Papeete, Pals, Pompiers and Heiva

The outstanding street art in Papeete. This one was so beloved it was made into a postal stamp.

We've been in Papeete for over a month, taking care of boat repairs/upgrades, visiting with friends, and seeing the sights of beautiful Papeete.

Our marina neighbors aboard BIG FISH showing off their outside fuel tank. We met these guys last year in Fakarava. Adrien (right) is the local kiting instructor.

One night we were enjoying the sunset behind the mega-yacht Ethereal who was doing sail maintenance.

Then we noticed this guy WAY at the top. Bet he had a good view.

Upon arriving in Papeete our first order of business was to have a new lazy bag, aka stackpack, constructed for Cinnabar. Our old mainsail cover was in shreds and our huge mainsail, brand new, crisp and slippery, was almost impossible to handle the old-fashioned way by flaking it on the boom. Almost all the cruising boats that don't have in-mast or in-boom furling seem to use these long boom bags that double as sail covers. The idea is that you drop the mainsail directly into the bag and then zip it closed.

We had contracted Tahiti Sails last season to make the bag and put us on their schedule since we knew we'd be here during the "high season", and boy was it crowded at the downtown City Marina when we arrived. We came smack in the middle of the Pacific Puddle Jump fleet who were all waiting to do the popular Tahiti-To-Moorea Sail Rally held at the end of every June. Additionally, this year there was also a big Oyster fleet doing a group circumnavigation and many of them happened to be there too.

Sebastien measures the sail for the new lazy bag.

Sebastian from Tahiti Sails came out to measure CINNABAR for her new "outfit". We provided the fabric and special Tenara thread which we transported aboard SHINDIG when we did the Puddle Jump earlier this year. 

Sebastien finally installs the finished cover weeks after his first measurements.

Cinnabar's new look, no more sail hanging over the boom, now it's all on top.

We had also noticed a small leak in one of our main cabin windows during a heavy rain, so one of Tom's first projects was to remove the old sealant (sticky, gooey and black) from all four windows, tape off the windows, and re-seal them. Luckily the glue that was holding them in place was still good so he didn't have to remove them for the job.

NOT a fun task but Tom did a great job.

This was a several-day project, very messy, but the end result was perfect as all the windows passed the shooting-water-at-them test.

One of my projects was to purchase some tropical material and make cushion covers for our exterior and interior cushions. So Cinnabar got a new facelift inside as well as out. 

Many thanks to TUMBLEWEED who loaned me their machine.

One night we were surprised when a stranger stopped by to introduce himself. Turns out it was Josh from North Sails New Zealand who had sold us our new sails last year. He was working for North Sails when they made our original sails in 2001. He was on his way to Nuku Hiva to do a major sail repair on a huge yacht. He noticed Cinnabar in the marina and offered to go sailing with us on his way back home to check out the new sails.

Josh is a great guy and we appreciated him spending time with us. That's what we call great customer service!

There are many festivals and sports events in Tahiti throughout the year and one of the most important is the Heiva, a month-long celebration of Tahitian dance, music, culture and sports. Last year we missed Papeete's Heiva, so this year we were determined to enjoy some of the festivities. The climax to Heiva is the big dance and music competition held in July, but there were many other activities leading up to this that start in June.

Random parade in honor of Heiva

This Polynesian beauty was more interested in me than the parade.

My dock neighbor told me about a celebration of crafts, called Heiva Rima'i, representing the five archipelagos of French Polynesia, so one day at the end of June I took off my sandals, donned my walking shoes, and walked the 1.5 miles from the marina to the fairgrounds. The grounds were filled with tents where people were selling crafts unique to their archipelago. I saw booths filled with pearl jewelry, woven goods, colorful dresses, quilts, pillows, shell jewelry, hats, etc. 

French Polynesia is known for its beautiful woven products.

As I wandered around enjoying the sights a nice woman grabbed me and put me in a long line. Turns out it was a line for a traditional Marquesan buffet filled with breadfruit in different forms, small steamed crabs, bananas prepared different ways, and other things that were a mystery to me.

The Marquesan buffet reminded me that the cuisine from this island group was not our favorite

A woman handed me a large leaf to use as a plate and then put various items onto it. Quite frankly none of it was very tasty and I worried about those little crabs sitting out all day so I slyly slipped it into the trash at the first opportunity. 

