4 September 2011
So, on the afternoon of the 3rd, we made our way into the anchorage to meet Goody. It was quite hairy coming round the coast of Tahiti, after not seeing another boat for quite a while. We had to negotiate a fast-moving passenger ferry here, a stubborn fishing boat there. Tahiti has a fringe of reef, so on the outside it looks choppy with wind, then there is a surf over the reef that you can't see and then it is beautifully calm with turquoise waters and many many yachts at anchor. When we came through the pass, we didn't just have to navigate through the channel markers but also jetskis, mini speedboats and wakeboarders, most who liked to fall off just in front of us! We were pleased to eventually find Goody, but it was so busy near them and most of the yachts were on buoys. Eventually we found a buoy, tied up and spent a lovely evening catching up with Jacolette, the kids playing nicely together.
We were woken at about 6am the next morning by the owner of a floating bar who wanted us off his buoy - oops! He did us a favour really though as we could moor up to the marina and fill our water tanks - bliss, get rid of our rubbish and make an early start on the laundry. It really is Piccadily Circus here, so finding a spot to anchor was difficult, but we are now squeezed in probably closer to other boats than our liking in deeper water than we would normally choose. It's fine for now. A trip to the shops for a little provisioning set us back £100 - yikes- and then another play with Goody. I think we'll be seeing a lot of them over the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow will be Customs and Immigration day and then school can begin properly. Current location: 17.34S 149.37W