Pause in Papeete

Papeete, Tahiti

December 12, 2014

Booh… I’ve been silent for way too long.  I must say that Internet connection in French Polynesia is probably the worst we’ve seen anywhere in the last 8 years.  Slow, unreliable and super-expensive, so many reasons to be “fiu”of using the Internet at all.  A quick check on our e-mail server, a quick Facebook hello, and that’s it.  Posting this page and pix is probably going to take over an hour!  Actually, the site is blocked and I can’t access it… so says the Network administrator…  But, here we go…

JP is on his 7^th week of building Do-Mini, our new hard dinghy.  Our friend William, who lives in Tahiti, has been kind enough to lend us workspace and machines so that JP can build his dream dinghy.  After “Scrappy” (too wet) and “Pitufina” (too small), we’d purchased a 9.5 AB inflatable, aluminum bottom.  I liked the alu bottom, but JP has hated the craft since day 1.  He found it unstable and a real engineering nonsense, lots of wasted space, and the outboard sticks out the back, hitting DOMINO’s hulls every time we raise the dink.  He’s wanted to replace it for years, never finding his dream.  So, he planned it, made a model, and built it.  Tonight’s the night!

We also hauled out… 23 days at Technimarine, Fare Ute, Papeete.  This is the only facility to haul out larger yachts in all of French Polynesia.  Titaina and Alain are real pros.  Tita runs the yard with an iron fist in a velvet glove.  

Our main goal was to fix a few scrapes (Pegase III had hit us and left our port sides full of cuts and bruises) and to change the chain and bow rollers.  While we were out, we decided to do our bottom painting.  It took 12 days of sanding … TWELVE days!!! Before getting to the bottom layer and finding micro-bubbles in many places, but mostly where we had lain Kevlar: water had gotten into and behind the Kevlar, needed to scrape and dry and prime, etc…. It was an ugly job.  Kevlar is NOT a good thing to have below water: it does not absorb the resin but will absorb water!  While fixing the scrape from the reef encounter, JP removed entire strips of waterlogged Kevlar!

With all these boat-related activities, we found a few occasions to participate in the local life.

A one-night stay at the “Quai des Bateaux” (former Quai Bir-Haquem) was welcome. Note that the city is planning a big marina downtown... to come, some day... 

Nothing like being in the middle of town, at a hard dock, and going out for a drink!  Oh, but at 2 AM, a local had decided to climb on the flybridge to have a beer and taunt his friends.  At first, I thought it was just a rat scampering up the deck, but that sounded a bit big for a rat, light-footed as the youngster might have been.  I opened the saloon hatch to peer up to the flybridge, and sure enough, my party animal was enjoying the view from the top.  “Ben alors, on s’embête pas! (Well, No worries, uh?” I boomed at him… “Desolé, je suis un peu bourré (sorry I’m a bit drunk)” and he scampered back down, across the dock where the rest of his party was hollering!

We’ve been in Tahiti many times over the last 20 years, so we’ve skipped the museums and galleries and tried to catch the current events.  La Foire Agricole gave us an idea of the wealth of flowers, fruits and vegetables of this rich territory, the Tahitians’ beloved “Fenua.”

But it was the evening at the “Hura Tapairu,” the traditional dance competition that won our hearts.  Unlike the “Heiva” (Le Juillet, The July Festival) which is held during the entire month of July and rounds up thousands of participants in all the islands,  the “Hura Tapairu” sees “Ori” (traditional dance) schools compete for the crown of best dancers in 2 main categories:  The “Mehura” (short traditional tableau with all the right moves) and the “Hura Tapairu” (long, multi-tableaux story, legend or tale.)  

In the final contest, 6 Mehura troops and 4 Hura Tapairu troops battled it out.  There is no way I can convey the assault on the senses: the energy, the blissful smell of Tiare and coco bloom, and a million flowers and flashing smiles…

I’ll leave you on this thought… the marvel of Tahitian legends!

  Happy Holidays to all (here is my Holiday Quilt:  “Nights in Moorea.”)

Dominomarie