The Tahiti blues
There are so many shades of blue in Tahiti. The dark iridescent blue of the drop offs where the reefs that surround the island meet the ocean; the lighter blue of the protected inner lagoons which provide the perfect playground for the va’a (outrigger canoe); the greenish blue where the shallow water covers patches of sand providing a convenient rest stop for the Papeete swimming club who do a daily 2km swim to the reef and back; and of course the azure blue of the sky when the sun shines, which is quite often.
Saecwen spent six weeks in Tahiti, the main island of the windward islands that form part of the Society Islands, one of the archipelagos that make up French Polynesia. Given the increasing number of yachts now sailing to this part of the world, and the increasing pressure on the local marine ecosystem, a berth in the marina is hard to come by. So, we were delighted when we secured a place at Taina marina, as we had lots of work to be done in preparation for Saecwen’s next major ocean passage.
Our first night in Tahiti was spent in the peaceful anchorage of Venus Point on the North East side of the island, which was named after Captain Cook's 1769 expedition to Tahiti, when he was sent by the Royal Society to watch Venus’ transit of the sun as part of a worldwide excise to calculate the distance between the Earth and the sun. It’s also where Captain Bligh's HMS Bounty landed to collect breadfruit plants in 1788 to feed the plantation slaves in the Caribbean. We later learnt that breadfruit trees in Polynesian culture are planted, along with the placenta of a newborn, when a family decides to settle on an atoll.
After Venus point we had a 24 hour stop at the airport anchorage, waiting out a local blow before we could finally come into our much-awaited berth at the marina. Here we had our first sight of what seems to be increasingly common in the Society Islands, abandoned yachts at anchor. We even saw a boat with its bow looking dangerously low in the water and learnt that a few days later it had sunk. It is unsurprising that the authorities are now cracking down to prevent their sacred lagoons being littered with abandoned sunken yachts.
Although the lagoon is largely quite protected, the ocean swell can still be a threat to yachts particularly those tied up in marinas. During Saecwen’s first week in Taina marina, a warming was issued to all yachts due to an incoming strong westerly swell, and we were advised where possible to leave the marina in search of a more protected spot. Sadly this was not an option for Saecwen, given we had an absent skipper, with Charlie back in the UK that week. Heloise had her first experience of being in charge of the ship in gale force winds and a 3 metre swell, and aside from a friendly Estonian skipper Yann in a large catamaran berthed nearby, all other boats on the outer pier had wisely departed.
We were tied up stern to, facing the swell which meant our most vulnerable point was our stern which could be hurled into the concrete wall with the backwash, as had happened to a large super yacht in the SW’ly last storm. So to protect the boat we moved a good 3 metres away from the wall and doubled up on all of our warps. We had a couple of bumpy nights until the swell moved into the south and things calmed down, luckily no damage done.
The rest of our time in Tahiti was focussed on getting Saecwen ready for her next adventure and enjoying this beautiful blue paradise. With an elegant design from the home team back in the UK and a brilliant team of local liveaboard young French shipwright’s and technicians (who operate under the collective organisation Malokemajo (malokemajo@gmail.com) Charlie undertook a major project of replacing our canvas spray hood with a solid wooden coach roof to provide better protection in colder climes and rougher conditions.
He also fitted a second towed generator, additional solar panels and did lots of work on the electrical systems and our ailing wind instrument (which was only just fixed the day before setting sail by replacing the entire mast cable).
When not working on Saecwen we enjoyed the luxury of a daily swim just off a local park where we got to know the local fish: “Picasso” the trigger fish (always alone), several blue and silver ‘Long Johns’ in the slightly deeper water, occasionally a hawks bill turtle, once a ray and a reef tip shark and often the yellow and black butterfly fish in pairs. It was quite astonishing that even so close to the city the marine life was this healthy.
The absolute highlight however was an encounter with two humpback whales off the island off Mo’orea, the second largest island of the Windwards. July to September is the season when the humpbacks come up from the Arctic to the warmer waters of the South Pacific to either mate or give birth. Although whale watching has become more regulated over the years and boats need to keep at least 100m distance from the whales we were able to have a surprisingly close encounter.
Humpbacks spend a lot of time napping, they will come to the surface for a breath of air, make a blow, show the white of their tail fin and then swim down to about 10-15 metres for a 20-minute nap. We were lucky enough to witness the whales asleep, barely able to make out their shapes in the deep blue, but absolutely able to feel their presence.
We waited while they slept and on waking the most surprising thing happened. The female rather than swimming away from us in the direction in which she was pointing, turned towards us and came so close that I literally had to paddle backwards to ensure we didn’t touch. Her giant flipper gently glided over mine (within inches) and she gave me a look with her most incredible eye. This was an unforgettable, magical experience.
The Tahitians love the sea and it is unsurprising given their history. Historians now confirm that the Society Islands were first reached 1,000 years ago in double hulled canoes sailed from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Within just 200 years the Polynesians continued East to reach the Tuamotus, Marquesas, Gambiers and Australs and even as far as Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Hawai’i and New Zealand. This love for the sea means Tahiti is a mecca for water sports; there is a morning and evening ritual of va’a paddling, ( the outrigger canoe practice which is Tahiti’s national sport); daily swim groups, surfers on the reef including the world famous Teahupo'o which hosts the international Tahiti Pro surf competition; regular dive, snorkel and more recently free-diving trips and a growing movement of foilers of all shapes and sizes.
While the Tahiti blues are out of this world, the island is also covered with beautiful, lush sub-tropical forest, deep valleys, stunning waterfalls and clean rivers which we thoroughly enjoyed hiking through.
Saecwen’s time in this blue paradise was an absolute treasure never to be forgotten. With Heloise now having left the ship to travel to Asia for work, she is now definitely suffering from the Tahiti blues.
Absolutely stunning blog
Well done, Heloise managing the boat on her own with that huge swell
The colours are wonderful and as for the whales unbelievable
Good luck for the next bit out with the woolly hats!!
The photographs get better and better! So beautiful and incredible sealife! And adventures to match! Hope not too many more of those. Good luck for the next big crossing.