if we would like. I wanna say he is housing one of the pro surfer’s but we never caught a name. It’s unlikely we’ll need to crash there seeing as how our boat will be anchored right outside his back door! But it will be nice to have a place to hang out and good people to pass the time!

So for now Drew and I are busy preparing the boat to move it around to the other side of the island. Grocery list in hand, we plan to stock up the boat because it’s not as easy to get food and supplies over there.  We hope to move the boat either later this afternoon or sometime tomorrow. The generator is getting all tuned up and as soon as that’s done, we’ll say bye bye to downtown Papeete!

Dad-HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! I love you so much : )

I arrived in Tahiti around 4:30 this morning after three flights and almost a solid 24 hours of travel. Last year when I made the journey to join Dosia in Nuku Hiva it took me four flights and a two hour alterain vehicle ride up and down a mountain. So when I boarded the flight for Tahiti last night in LA and knew that this was it and Drew would be waiting at the end, it made this trip feel like a cinch compared to last September.

This go round the only anticipation I felt was that of wanting to just see Drew, hug him, give him a kiss, and hold his hand like all the other couples I’ve been watching for the past month back in the states. Drew’s mom and sister even commented prior to me leaving the airport yesterday that I was MUCH calmer than last year. That’s because traveling out of the country for the first time, and doing so all by myself…the anticipation was ridiculous. I had flown several times before but not to that extent. Changing my bags over in LA was quite an experience. I’m a southern girl. In LA an “excuse me” can often be mistaken for getting an attitude with someone. I was completely out of my element. This time around, I breezed through there as if I might have actually known what I was doing! I returned to the same grill where I sat waiting for my flight last year and had myself a couple of Miller Lites. It’s gonna be a LONG time before I get anything other than a Hinano or Heineken again.

Getting off that plane and seeing my boy there smiling and waiting was so awesome. Ummm…skinny, mini over here has lost a ton of weight. He always does that when he leaves the country and is by himself for a while. Not to mention I could not look more ridiculous walking next to him as he has been kissed many times by the sun and I appear to have lost touch with it for quite some time!  As long as that’s all he was kissed by while we were apart then I can deal with it : )

So here we are back on the boat together again! Drew began to unpack my things earlier to give me a chance to get a nap in but I found myself getting up to explain why I needed four bottles of leave in conditioner and ten of the exact same tank tops. They are totally not the same…they are all a different color. It’s great to be back, great to be next to him again. We hit up a local, what seems to be always packed and popular, eatery called Oasis in downtown Papeete for a grilled fish sandwich. We came across them last year, fell in love, and today it was just as good as I remembered. Highly recommended to anyone who might find themselves downtown in Tahiti’s capital one day.

We haven’t quite mapped out our complete journey yet. All I know is I’ve been on the boat for approximately eleven hours and have already formed three nice bruises on my legs and we haven’t even left the dock. Thus….is boat life! All you can do is hope that you tan well enough to cover up the evidence that no matter how much experience you have, the boat always has the upperhand…