We came to Tahiti with a long list of things to do, starting with simply giving the boat a thorough cleaning, and washing everything onboard.
The Papeete lunch of choice seems to be shoving a bunch of Chinese food into a baguette. Solid choice that I won’t argue with.
It’s actually pretty impressive how clean the marina is here in downtown Papeete. They’ve “planted” coral reefs right along the boardwalk for everyone to look at, the water is almost always crystal clear, and there is even a resident turtle that we’ve seen here a bunch of times. He’s one of the cleanest and brightest turtles I’ve ever seen.
Picture of the turtle when we look down, and a picture of the city and the mountains behind them when we look up.
Kids doing kid stuff, while I fiddle with European power cords. In order to get a little dock power onto the boat (Euro 220 power on the dock, and a boat with US style 110 don’t mix) I bought a Euro extension cord and a standard 10amp automotive battery charger. We just run the extension cord from the dock, through a window and into the battery compartment to power the automotive battery charger. Simple enough solution for the few times we expect to run into this issue around the world.
I always find a gleaming picture of the bathroom on the camera after Ali has been in there scrubbing away. And yes, filling those old mounting holes is on the to-do list this week.
One of the main projects on the to-do list is fixing the mast lights. First we lost our running lights. Shortly after that we lost our anchor light. And not long after that we lost our steaming light. I didn’t even notice until later that there was also a deck light that was out. For the past few weeks we’ve been cruising at night with no lights and anchoring with no lights. Ali’s not a fan.
I was happy to find replacements with the same mounting holes. That was step one. After that it took four trips up and down the mast to get everything installed and working. Well, not 100% working. One of the wires going to the top of the mast must be broken somewhere inside the mast. In the end I had to choose between an anchor light and navigation lights. We chose the nav lights, since we can also flip those on when at anchor if we need to. Eventually I’ll need to run a new set of wires through the mast, but time and energy have run out on this project for the time being.
Hello Car has made getting around town pretty easy. They have electric scooters (motorcycle type) and cars so we can make some quick runs to the grocery store for stocking up without having to go through the hassle of renting a car at an office.
The Presidential Palace. The one guard waved us through to let us take pictures, then pointed out how we can apply to get a tour. We go next week. No snipers on the roof here from what we can see.
And a slow stroll home from the President, to the waterfront, to the park, to the boardwalk, and home.
9 Comments on “Papeete Boat Prep”
Love the pictures and experiencing this through your eyes.
The turtle was amazing. Love the night shots too.
Thanks, Zaneta!
I used solar powered garden lights at anchor when my masthead light died. Very cheap at a home store (maybe not so much in Papeete), one on a burgee halyard and one stuck into a piece of PVC on the stern rail. They cast light out and down, lighting the deck and making the boat very visible in a dark anchorage, but not do bright as to destroy night vision. Approaching my boat in the dinghy at night, it was the easiest one to see. Even after fixing the official anchor light I still used the garden lights in addition.
Great pics…..Sure are some massive yachts for neighbors..and Ali the bathroom is spotless…lol…
You could open a sandwich shop in a college town selling those and make a killing!
Wow is about all I can say. Looks like a fun place to hang out and beautiful also. Your kids are getting such a rich experience and education.
I sure am loving the pictures from this trip. What are you using for your camera nowadays? There’s been a ton of outstanding photos lately. Specifically speaking of the pic of all four kids on computers/devices, do you find yourself running into folks you know a lot, or are Lowe and Ouest just quick to make friends? Wishing you all well. I look forward to each new post.
Some kind of “anchor” light nearer deck level, like under the boom, is a good idea in a crowded anchorage to recognise your boat, but also for places where fishermen go through at speed at night, and are not used to seeing yachts anchored. They don’t think to look up. By having near deck level part of your boat is also lit up. We used both deck and masthead anchor lights together.
Been enjoying reading about your latest cruising, thanks for all the effort you put into it. The last picture sure brings home your earlier observation of how high the hulls are of modern cats. The comparison between Bumfuzzle and Lightspeed (A42 still remains my dream boat) really brings it home.