Sorry that we've not written much on the blog recently. We have been inside of the atoll in Tahiti and doing pretty much mundane things. Going to the store. Going to town on the bus. Catching up on some boat work.



Papeete is a big town and it is the capitol of French Polynesia. You can find pretty much anything you are looking for especially if it is food related and French. There are many stores and a city feel when you walk on the streets. The daily vegetable market is the cleanest we have ever seen and it was very pleasant to visit. One thing is extraordinary... the price of everything! Other than the few subsidized food items like bread, butter, and other basics, the prices are at least a double over what we are used to. Gasoline is about $7.00 US per gallon. It is a wonder that the population here has enough money to live in this economy. We have heard that France pours billions into this area but we don't know how the people earn enough to even eat here.



There is a large private yachty population that is constantly coming and going and bringing money into the marina and the supermarket with some overflow into the town and especially the hardware and chandleries. The center of town is bustling with private boats at the town quay. There is an abundance of shops specializing in Tahitian pearls but nobody is in them. We hear the pearl business is down 75 percent or so.



We did have some excitement about two weeks ago when a new weather front came in and blew up to 40 knots through the anchorage. There were 4 foot high waves and since the anchorage is relatively deep at 50 feet there were several boats that broke free and dragged their anchor. One even ended up on the rocks and was lost. I ended up saving one by going aboard and dropping more anchor chain luckily before it hit anyone downwind. This boat broke free and threaded a needle as it drifted through the anchorage avoiding maybe 6 boats before she was controlled. Most of the yachties just stayed on their boats and were content to let the dragging vessels go. My experience has been that sailors usually rise to the occasion and rescue whomever or whatever when required but this group was quite different. Nobody wanted to be a hero.



I about a week and a half we expect to leave Tahiti and continue on. We'll have more to write about and hopefully we won't be delinquent again!



From the Crew of Always Saturday