Tahiti – Cruising Notes:
May-June 2002
Weather:
The weather in the Tahiti area was mostly light winds for us, and occasionally affected by low and high pressure systems passing to the south of us, making the winds shift counterclockwise from the SE all the way around to the SW and blow hard for a day or 2. So you need to make sure you have room to swing 360 degrees.
The salty sailors are telling us we need to pay attention
to the weather much more from here on in and get a forecast before setting
sail.
Its not that easy to get weather info here – there is a French forecast but it was too fast for my high school French, and there is a forecast you can download from Winlink and it is in French too. Weather charts from New Zealand are quite general and cover a large area, and don’t have the nice wind arrows and sea heights like the Caribbean charts. But we have heard that there are several weather forecasters who give out weather as we get further west.
Even thought we had cleared in at the Marquesas and posted the bond and all, in Papeete we still had to check with port control, customs, immigration and fill out all the paperwork again and they stamped the passports again.
Some cruisers reported customs boarding their boats (in the Tuamotus mostly) and sealing up the wine & liquor but did not care about the opened bottles.
Still using Charlies Charts. MaxSea electronic charts are pretty accurate but I still think you would be crazy to use them at night around any kind of reefs or passes so there you are. Also we always have paper charts.
We anchored temporarily at Papeete and went in to see the port captain and customs etc. Then he wanted us to move out of the main harbour (probably to keep the area clear for large ships and ferries). So we moved down to Maeva Beach where all the cruisers hang out. Depth is anywhere from 30-50 ft and there are many boats on homemade moorings so you have to watch for this. You can anchor near the island side or the reef side (reef side is cleaner for watermakers). Nobody really wants us cruisers here, in fact, there is a local boat association who had to fight for shore access to get to the street – the hotel wanted us out of here. So there is a dinghy dock, but the hotel will only tolerate your dinghy at a certain little section of it, the marina will let you put your dinghy there but want about 3.00 per use (!) and don’t you dare put your trash in the bin there, it is for marina people, and you start to feel like a real scumbag because you are just a lowly liveaboard.
Goods &
Services:
Provisions - The legendary high prices of Tahiti are true. Food is good but expensive, we only bought fresh stuff and some meat when we had to but we ate from our provisions mostly. All the beer we bought in Panama is gone (should have bought double the amount). Beer is sky high at $32.00 (U.S.) per case of 24. Have not checked wine in detail but it runs from $6 up. The advice would be to bring all your own stuff – to eat AND drink.
Boat stuff - Available but hard to find and/or expensive. We are having some necessary stuff sent in from West Marine in the states because we have to have it, but will have to pay lots for freight. Sail repair, engine repair, fridge, haul out is all available in or near Papeete and there are lots of cruisers who have been here a long time to direct you to the right places.
Gas, diesel, propane – all available. Gasoline is around $1.30/liter & diesel $1.00. You can get diesel for about half the going rate by asking at customs for a little form entitling you as a ‘yacht in transit’ to a duty free price, no limit. Propane for tanks with North American fittings is filled twice a week in Papeete, just ask around.
Entertainment – surprisingly, there is not a lot to do here. Because costs for things are so high we are not eating at restaurants (well, sometimes a treat at McDonald’s), or doing the happy hour thing ashore. Snorkeling is poor – no fish, the locals have eaten everything. We did take Le Truck (the bus) for about $1.00 into Papeete to eat at the gypsy wagons which set up every night in the center of town and that cost about $9.00 each for a huge plate of food – one would have fed two people. Other that that there are no deals. Internet cafes are expensive at $8.00/hour. So we cruisers are entertaining ourselves while we all wait for parts and/or spouses who have flown home.
We have heard that the other islands in this chain – Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora are prettier, cheaper and better snorkeling. We’ll see.
In general, Tahiti is not a bad place to hang out while you are waiting for something but I think the other islands must be better.