Someone Pinch Me, And By The Way Does Anyone Here Speak American?
27 June 2014 | 17 34.9'S:149 37.1'W, Marina Taina, Island of Tahiti
Paul
Wow, this place is busy with cruising sailors. There are vagabonds and mega yachts, and everything in between. Tying up to the fuel dock at Marina Taina was like being in a chapter of Indiana Jones; tatooed bald and shirtless gas attendant looking like he might enjoy wrestling you to the ground if you caused trouble, yet friendly smiling and helpful. Rugged life-long cruisers who've seen anchorages we'll never know of are buzzing around everywhere in their dinghies and there are small armies of the workers who keep the multi-milliion dollar yachts looking shiny.There are one-person basket elevators that carry someone slowly up the 100 foot masts to polish and shine as they go. There are whole famiies on boats with dogs, and couples hanging laundry looking like Tibetan prayer flags. We hear mostly French being spoken, English of course and Tahitian and many European languages. Adam is doing his best to take on French as a new language as he goes through the process of checking us in with Customs. We let him ashore yesterday to deal with the formallities and he came back with an increased French vocabulary, but not complete sucess with the checking in process. He's off again this morning with crew in tow; all but me. Many heartfelt thanks to all who helped us get here, especially Joanne and Mandy. We wouldn't be here if not for you. Thanks to our friends at Kaneohe Yacht club for the charts and all the good advice, which has already come in handy. After today we'll be free to make plans to explore these beautiful islands and we'll continue to send photos and report on what it's like to be in our little RV on the water, in fabled French Polynesia. Much aloha, Paul