EVEN THE BEST SOMETIMES LOSE ANCHORS

19th - 23rd January: With teeth fixed and a working fridge we were hoping to do a bit of touristy stuff around Tahiti, but foiled once again: The wind got up/turned very northerly, so plans to revisit the Coral Gardens to do some more snorkelling got shelved, then I got bitten by ants, or something and suffered from a swollen/itching arm - we'd ample anti-hystamines aboard, admittedly fairly old ones to treat the problem as reactions to insect bites aren't something that ever usually bothers either of us. The arm was too uncomfortable to consider driving/riding a scooter - we'd planned hiring one for a tour of the island - so instead we took a bus to the 'Tahiti and the Islands Museum' and arrived there to discover that it's closed for the next three weeks for maintenance/repairs and stocktaking, though we did at least see one of Captain Cook's anchors which is displayed outside.
The lad could certainly navigate/survey though, ably assisted by amongst others one William Bligh, who later became famous/infamous as Captain Bligh of the Bounty. The loss of three anchors was noted in the Cook's-log, along with details of the ship's position and a course/distance from there to each anchor, so in 1978 an expedition was mounted to try and find them, based that information. After months of preparation the divers and support boats arrived in the relevant bay, began their search using GPS co-ordinates and found the first anchor in just forty minutes, precisely where Cook had said it would be. The other two were also where the log said they would be, but as they'd become completely encased within the coral, they were left in place rather than damage the reef to recover them. So, we perhaps shouldn't be too impressed with Cook, as if he'd bothered to look at his chart-plotter or the local Pilot Books the 'Marine Preservation Area/No-Anchoring' restrictions where he lost the anchors are clearly marked.
Our abortive trip to the museum was very much the 'final straw' with regard to Tahiti: Like everyone else the island is one of the few South Pacific islands whose name we grew up knowing - in part perhaps from Mutiny on the Bounty films? Though both of those were actually filmed predominantly on Moorea rather than Tahiti - and picturing it as a Tropical Paradise. Don't get me wrong, it is quite cute in parts, but having arrived indirectly, it just couldn't compete with the islands that preceded it. Tahiti is French Polynesia's Commercial, Industrial, Transportation and Government/Civic hub rather than a tourist destination in itself; 95% of visitors arrive at Papeete's airport, but 90% of those are taking the first airplane, ferry or cruise ship out to somewhere else. After months spent floating around islands with populations measured in hundreds or even just a few dozen (Nuku Hiva and Ua Pou with about 2500 each were by far the most populous) sharing Tahiti with almost a ¼ million was a dose of reality that we could do without; I'd forgotten about things like traffic-jams and any interesting walks invariably began and ended with a couple of miles through suburbia! Even as a commercial/industrial centre it didn't perform as well as we'd hoped, we did get several repairs and maintenance jobs done - not least fixing the fridge - but it's a long way from the 'real world' and being a place where French-socialism meets 'Island Time' ensures that not much is easy to obtain and nothing at all happens quickly.
24th January: We never did manage a successful visit the museum nor take a car/scooter trip 'around the island', though we had at least sailed around more of it than most. With a forecast for a decent sailing breeze and no rain squalls/storms for a couple of days at least (we're solidly into the wet/cyclone season now) we replenished the larder/fridge, scraped the hull and propeller clear of weed, upped anchor and waved farewell to Spirit of Argo, Kefi and Bella Nave (for how long I wonder?) before sailing up through Papeete Harbour, then west to Opunohu Bay on the north side of Moorea, about twenty five miles away. Bright sunshine, flat(ish) seas and a 15-20 knot breeze on the starboard quarter, gave us the best passage either of us we could recall for an awfully long time; also soon noticeable was how 'fresh' the air felt/smelt/tasted once we were just a few miles away from the traffic and urban sprawl of Papeete.
In conclusion, a few more words regarding Wiiliam Bligh: He was a brilliant sailor/navigator - the open boat voyage that he and the loyal crewmen made from here to Australia ranks up there with Ernest Shackleton's passage from Antarctica to the Falkland Islands - and far from being the sadistic bully that the Hollywood films portray, he was (by the standards of the time) considered to be very moderate and perhaps too easy-going a Captain, who was simply doing his job. Fletcher Christian meanwhile was an out and out wrong-un, who along with the rest of the mutineers was enjoying a far better lifestyle in Polynesia than he'd ever known back home. But Marlon Brando/Mel Gibson were far better looking than Charles Laughton/Anthony Hopkins and the story was more to Hollywood's taste and profitability spun that way. The ship and crew had taken a kicking at Cape Horn on the passage out - after more than a month of trying to sail around it east to west, Bligh'd eventually conceded defeat and sailed the 'long way around' re-crossing the Atlantic, passing South Africa and Australia to arrive here from the west. - and they didn't fancy re-visiting it. No cruelty, sadism, or madness from the Captain, no dying of scurvy, starvation or thirst for the crew, just a straightforward mutiny incited by Fletcher Christian and fuelled by the choice between a return to England via Cape Horn or a continuation of the easy living/lots of casual sex that they were enjoying in Polynesia; to be fair I would've probably joined the mutiny too.