On my way back to the marina I passed a large park filled with all of Papeete Fire Department's vehicles and boats. It was kid's day and hordes of children were climbing all over the trucks and taking tours. I stopped to check out the water rescue demonstration which was very interesting. 

Les Pompiers (firemen) and kids enjoying the water rescue

Eventually many of the Puddle Jump and Oyster Rally boats left for the big party in Moorea, so the marina calmed down a bit. Our friends PANGAEA and TUMBLEWEED arrived and it was fun to hang out with them and hear about their journey from the Marquesas, through the Tuamotus, and on to Tahiti. 

Mojito night with Kate and Mike (PANGAEA) and Douglas and Morgan (TUMBLEWEED)

We had some very fun times introducing our friends to Papeete, everything from showing them the best marine supply stores to Girl's Day Out lunches, walks, shopping and enjoying Papeete's fantastic street art. 

We celebrated Kate's birthday at the wonderful cafe La Perchoir, Betsy (ALCYONE), Kate (PANGAEA), Sylvia, and Annie, Kate's visiting friend from Colorado (Photo courtesy of PANGAEA)

Interesting street art at an apartment's entrance

This beautiful piece also decorates an apartment bldg

The highlight for Tom was when he and Mike from PANGAEA took the bus to Point Venus for a day of kiting. 

Our friends aboard SHINDIG, who had stayed longer in the Tuamotus for some good kiting, eventually arrived and it was terrific to spend time with Rob and Nancy again. When they arrived and I went aboard SHINDIG it felt just like home. Imagine that!

The cruisers who had been at the Heiva dance competitions last year raved about them, so we purchased tickets to some of the shows. 

Kate and Sylvia all dolled up for Heiva. 

The shows were nothing less than amazing. Picture at least 100 dancers, men and women, dancing for an hour, with several costume changes, and all the costumes made by hand most of which were woven with leaves, bark and flowers. The women shook their hips so fast it was a blur, all the while moving around on their toes keeping their upper bodies so still, except for graceful hand movements, that it looked like they were floating, not walking. 

The groups went through several costume changes. Who wove all those fantastic costumes? (photo courtesy of Info Tahiti)

Meanwile the men were bounding around, shaking their knees while doing squats and other things that seemed physically impossible for such long periods of time. 

This guy won first place in the men's solo dance. (photo courtesy of Info Tahiti)

All this dancing took place to a large orchestra of drums (various kinds), singing, ukuleles, and nose flutes pounding out a tribal beat that was truly primal and enthralling. The last show we saw was the last night of Heiva. We paid $20 each to see FOUR dance/music groups perform for six hours! We had never seen anything like this spectacle and were completely blown away. 

On our last night we were fortunate enough to see the woman who took first place in the solo dance because her troupe, the 2nd place overall winners, were performing that night. A MUST - Check out this stunning video of her (eat your hearts out Shakira and Beyonce): Hauhani Taputu, best dancer

Now we are doing some final tasks and provisioning in the comfort of Papeete's marina because in a day or so we'll sail over to nearby Moorea which we hear has some fantastic snorkeling and possibly diving. We're looking forward to exploring some new locations in anticipation of our friends Mike and Linda who will arrive to visit us in just three weeks. Inspired by Heiva, Linda and I are already making plans to weave our own outfits.

ALBUM: PAPEETE

The Sights, Sounds and Smells of Papeete

Cinnabar (red boat of course) at the dock

It was quite a culture shock to arrive in downtown Papeete after being in the remote Tuamotus for months. Before approaching the harbor entrance we were required to call port control to make sure we wouldn't have to share the somewhat narrow entrance with any of the numerous ferries and other LARGE commercial vessels that frequent the harbor. As we entered the very busy harbor into downtown Papeete we caught a delectable whiff of toasting coconut and thought "We might just like this city after all."

Based on recommendations from our friends on SCOOTS we headed for the new city marina which is smack in the middle of the downtown. In fact, when you exit the marina gate you have to look carefully both ways because you'll be stepping out right onto the main promenade which always seems to filled with cyclists, skateboarders, runners and pedestrians.

We had to laugh at the no-handrail promenade, something you will probably never see in the U.S. When we asked the marina office about it they assured us that there is a dock ladder at each end "because sometimes a kid falls in." Uh, OK.  

