Tahiti- 27 July 2024

We woke to a grey day and it looked like rain was coming. We had breakfast and then Andy went up the mast to try to tie the foil inside the mast so that it would not clank as it had been doing in the night. There was some wind too so it was good we got the mainsail down yesterday. The mast tying took a little time and once sorted we decided to head off to see Papeete the capital of Tahiti.

We went across the road from the marina to the bus stop and we were told they went every 30 minutes bit no bus came so after 50 minutes I hailed down a taxi and we were then taken into the center of Papeete. Our first impressions were that this seemed a pleasant town with some old colonial style buildings and white old-fashioned lantern streetlights which lined the road leading along the edge of the sea. We recognised the passe as we came past it and then saw the marina we had considered going to and we were then dropped off just past the marina.

We walked around and took in the town and first walked up to the Cathedral built in 1875. Whilst it looked a nice church it was closed so we could not see its interior. We then went to the famous market which sold fruit and vegetables and fish and meat but it also sold jewellery and paraphernalia. We saw some avocados and bought some as we have not had any for months. We then walked down to the front and walked along the marina edge. The security staff said there was no chandlery which was odd. It was clear to us that we had made the right the decision in terms of marina as the setting was in the middle of the town and looked toward the docks rather than the view of the reef and Morea which we have.

We continued along the front and had a drink overlooking the passe but then the heavens opened and the rain so strong that we could not see the passe of the buoys which mark it. We therefore waited until the rain stopped and then found a café to have some lunch. This was ok as a lot was shut but it had a restaurant which had a television which had the Olympics on and in particular the surfing which has taking place in the south of Tahiti. This was the first chance we have had to watch the Olympics and it was good it was the surfing.

We then walked on to the Pearl Museum which was interesting and I have written about how they are made when we visited Ahe. However, what was interesting was about the criteria about how you judge the quality of a pearl.

The six quality criteria are as follows:

1.     Diameter or size – the greater the diameter the rarer it is. Black Pearls are normally between 9-14mm but in the museum I saw one which was 22.5mm.

2.     Shape- in order -Pears or teardrops, ovals, buttons, semi baroques and then irregular.

3.     Colour – whatever the colour it should be striking and consistent and the secondary colour is usually a nuance of the first. Amongst black pearls the most sought after is peacock green, blue and eggplant. Tion

4.     A Pearls brilliance depends on upon the way in which it handles light through reflection, refraction and how it appears to shine.

5.     Purity of surface – each pearl is unique and will have imperfections and markings etc. The fewer defects the greater will be its purity.

6.     The thickness of the layers of pearl around the nucleus- pollution in the water can build up layers of aragonite around the nucleus. 0.8mm is of outstanding quality whereas those with less than 0.2mm are deemed unacceptable.

The museum was interesting and we saw lots of pearls.  It rained hard whilst we were in there and then we returned to our marina.

Papeete is not a particularly pleasant town (as the guidebooks suggest) and it was full of shops and branded shops. It was a typical big town with its poverty and we saw a number of vagrants living on the streets and stray dogs (we have not seen this before in French Polynesia). There were stalls everywhere selling pearls of that type of jewellery. We were surprised so little was open for a Saturday and of course the weather did not help. We would not rush back and we look forward to exploring the island further tomorrow.

After we returned to Stormbird the heavens opened and it rained hard for a few hours. We manged to tune the television to French television so we could watch the Olympics. Due to the weather, we had supper in the saloon which is the first time we have had to do this since the start of my circumnavigation.

We will hire a car tomorrow and explore further.   

The picture of the day is our getting ready to eat in the cabin and to have a tv supper!

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.  

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk