Category Archives: Daily Lime

Polynesian Jam Session: Cruiser Style

Our friends, Steve and Lili from the boat Liward came back to French Polynesia after being stateside for the past 10 months.  Steve is a fantastic musician and has put on many jam sessions around French Polynesia.  Our last jam session was called “Rock the Barge” and was held in Huahine.

This time we had to do things a little different.  Technically, no live music is allowed during our confinement.  So, Steve thought, well we can host an impromptu jam session off the back of his boat.  We were all technically respecting the 1 meter distance and we are all vaccinated.

Steve has an all in one guitar which can be used as an electric or acoustic guitar.  He uses a luper where he can record himself playing and then play over it at the same time.  It is amazing to watch and listen to!  Steve plays a lot of Polynesian music and some American rock. 

 

We had about 8 dinghies show up carrying 22 people.  All from the Opunohu anchorage.

Some close ups of our friends.

It started right around dusk and lasted a few hours.  Super cool  We had a beautiful sunset to go with the amazing musical talents of our friend Steve.

Sugar Shack is right next door.  We could have easily seen and heard the music from our boat but it would not have been nearly as fun!

We take the ferry to Tahiti and are duly impressed with the Aremiti 2, the last blog.  Events from this blog post occurred the end of September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Aremiti 2 Ferry

Fun, Ferry Adventure

Typically, we are not too fond of ferries.  They cause huge wakes and can be a bit noisy disrupting the anchorage.  We’ve been watching a variety of different ferries come and go at an unusually high frequency during the last 5 weeks of confinement.  Then one day, we decided, let’s take the ferry to Tahiti.  We needed to run some errands and see a few friends who were departing in October.  Fun, a ferry adventure to change our opinion of ferries!

There are several companies that run between Tahiti and Mo’orea.  There is Aremiti which has 2 boats, Vodaphone, and Teravau. 

Vodaphone and Terevau ferries

Vodaphone and Terevau ferries

We wanted to go on the largest ferry, the Aremiti 2.

Aremiti 2 Ferry

Aremiti 2 Ferry

The tickets are normally $10 (1000xpf) each way / per person. But since we are considered residents, we got a little discount.  Sweet. 

The Aremiti 2 Ferry

You enter from the stern of the boat where the cars load.  It is massive space with multiple floors!  This enormous aluminum boat takes my breath away. 

Aremiti 2 Stern Entrance

Aremiti 2 Stern Entrance

We walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to the main passenger area.  And boy oh boy were we pleasantly surprised.  The first section is the “café” area where they serve snacks, hot and cold drinks, and sandwiches.  You can sit in comfortable seats while on your passage.  Once you pass through this area you go to the “front” of the boat where they have more seats.  Which by the way, I loved the seats as they slightly reclined and had great lumbar support!  None of this straight up and done like in the states (I mean really, who sits like that?).

Before we enjoyed a cold beverage and a seat, we decided to go upstairs to the viewing outdoor area.  Another expanse of seating.  How many people take this ferry?  Gesh!

The view out the front section was spectacular.  As the ferry runs smoothly across the turbulent waters, you can hardly feel a thing.

The ferry averaged 22-23nm per hour and arrived within 45 minutes of our departure.  This trip would have taken Sugar Shack several hours and would not have been nearly as pleasant.

Arrival in Tahiti

Many of you know we have two inflatable paddle boards that we bought used in Bonaire 5 years ago.  They are ok.  1) they are meant for kids so they are short (like 8’9″) and they only  work/float for about an hour before they deflate.  We have had to patch them numerous times.  In fact, Matt has patched the entire seam around each board at least once!  Needless to say it was time to replace them, especially when you consider the fact that Matt uses the board at least 3-4 times a week.  Matt had been watching the Facebook Marketplace for the area and found a hard board for sale.  On the ferry, we texted an offer and he accepted.  Wowza, we were not expecting that!  So, immediately when we disembarked, we found an ATM and met the seller downtown Papeete.

This is a 4-year-old paddle board and is made by Riviera, and designed by Jerry Lopez.  It stands at 11’3” and is 29” wide.  It is a HUGE board!  The seller met us promptly with the board tied to the top of his truck.  Matt had to carry it from there to our friend’s boat which was about ½ mile.  The bottom left photo is the board coming off the ferry in Mo’orea.  It is at the top extending beyond the front and the back – too funny!

Matt buys an 11' stand up paddle board

Matt buys an 11′ stand up paddle board

Errands and Friends

Matt and I run a few errands.  We go to both ACE mart stores, NautiSport, and Sing Tung Hing.  We end up separating as he continues on to Ocean 2000 and HyperBrico.  I had to go to a store in downtown Papeete and the post office before meeting my friends for lunch.

I meet up with my friend Jen from Slingshot and Wendy from Due South.  We did not take any photos as Wendy is in the middle of chemo treatments and was not feeling it.  But, we had a spectacular time with tasty food and a beautiful view!

It was a crazy busy and productive visit to Tahiti. It was time to head back to the ferry.  On the way back to Mo’orea on the ferry we enjoy seeing Sugar Shack at anchor!

Can you see Sugar Shack in the distance?