Don't fall in!! Sure wish I had a picture of the kids popping wheelies just 6" from the edge.

One day Tom saw a young skateboarder lose his board into the water. Oops! No problem. With an audience of several cruisers and numerous pedestrians he stripped to his skivvies, jumped into the water, borrowed a mask and snorkel from a nearby boat and retrieved his board.

Papeete is a city of aromas, most of them good. When we first stepped out of the marina we were struck by the strong fragrance of flowers. The city is filled with Plumeria trees and Tiare plants (Tahitian gardenia). The first time I went to the downtown market I smelled it long before I saw it because one section of it is filled with flower vendors selling stalks of exotic (to me) flowers, arrangements, leis and beautiful crowns called heis. 

The sweet-smelling leis and heis

Then there are the numerous restaurants, cafes and bakeries that fill the city which make it smell especially yummy in the mornings when baguettes and croissants are fresh.

Papeete is a very noisy city with all the ship's horns, street traffic (that starts at 04:00) and sirens. The pin pon pin pon (that's the sound a French siren makes) of the ambulances is nearly a constant. At night, well, we are across the street from a karaoke bar; need I say more? 

One morning I woke up, looked out our companionway, and was met by a wall of hundreds of people looking our way. A 1,000 foot cruise ship had arrived and was parked right behind us! For several days these huge monsters came and went (from Hawaii bound for Australia or New Zealand), with them thousands of pale passengers, loud announcements, bells and generators. 

The day we arrived we were happy to be greeted by our friends ATHANOR, MALUHIA and NAOMA waving at us as we motored by . As we were about to pull into the slip MALUHIA Dave calmly remarked "You might want to put out some fenders." Doh! That's what happens after 5 months away from a marina. We got safely docked with a little help from our friends, checked into the marina, enjoyed a long, hot shower courtesy of the facilities, and walked down to the Roulottes for dinner. 

The Roulottes are food trucks and there are about 30 of them in the nearby plaza serving a variety of food such as fresh fish, pizzas, chow-mein, crepes, burgers, the list goes on.

         Food trucks aren't "trending" here, they are a way of life. (photo courtesy of trip Advisor)

The next day I caught the free shuttle from the nearby Visitor Center to the gigantic Carrefour store on the other side of town; it's kind of like an upscale Walmart with lots of beautiful groceries, cheese, fruits, vegetables, electronics and home goods. I felt like I was in Disneyland with all the choices.

Sylvia finds her "sole" mate at the Carrefours. (Actually, it is a huge Opah.)

In addition to the huge Carrefours there are hundreds of stores and shops that sell everything you can imagine. Very close to the marina there is a fantastic City Market, a kind of farmer's market, that sells fresh produce, fish, meat, prepared foods and all sorts of goods and souvenirs including woven hats, perfumes, scented oils, fabrics, jewelry, clothing, etc.

You can even outfit yourself like a Tahitian dancer.

Transportation: there is an OK bus system in Papeete and Tom has taken the bus to Pt. Venus twice to go kiting (but he had to hitch-hike back once because the buses stop early on the weekend). 

Very popular kiting beach at Point Venus

Taxis are VERY expensive here. We were invited to a party at the marina on the other side of town and we ended up renting a scooter for the day ($33) which actually turned out to be slightly cheaper than a bus-to-and-taxi-back option. Plus we got to go sightseeing around the island on our scooter. Mostly we walk, borrow the marina's lender bicycle, or utilize the free shuttle from the Visitor's Center that runs to the 2 Carrefours three days a week. This free shuttle is a temporary program paid for by the Carrefours to assess utilization numbers. I hope they decide to make it permanent as it's a huge benefit to cruisers.

Sightseeing around Tahiti

One of the reasons we came here is because Papeete is a great place to arrange things and get boat work and repairs done. In fact, we ordered our new sails here and they arrived a few days ago from New Zealand. So in addition to sight-seeing and walking around town we have been doing some serious boat work. More about that subject later. And notice how I didn't include "Taste of Papeete" in the title. We're still assessing the restaurants; so far the brew pub (yes!! good beer at last!) is our favorite.

When people ask us how we like Papeete I always think of that part of the Green Acres song that goes "da da da DA da...The Chores! da da da Da da...The Stores!"