Back Onboard
03 September 2017 | Marina Taina, Tahiti
Jill
Fare Suisse is nestled in the foothills of Mount Orohena, known as the dwelling place of the ancient gods, and surrounded by frangipani and tiare. The heady and intoxicating fragrance of these delicate flowers will forever remind me of our time in Tahiti; I just love the aromas of this island. An excellent first night's sleep after our long flight eliminated any feelings of jetlag and we were up bright and early and off to Technimarine to check on Elevation's progress. During our time at home, Sebastien and his team had been labouring away on the construction of our new rudder plus all ancillary work and whilst we had been sent a few progress reports and photos, we were very keen to see first-hand how everything was coming together. The rudder looked great - strong, robust and beautifully fibreglassed and all on continuous 3 inch stainless stock. The welding to our davits and cockpit aft seats however was not to the required standard; Sebastien agreed and instructed his welder to redo. We had planned to apply a new coating of Propspeed however Border Security in NZ had confiscated our package on route - strange as we had not had an issue carrying the same product in our luggage from the US to Panama. Luckily, Sebastien could source locally and he arranged for his guys to apply at a discounted cost; a small favour as compensation for the initial not to standard welding. Antifouling was mostly completed, with only the rudder to be primed and painted plus a quick touch up to the hull once we were in the slings.
With everything ticked off by Thursday afternoon, including payment in full by our insurance company's underwriters, we were ready to launch. We collected our frozen produce from Sebastien's onsite freezer and waited whilst Elevation was carefully Happy Splashed once again. Dick, the architect and builder of our new rudder, came onboard and we took a quick turn around the lagoon whilst he checked that everything was functioning effectively. With both he and Captain Paul happy, we headed for the work jetty to drop Dick off and bid farewell to all the guys at the yard. Overall, the service and the work completed by Technimarine has been of a high standard and even with language difficulties, it's been easy to deal with Sebastien and his team. We are therefore pleased to recommend them to other cruisers (for any contact with Sebastien, email exploitation@technimarine.pf).
It was getting late in the day and with a stiff southerly blowing, we opted to take the port channel inside the lagoon in order to quickly get to Marina Taina before the office closed. Big mistake, as our passage seemed to coincide with the arrival and departure of several ferries and aircraft. The Papeete Port Authority control both maritime and aviation traffic and we were required to stand to before entering the port, before reaching the eastern end of the runway and before reaching the western end of the runway to allow commercial vessels and aircraft to proceed. Luckily, Phillipe and Henri from the marina were considerate of the situation and were waiting for us to arrive to assist with berthing.
We've spent the last week here at the marina working diligently onboard. Our time in the yard left Elevation covered in fine, black volcanic dust so a good scrub, polish and vacuum was needed both inside and out. We've run new cable for our Forward Facing Sonar in order to improve the connectivity; we've also had Christophe, a local electrician, onboard to assist with running new cable through the mast for our masthead light and our new wind vane. Christophe came to us at short notice as our original electrician, Andrei, has contracted dengue fever. A former nuclear electrician, he's a very personable and competent tradesman who can be contacted at +689 89 54 16 15. We've reprovisioned and we've refuelled, making the most of the availability of duty free fuel concessions. It's been an interesting time here at Marina Taina- we are on the same dock as several superyachts and our impressive view out across the lagoon to Mo'orea is occasionally lost as vessels come and go. We're also close to the fuel dock and have been privy to a slice of Tahitian life as local boats, mostly small runabouts come alongside to fill up. There are many, many serious fishermen with very impressive and expensive rods and electric reels; there are enthusiastic scuba divers squeezed into various dive boats (the most we've seen is a dozen all together with their gear in a tiny centre console Hypalon tender); and there are party boats filled with attractive French Polynesian girls and guys just out to enjoy some time on the water.
We've caught up with SV Slice of Life, last seen in Shelter Bay Marina, and we've reacquainted ourselves with Jorgen from SV Restless Oslo who we last saw in Antigua in 2015. Jorgen also had an extremely challenging passage to the Marquesas when the hull of his yacht developed a large crack and started taking on water. Luckily, he was able to obtain some strapping from a passing merchant ship in order to make a temporary repair whilst he sailed towards Hiva Oa. He's planning on hauling out in Raiatea very shortly to affect a more permanent fix.
We've also prepared our guest cabin for our friends Denise and Brad who arrive today at 1625. Paul has serviced the genset and is just waiting on a new electric primer pump to arrive via their special delivery; somehow the old one decided to fail whilst we were out of the water. We're certainly ready to go cruising and are very much looking forward to sharing some of the Fenua Raro Mata'i (literally, the islands beneath the wind) with them both over the next 10 days. We've got an action-packed itinerary planned for between here and Bora Bora - the weather is looking good with mid to high 20's forecast and light winds. I've squeezed dozens of limes for drinks; I'd like to say it's because we have fallen in love with the local Citronade, a delicious mix of lime juice, water and sugar but it may also be the occasional Dark and Stormy or perhaps even Monday Mo'orea Margarita Madness! We're really looking forward to being back out on the hook.