Since we arrived last week in Papeete, instead of being tourists, we dove head first into the MANY boat jobs that had been waiting for us. We heard the same from virtually all of our boating friends who really didn't see much of the island either!

Tahiti is the first place that we have visited since leaving North America with any boat stores & trades people, making it a great place to get things done. In fact, there are better boating supplies here than anywhere we have been in Mexico. The prices are higher than in Canada or the USA, but less than in Mexico - go figure!

The day after making landfall in Tahiti at Point Venus, we motored the few miles to Papeete harbor, entered the pass, and then followed the channel inside the reef to Marina Taina where we had a reservation. Getting to the marina was quite interesting as the channel passes very close to each end of the runway. Sailboats have to get permission to cross the ends of the runway and can only go by when planes are not coming or going. It was quite fascinating motoring along with a runway just a few boat lengths away.

Once in the marina, we started working nearly immediately. I had five oil changes to do (3 engines + 2 transmissions), some generator work to do, a new main sail track to install, and many other smaller jobs. We were in the marina for seven days, and other than one day as a tourist downtown, the rest of the time we were working all day. The photo with this blog is off my new mainsail track as I opened it to inspect it. Ted, a cruising friend from s/v Adesso that shipped it to us, also stuffed it with good old Hawkins' Cheeses from Canada. Way to go Ted! We are still munching on those!

We also provisioned here as there is a major "Carrefour" grocery store about a half mile away. Prices are very high and the brands and completely foreign to what we are used to, but the food was plentiful and very good quality. Even though the shopping was slower, it was a lot of fun to see all the different stuff that we don't have back home. Most of the brands were French with much of the food imported from Europe, hence the high prices.

After seven days of hard work it was time to move the boat to downtown Papeete to visit the famous Papeete Quay were boats have been tying up since the 1800's.