Hello Tahiti

Finally getting a weather window to depart the Tuamotus, we took it with zeal. It took an hour and a half to motor our way out of our last atoll and into the open waters of the Pacific Ocean where we were able to raise the sails and shut down the old Perkins. For the next 300+ nautical miles we sailed WSW towards the largest island we would encounter in French Polynesia – Tahiti. It would take us a total of 76 hours at sea to get there, and we happily sailed the majority of the distance, only restarting the Perkins in the final day as the wind died off. On that same day we got a fly-over my a military plane, who then contacted us on the radio to ensure we knew – we had not – of the restrictions near the Olympic Village at the south end of Tahiti. As luck would have it, we were arriving in the early hours, just one day before the Olympic surfing competition began.

We passed nearby the mysterious bird on our chart

We decided not to go to the main anchorage that most go to when coming to Tahiti, mostly because it is literally under the airport path and a 1 hour dinghy ride (for us, our dinghy is slow) from the nearest landing. We knew we would be going ashore often enough, and an hour each way just would not do, especially considering there was yet another big blow forecast in the coming days which would make each hour at least miserable if not dangerous. We chose the off-the-beaten-path anchorage of Phaeton Bay to spend our time.

From this anchorage we could more easily get to shore where there were numerous grocery stores (which we hit no less than three times before leaving), a laundromat (which we did a single load of laundry for a total of $22 USD), a McDonald’s (I was craving *any* fast food meal by this time… it was not good at all), and a couple car rentals. The later was the big thing. We knew we were here at least a few days, and had one quest to accomplish while on Tahiti; to get propane (or butane actually, as it is the fuel of choice out here).

Coming up on four months since our last propane fill, we were on the final quarter tank of our two 5-gallon tanks. It was vital we got fuel, for morning coffee if for nothing else. I can eat cold meals, but I will not have cold coffee in the mornings! The nearest place to have our tank refilled was an hour’s drive away, hence the rental car. Unfortunately, after making the drive, we were told that it would take many days, possibly a week, to get the tank filled (it is picked up to be filled only twice a week and that very morning was a pickup). We simply could not wait that long, so hoped our one last option – on the next island – would pan out. At least we found the local water-fill stations along the road and made sure to fill our two jerry cans each time we were ashore. It really helps save a lot of battery usage back on Meriwether.

Since we had the car, Kerri and I did take a day to explore some of the touristy stuff. This included a drive up the other side of the island to Arahoho Blowhole and Fa’aruma’i Waterfalls. We then drove up our side of the island to visit Jardins de Vaipahi which we spotted on our failed propane fill run an to have someone else cook us a meal for a change. It was nice to get out and do something other than chores for a change, but it wasn’t all fun and games. We did make sure to refill those water jugs one last time before returning the car.

We were pretty anxious to get out of the populated island of Tahiti, which is odd isn’t it? So many people spend a lot of hard earned money to visit here, yet we only wanted to get right back out as quickly as we could. It was nice to restock the groceries, but then again we could have gone months longer with the stores we still had onboard Meriwether. Not a lot of variety, but much of our last provisioning in Mexico is still stowing away.

The night before our departure we performed one last task; a shower. The first proper shower either of us have had since the second week of April. Unfortunately, this shower was not much different than any other Mexico-shower; if you are lucky enough to get hot water, it only last for two minutes. Kerri used those two minutes of hot water. So, my last properly-hot shower dates back to September of 2023 during our road trip back in the States.

One final parting gift that Tahiti gave me (and eventually us) was a nasty cold. Neither of us get sick that often thanks to our lifestyle, but I think that also means our abilities to fight off a common illness is much weaker too. This one packed a punch. Pretty much leveled me for three days, with many days longer of slow recovery. Kerri followed suit a week later, on pretty much the same schedule.