Get Lost On Purpose

Author: Drew

  • Bacon, Beer, and Baguettes

    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!
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    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.
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    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!

  • Chillin in Teahupoo

    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.

    Teahupoo surfing 1 Teahupoo surfing 2 Teahupoo surfing 3

    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.

  • Some Photos from the South Pacific

    Here’s some photos from around Teahupoo we took yesterday! It was the most colorful sunset we’ve seen yet. That’s the media and announcer stand for the Teahupoo Billabong Pro in the third pic.
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  • How to Fall in Love with French Polynesia

    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.
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    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.