Flying back from Papeete airport and had a few hours to visit the market and walk on the shore. Nothing interesting really. Stores, small shops, restaurants. Everything is expensive. The town is way too civilized for my taste.

Got the boat hauled out at a local marina. They don't have a crane and use a tractor to pull it out of the water on a moving platform. The whole process takes about an hour as opposed to 3 minutes with a crane. I guess it saves money for them, though.











That's pretty much it for this year. Flying back to SF in a few days, and the boat's going to stay here until the next season... Unfortunately, this year is very likely to be El Nino, and local people expect a storm, even though Tahiti hasn't seen one in 20+ years. We'll see.

The island has been visible for a couple of days, but I didn't want to risk going through the reefs in the dark and waited till the morning to enter the bay. Quite a nice anchorage. No swell, not much wind. A lot of boats look unattended, which is probably a good sign.

Caught yellowfin tuna yesterday. I wish there was pamplemouse onboard (which is what they call pamelo in Marquesas), and I could have made hamachi kurudo with pamelo, green and red pepper slices.