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.

Yesterday morning for me was just like any other morning here on Dosia…i woke up, wiped the sleep from my eyes, glanced out the window to see what morning weather the day had delivered, and poured myself a cup of french press java. Boat Monkey (a.k.a. Drew) dropped into the galley from the cockpit above and was too quick to throw out “ready to go feed some stingrays and swim with some sharks!?”  Okay, 1) can i at least finish my cup of coffee and 2) you seem WAY too excited about this!

I, in particular, was not quite as thrilled as Drew to be throwing myself onto the kitchen table of these sea monsters just because we had some old oyster and shrimp meat we needed to get rid of. My palms started sweating, I got antsy, and suddenly that cup of coffee was doing nothing to help keep my mouth from feeling like one giant cottonball. But I quickly realized that I was not getting out of this so I unwillingly threw on a bikini.  Mom….you’ll be glad to know that I finally wanted that BIGGER bathing suit you always encouraged me to buy. One that would cover more (if not all) of my skin!

Due to large cruise ships and resorts around here there was an actual feeding area for these rays. I was pretty relieved to know that they expect the feedings and were used to it even though it is not at all a controlled environment. The sharks…well they just crash the party on their own. As we dinghied into the area Drew pointed out several black tips just off the pass. One or two choice four letter words later and I was checking to make sure I was completely inside the boat with no limbs hanging out!

We found a good spot, threw out the anchor in about four feet of water, and within fifteen seconds a torpedo of stingrays was headed our way. After they cleared out from under the boat Drew hopped in and they were ALL over him. He was as calm as he could be while I snapped away with the camera. His prior diving experience and time in the water allots him a level of calmness in these situations that I very much lack.  About that time I glanced over to see a guy holding his toddler aged daughter in the water and she, too, was surrounded by them. Alright you big pansy…if she can do it, you can do it (even though she was screaming bloody murder)…

In I went, raw fish in hand, and there they came! I don’ t know who was screaming louder, me or that little girl. For me, all I could think was “one of these killed that crocodile hunter man.” I was definitely freaking out and grabbing onto Drew to shield them off and protect myself. There is just something NOT normal about this massive grey thing with a long tail swimming up and down my body looking for yummy treats.

Of course, within thirty minutes or so, I had calmed down quite a bit and began to enjoy myself. I can officially say I’ve looked eye to eye with a stingray before and it was pretty flippin’ cool! When feeding them it’s almost like a suction effect when they glide over your hand and take it from you. I loved running my hands across their wings towards their tails which  almost felt like running your fingers over a wet mushroom. Very soft, almost slimy.

Believe it or not I was more calm around the sharks than I was around the stingrays and of course Drew was swimming around chasing after them. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were not trying to feed out of my hand. They pretty much minded their own business and tended to the scraps that the stingrays happened to overlook. Being that close to them was pretty incredible. I know some people who read this may think I’m being a wuss, a baby, making a big deal out of nothing…. but for me, this was a HUGE step. There have been times that I would not jump off the boat because I was afraid something below would bite me. So to see that there was something in the water that could this time and I still jumped in, big step towards overcoming some major fears I have had for a long time.

Thirty minutes later, still relishing in my accomplishment and “let’s do it again one day,” Drew and I went for lunch at a roadside roulotte and began discussing future plans. Over sandwiches he decides that we will not visit Auckland in New Zealand later in the year if I won’t agree that while there, I will hurl my body off of one of the largest bungee jumps in the entire world. I dropped my fork, removed my shades, and gave him my very best “you’ve got to be kidding me” looks. One step at a time Drew, one step at a time…………

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.

Agh…I’ve got a case of writers block. Maybe it’s because we’ve had a pretty quiet week here on Dosia. Right now Drew’s off trying to get some good live shots on camera of the surfers out on Teahupoo. I usually use alone time like this on the boat to lay out on the bow, get some sun, write a new blog post or in my journal, and blast the iPod to greats like Chicago, Journey, or Lionel Richie. What? Don’t judge me. Lionel Richie will never go out style in my book.

To be honest, the surfing competition is not measuring up to what I had in mind. As a spectator sport, I’m going to go ahead and throw it in there with the likes of golf, or tennis. No disrespect to any sports or those who like any individual one more than others. To some, I’m sure surfing is edge of your seat entertainment. Unfortunately for myself, I’m finding that even 45 guys with washboard abs and perfect tans isn’t enough to hold my attention for more than an hour or so. Now is when we really wish our fellow traveler, Kyber, who’s cruising on his boat Natural Mystic, were here so maybe he could explain things to us and I would be more into it.

