Notes from a Large Ocean III
18 June 2009 | 17 17.93'S:149 19.97'W
Jane
Day 8 and we are now 27 miles off Tahiti, looking at it but unable to go in through the reef!! Really frustrating! There is, again, no wind to speak of. If we put the engine on and went as fast as we could, we only get about 6 knots an hour and that would put us going thought the Passe de Pape'ete after 4 pm. The books and fellow cruisers all say that by 4.30 pm, it's really difficult to see (sunset is at 1730 hours) and too dangerous to try and negotiate through the lagoon to the anchorage. So here we are chugging along doing about 2-3 knots an hour for the next 17 hours till 0600 hours tomorrow. I have to admit I have had an hour of sulking but am rallying now and planning a bit of comfort food (tinned chicken and mushroom pie with garlic mash) for dinner followed by a night in singing along to Mamma Mia. Don 't you wish you were here??!
Tahiti is, in fact, only one of the Society Islands which include Mo'orea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Ra'iatea and Taha'a. Apparently, it's pretty touristy and not as beautiful as the others so we'll just get a few provisions and a few bits for the boat and then we'll go off and explore a bit before our friends, Bob and Roz, join us from Australia on 2 July. This weekend the Tahiti tourist board has the Tahiti-Mo'orea Sailing Rendez-vous planned. Starts Friday evening with cocktails and the 'skipper blessing' (?) then on Saturday we all sail to Mo'orea for a barbecue on the beach and Tahitian dancing. Sunday is a 'full day of Polynesian entertainment' traditional canoe race, sports, Tahitian lunch and more dancing. As we now know lots of the cruisiers, it should be a cracking weekend. Photos will be available soon!