Ever since Captain Cook visited her shores, the island of Tahiti has held great appeal for mariners. To sail into Papeete harbour at sunrise is apparently what every sailor dreams of. The experience did not disappoint! With glassy seas and the sun peaking through scattered cloud the high craggy peaks and grassy slopes of the island looked magnificent. Skipper JD - on the graveyard morning watch - woke his bleary crew for a photo shoot and some celebrating. With only 3000 nm to get back to Oz (out of approx 14,000 for the whole trip) and the prospect of island hopping through exotic sounding places like Bora Bora, Vava'u, Musket Cove to get home, Tahiti represents a huge milestone in our trip.
We are now safely tucked up in a marina in Papeete and we are enjoying the creature comforts of shore power, unlimited water and having a Carrefour supermarket nearby. The past few week of
boat camping and living in the remote Tuamotus now seem a distant memory. Thankfully Skipper JD has started wearing clothes again and importantly, we do not need to be so frugal with our water usage. We found ourselves in the rather bizarre situation of being surrounded by water but being low in our tanks with the drinking variety. So salt water showers were the order of the day! Thanks to cousin Deano who bought us some great saltwater soap/shampoo we have managed to feel surprisingly clean. Luckily due to the kindness of some "big boat' friends we were also able to top up the tanks using water from their military grade watermakers!
So this week the plan, apart from seeing the sites of Tahiti, is to get a few boat jobs done with the fixing of our broken Watermaker being a high priority. With JD's sister and husband flying in from Hong Kong on Thursday, a general spruce up of Nika is also in order. We are very excited (the kids beside themselves) as they will join us to sail throughout the Society Islands (named by Captain Cook in honour of the Royal Geographice Society) from Tahiti up to Bora Bora.
On the pearl front I am pleased to report that we managed to buy a couple of beautiful black Tuamotu pearls. John's sister Kimberley (ex corporate banker turned jewellery designer - check out www.doublehappinessbykimberley.com) has offered to make up a setting which is very exciting!
That's about it for now - love hearing from you via the comments on the blog or via email. Please note we have had some trouble receiving emails so if we have not replied (usually within a week) try again as it may have gone AWOL in transit via the satphone!