I remember caring less about football until I was about 13 and my dad explained to me what it meant to play the game. Hooked. Now if I had a magic genie grant me three wishes, one would be that I could be a college football player just for one day so I could play in a football game between the hedges on a sunny Athens Saturday. Man…that’s got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world. Much the same, I would imagine, for these guys who have found a passion for the water.

Anyway, I think we both assumed this would be more of a party atmosphere…bands jamming out on the docks, people hanging out, meeting some new folks. After the competition on Saturday we went over to the marina and there was a band but poor things…no one was there and those who were were not paying a lick of attention to them. We stayed for a song or two, drank our two beers we’d come with, and went back to the boat. The one party that did go on that night was on a boat sponsored by Billabong and it happened to anchor about 50 feet from us. For that night we were going to live vicariously through the music, hoots, and hollars that were coming from that private party across the way.

Ah, we did come across one new person. Saturday night about ten (I was already watching the back of my eyelids) I hear Drew scream “HEY” out of nowhere. Turns out he heard something outside the boat and looked up out of the hatch above the bed and found himself face to face with some guy. We still aren’t sure what he was up to because as soon as Drew jumped out of the hatch the guy pushed back, cranked up his dinghy, and took off. He obviously had some intention because he used oars to get himself close enough to the deck of the boat instead of motoring over. Guess he wasn’t quiet enough. Maybe he thought we were on the party boat next door or something. Next thing I know Drew’s in our dinghy chasing after him. Never caught him but it was a little spooky. I’m sure he was just some drunk guy trying to sneak a peek or try and snag a gas can off the deck. Regardless, usually anybody and everybody is welcome to come aboard and hang out with us on Dosia but I think homeboy blew his chance.

Not real sure if we’re going to stick around for the rest of the competition or not. We may move on and check out some other parts of the island. Since it’ll only take a few more days, I think we are going to do the full lap around Tahiti. Hoping to find some hiking to stretch the legs a little.

We got to call both of our moms and Drew’s Nanny yesterday but we want to take the chance to say Happy Mother’s Day to all our followers. Hope you all had a great one yesterday : )

It’s been easy living these last few days in Teahupoo. I’ve been working on the dinghy motor trying to figure out the mysterious problem in the fuel system that’s slowing us down. Wednesday afternoon I was sitting in the dinghy, cover off the motor, with a completely puzzled look on my face. I look up and see a guy on an approaching boat holding up a good size yellowfin tuna. Judging from the endless stack of 100+ pounders inside the boat, he was looking to unload some of the smaller catch and we were the first takers he ran into on the way back to the marina. So we found ourselves with more than enough free tuna for the next few days. I grilled some last night with a lemon pepper and butter sauce and today I can’t seem to stay out of the soy and wasabi. This stuff would be so pricey in the states and even in the store in Papeete, but down here random guys we never met before just stop by and hand it over like they owe it to us. You don’t really know hospitality till you visit these islands.

Yesterday was the official opening of the Billabong Pro and today was the first day of surfing. Although the contest runs from May 9-20, they only surf three full days. I assume they choose the days based on the weather systems lurking to the south that affect the break along this coast. Everyone tunes into the major radio station at 6:30AM to find out whether that day has been chosen for the competition. We don’t really need to turn the radio on since we’re anchored right along the channel from the marina to the pass where the break is.  Many of the surfers and most all of the media and spectators gather at the marina to catch boats out to the inlet so by 7AM the size of the wake from passing boats rocking us around is our best indicator of competition days. It was the same deal for the trials which took place last week while we were anchored here.

Margie and I aren’t the most seasoned surfing spectators but we’re learning. We take the dinghy out to the pass, tie onto one of the buoys, and try to eavesdrop on the boats next to us to find out who’s surfing, why he didn’t take that wave, and how in the hell this thing is scored. We finally figured out the scoring but as for who’s surfing, we’re probably surrounded by professionals and we haven’t a clue who they are. We’re flashing pics of everyone with hopes of making identifications later when we have a good internet connection. The only person I’m certain I’ll recognize is Kelly Slater from his days on Baywatch. It’s pretty cool there’s no roped off areas. This morning we pulled up and practically tied off to one of the Billabong media boats where they interview the surfers after they compete. The unique line up at Teahupoo also allows for the regular spectator to get some pretty good photos.

We put up a bunch of new photos in our Flickr Photostream. Check em out whenever you get a chance. Also, if you’re interesting in watching the competition live on the web go to http://billabong.manaspot.pf At least that’s where we can watch it for free from the boat. I assume you can access the site from out of the country.