Can you see Sugar Shack in the distance?

Here is the route while underway in each direction on the ferry.  We though the ferry, Aremiti 2 hit speeds in the 30’s but we never saw anything above 22-23nm.

Faces of Tahiti

Being in Mo’orea gives us a great view of Tahiti.  We have seen many different faces of Tahiti over the last month.

Disaster strikes time and time again, read the gory details In the last blog.  Events from this blog post occurred the end of September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Disaster on the Reef

Believe it or not, you do not “need” a license, training, or a certification to sail a boat.  You can buy a boat and just go.  Interesting in that you need a license to fly a plane, drive a car, and rent a scooter.  With that said, we have seen disaster after disaster at sea on the reef!

We made friends with Dominique, the owner / operator of Raiatea Yacht Carenage, when we hauled out Sugar Shack in 2020 (see blog post).  His tug company, Raiatea Carenage Tug Services, has recovered 142 yachts off the main barrier reef and well over 200 lagoon groundings over the last 32 years.  About 10-11 boats a year!  He said “some years we have no boats on the reef and other years we have 10 boats.  During a hurricane year, he retrieved 11 boats in week.  It is very variable.”

Over a two-month period, August to September 2021, Dominique recovered 4 boats.  Two sailboats in Huahine, one large power cat in Makemo and a sailing cat off of Tahiti.  I’m super happy that he is busy and putting lots of locals to work.  He is also cleaning up the mess and minimizing the damage to reefs.  However, it is devasting to see so many disasters in such a short period of time.

In August, the first catamaran ran aground outside of Huahine when the captain fell asleep.  Luckily this boat did not sit for long and was fairly easy to retrieve with not a significant amount of damage to the reef.  This is a local charter boat. I added the smiley face to keep the company name private.

Then a few weeks later, a large power catamaran ran aground in Tuamotus (over 400nm away from Raiatea).   This was a beautiful power cat that when discovered was already listing severely to port.  Dominque’s expertise salvaged this yacht and transported it all the way back to Raiatea where he will put her back together.

The owner requested no publicity so I cannot post the dramatic photos.

Disaster Hits Huahine Again

About a week later, a sailing monohull, whom we knew and encountered several times over the years, ran aground in Huahine.  Unfortunately, our encounters were less than pleasant each time.  They had the uncanny ability to disrespect the locals and authorities where ever they went.  Which is amusing as this is a Christian “teaching boat.” The owner charges a fee to each student to teach them how to sail.

Long story short, he had a new group of students, they were moving during confinement (illegal), and he went to sleep just before arriving the pass at night (unusually unwise).  Then disaster strikes and they run aground.  All 8 passengers had to be rescued by helicopter and taken ashore at night.

He did not have insurance and did not have the money to pay to remove the boat from the reef.  The boat sat on the reef for a few weeks, moving and destroying more and more coral with each passing wave.  The French Government told the owner to come up with the money or be faced with charges.  Supposedly, the church helped him pay for the recovery.  Which upsets me even more that church donations were used for this boat recovery instead of feeding and clothing the congregation.

Raiatea Carenage Tug Services is deployed to come to the rescue.  Not only do they deploy this beautiful tug boat, but they bring a small tender, a jet ski, and another large power boat.  All tricks of the trade used to recover boats off the reef.

After all that time, the boat aground, the boat did severe damage to the reef (see top photo where there is a white line).  That is the boat’s trail of destruction.

Dominique’s team has to risk their life trying to save this boat.  They fight huge waves and current while walking on unstable ground.  They take smaller boats and a jet ski out to the wreck.  Look at the worker in red under the boat on the bottom photo.

The damage to the yacht is substantial.

During the recovery, the team worked in horrific conditions.  Enormous waves pounding the boat causing her to pop up and slam down on the reef.  Causing more and more damage to the yacht and the reef.  Despite heroic efforts, the boat sustained severe damage causing a 1-meter square hole in the aft part of the boat and then promptly sank 700 meters into the sea.  Lost to Neptune.

A true disaster for the owner and the reef

A true disaster for the owner and the reef

Just a few days after the team returned back to the yard, another boat went aground in Tahiti.  It just seems to never end.  Yet another catamaran ran aground off the coast of Tahiti.

Unfortunately, most of these disasters could be avoided.  If only the captain and crew would stay alert and awake and use the abundant charts available to cruisers.  Yes, accidents happen. Yes, weather can be a huge contributor.  But the boat wrecks mentioned in this blog were all due to user error.

Hao Hazzard

A beautiful Outreimer went aground after a particularly heavy storm.  This beautiful boat took on a lot of water.  Dominique was able to retrieve the boat off the reef and place her in the old military basin in Hao.

Sugar Shack

Makes me eternally grateful for Matt’s incredible diligence as our ship’s captain.  When we are under way, we take shifts to ensure we don’t fall asleep. We are also running multiple charts including: Gamin, C-Map, Open CPN, and 3 different satellite earth views to ensure we never have a disaster occur.  God willing we continue to be as blessed.

In the last blog, we rent eBikes and circumnavigate the entire island of Mo’orea.  Events from this blog post occurred during August and September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.