Our weather window to leave Fakarava and head to Tahiti dragged out a few days later than we thought it would. We don’t have long stay visas, which means we’re on the clock here and will need to be leaving French Polynesia by the end of the month. We figured we’d better try and get a few of our Tahiti boat projects done in Fakarava while we waited.

I had worried that we didn’t have enough propane on the boat for this trip, but in over two months we hadn’t even completely drained two out of three of these little tanks.

The weather didn’t feel bad inside the atoll, and the winds didn’t look overwhelming on the forecasts, but after looking at the wave forecast, I decided we’d stay put for a Thursday departure. In the end it was the right decision. We had friends leave on Monday and Tuesday and they all got beat up pretty good.

Meanwhile, we left with incredible weather. Ten knots of wind, light following seas, and the Parasailor pulling us along at 7 knots.

Pretty glorious sail on day one. But, as predicted, the winds slowly died away. By the middle of the night we’d be moving at about 3 knots with 4-5 knots of wind.

And by the morning of day two the wind was reading 0.0 knots. Ali made the crack that I’m still picking “trawler weather” and I can’t say that she’s wrong. But hey, any day that the ocean isn’t beating you into submission is a good day. I’m feeling pretty good about having knocked out our first ~4,000 miles of this trip without any miserable “get me off this boat!” weather.

After a quick two night trip, we closed in on Tahiti while the sun rose behind us.

As instructed we called Port Control on the VHF and were given the all clear to come on in through the pass.

I know I keep mentioning the number of boats out here cruising, but it truly is incredible to me. The number of cruisers has absolutely skyrocketed in the past twenty years. Last time we were here there was no marina in town. We simply pulled in, dropped our anchor, and backed up to the quay where we tied off the stern and stepped right out onto the sidewalk in downtown Papeete. Now there is a marina that is always at 100% capacity. They don’t even bother with reservations. First-come, first-served. We had friends here who had told us if we arrived in the morning we might be able to snag a spot. We were looking forward to a few days on the dock to stock up the groceries, wash the boat from top to bottom, and whip out some projects. Upon coming in we weren’t feeling too confident, though.

We pulled into an empty spot that we knew we couldn’t stay in because it belonged to a day-charter company that was just out with some tourists. Then we talked to a few people and found out a catamaran was leaving at noon. We watched them like a hawk for a couple hours, and when we started to see activity on the boat we pulled out and drifted nearby. They said they’d be another half hour and asked if we just wanted to tie up alongside them. Seriously? Of course we do. Can’t get much more first-come first-served than being tied up to the boat that is leaving.

Later on I was talking to the harbor master at the marina and we both agreed that every year there are more and more boats. He said the anchorage right now has over 200 boats in it. Not to mention there is a huge marina just a couple miles away that holds some 550 boats. They also don’t seem to bother with reservations.

Our neighbors probably have a washer and a drier on their boats, from the looks of it. It’d be tacky to hang clothes from your helicopter propellers.

Quick trip to the market to see what sort of food we could rustle up. It was late in the day so there wasn’t much available. I did grab some flowers, though.

We wash the boat occasionally while we’re out cruising, but it never gets the good deep washing that you can get at a dock. Feels so good to have a clean boat.

Ali cleaning and taking stock of the food supplies. Not much left on the boat right now.

We arrived on Saturday and found out on Sunday that the tall ship that was in port was leaving the next morning. Off we went for our free tour.

Just a few short months ago these kids were walking down the sidewalks in Puerto Vallarta like this.

Peru’s Navy built this beast about ten years ago. It’s a training vessel for cadettes, but I think its main purpose is to sail around the world and spread Peruvian goodwill. They welcomed us aboard, gave us a quick five minute talk, and then set us free to walk around.

It looks like the coolest playground ever.

Later on in the evening we walked down the waterfront and had a drink overlooking the nearby island of Moorea while the kids all went off for ice cream and to hang out in the huge park.

Nice end to a busy day in Papeete.