Escaped at last

La Orana!

I write this from the lagoon on a mooring between Raiatea and Tahaa! The ocean is lapping quietly at the hulls and there is a delicious (mosquito free) cooling breeze wafting through the cabin. Further away waves are crashing on the reef and kite-surfers are fizzing over the turquoise blues of the shallow water, their yellow, red and azur kites somehow managing not to collide. When the waves run out they lift off the surface making acrobatic turns in the air before alighting in the other direction and racing off towards the deeper indigo coloured waters nearer Papillon. As they gather speed the boards rise up smoothly onto foils beneath - now they are gliding over the surface, bodies lying virtually parallel to the water, single hands casually holding onto harnesses, spare hands cheerfully waving as the boards whizz by us with less than a boat length to spare. It is quite mesmerising. Our attempts to swim around the boat this afternoon seem uncoordinated and laboured by comparison! 

Kite-surfers at the reef

getting closer

We arrived here yesterday after an early departure from the marina. Neither of us had slept much – we were nervous how she would handle under power and under sail. Papillon has virtually not been out of the marina for 5 years and like an unused car anything could happen. We slipped our lines with the help of Paul and Flore at about 6.30am and reversed gently back. A fairly brisk easterly wind was complicating manoeuvres but anchor buoys, mooring lines pontoon posts and multiple million dollar “Dream Yacht Charter” catamarans were all avoided and with words of encouragement from our fellow berth holders we finally left Uturoa marina a few minutes later after our 8 week stay. Glancing across at the helm Skipper looked relaxed – all was good with the world, we were back on the water at last. 

last night in the marina

leaving the marina behind at last!

Our chosen passage out to the moorings took the long way round avoiding the worst of the shallows. Papillon might be a new boat but it was almost uncanny how quickly we settled back into our “boat roles”. As usual I was on navigation but with all the buoys, cardinals and markers exactly where they were supposed to be my skills were hardly required and I could just enjoy the ride. We motored smoothly across the lagoon in the morning sunshine, passing by pearl farms on stilts on the reef and watching the buildings on neighbouring Tahaa finally come into focus all nestled against a backdrop of green forested hills. It was indeed beautiful. No sailing was actually done but both engines behaved perfectly and about an hour and a half later we reached our destination. It wasn’t perhaps the most effortless retrieval of a mooring buoy but we did it and by 9.30am were sipping our first coffee of the day feeling mightily pleased with ourselves! 

Tahaa coming into focus

first passage successfully completed

Since then, we have enjoyed the peace out here. We share the space with some other, mainly French we think, live-aboards but since we are on the furthest west mooring we have uninterrupted views and amazing sunsets from the cockpit (at least as long as the trade winds last). 

Cargo ship arriving at dusk

Stripes in the sky at sunset

This morning’s peace was slightly interrupted by our neighbours attempting to haul an unoccupied boat off the reef  It had slipped its mooring and run aground overnight. Despite all their efforts they were having no success. Now in this department it might surprise you that we do have some experience. Loading the boom with heavy objects (in our case a water laden dinghy all those years ago) is usually enough to careen a boat (place on its side) and float it off the bottom. We excitedly launched the dinghy ready to impart our elderly wisdom but sadly, it was not required. We had hardly set off when the stricken boat came free. The salvage was triumphantly towed away and the wrinklies slunk back to their boat somewhat deflated. In the absence of any salvage or a good sailing wind we decided to take a dinghy ride into town instead, this time using the short cut behind the motu. I don’t think we would like motor this way in Papillon as some of the coral heads (“potatoes” or “bommies” as they call them out here) are pretty close to the surface but it’s a good route in the dinghy. Town was mobbed when we arrived. We had forgotten that the Uturoa car fair had started - a precious week in the annual calendar when new cars can be purchased (and hopefully, but I don’t know this, old ones taken away). The preparations have been extensive. An army of men worked from dawn till dusk for 3 days last week viciously strimming a piece of waste ground just short of the town. Unlike the crane workers none were in T shirts and shorts.  All were fully clothed, eyes peeking out through layers of scarves wrapped tightly around their heads to protect them from …what exactly? The noise, the diesel fumes, flying grass, mosquito bites, scuttling ground crabs, the sun … take your pick but from my perspective not selling points for "grass strimmer" as an alternative career. It looked horrendous. So it was with some surprise that I found myself greeted with cheerful calls of “La Orana (Hello and good health) as I walked by them each day. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad job after all or perhaps they were just excited about the prospect of a new car? After the strimming fest the freshly cut grass was rapidly covered with white marquees, erected side by side in smart rows to host car traders from all over the world. Huge cargo ships arrived throughout the week transporting the cars for the event and by Monday night everything was ready: row after row of brand new cars, metallic paintwork glinting in the evening sun, parked between fluttering manufacturers' flags all underneath pristine white canvas. It had been quite a production in the making. Sadly despite all the solar energy here few if any were electric.  In the absence of any charging stations it seems petrol is still the preferred option here in Raiatea.

the cars arriving

 

Seriously - I thought it was Chinese now

Whatever takes your fancy

Unlike everyone else, you may be surprised to hear that we are not in the market for a new car so did not go to the fair this morning. Instead, after tying up the dinghy in the town dock we turned left for Champion and then decided to treat ourselves to coffee and croissant at Bon Apetahi. The “treat” turned out to be greater than anticipated due to the unexpected arrival of the “Cheeky Boys” in their outrigger canoes (Skipper’s naming not mine!). These enterprising young locals conduct boat trips out into the lagoon and seem to be very popular... with the ladies. Now this could be due to their obvious skills in conversation but I think has probably more to do with their unusual dress code. They wear red and white shirts accompanied by loin cloths (of varying lengths - you figure!) so depending which leg is raised on the transom or which line is slipped on the dock customers sometimes get more “views” than they were bargaining for. For us observers tittering over our coffees it always makes for entertaining viewing and this morning did not disappoint!! 

Uturoa's patisserie

Those cheeky boys!

Leaving with the ladies in his outrigger canoe

And finally I will share a quick account of my Mothers Day present. In the absence of any children in the same time zone I was treated by my nearest and dearest to a Tahitian dance class. Flore, our social secretary was, not surprisingly the instigator of this entertainment and Malcolm only agreed to it because he can’t refuse Flore! The dance class was for 2 hours and by the end of it we were expected to have learnt a Tahitian foxtrot. I’m not sure whether we can say we achieved that but it was certainly great fun. Skipper’s excuse was that he had been up since 2am to watch the rugby. I’m not sure what mine was but here is a video of what we should have looked like and another of our efforts…and that was after 2 hours. Maybe I’m not cut out for Strictly Come Dancing after all!!