Anchored In Teahupoo

We were excited to see SV Lojan arrive in Phaeton Bay. Sadly they needed help because their engine gave out. We hung around to spend another night visiting, but we were eaten alive by the mosquitos so we sailed south.  Teahupoo is southern Tahiti’s famous surf spot. Certain times of the year the swell is just right to form mega waves. We have not seen any mega waves, but with the encouragement and direction from our new friends, Catherine and Thibaut of SV Majorque, we were able to surf Teahupoo area.  We’d like to preface the word surf loosely because neither of us did much more than body surf the three to six foot waves.

Onboard SV Majorque were traveling two Airbnb guest Jackie and Ryan from Sydney Australia, which is the second couple we met traveling French Polynesia on an Airbnb boat.  They chose to stay on the boat to see parts of French Polynesia that really weren’t on a tour and a little more off the beaten path.  They were hoping to cruise all the Society Islands, but because of an autopilot situation and weather they stayed around Tahiti / Moorea. We felt bad that they didn’t get to explore all French Polynesia, but happy because we were able to cross paths.

We have been in a bit of a pickle recently because surprisingly Tahiti is becoming our favorite island and even harder to leave.  We check the weather each day looking for a smooth sailing window and Monday looks ideal to leave for the Tuamotus. If we were to catch this weather window we would have had to leave yesterday for Pape’ete to get everything we need done before leaving. Yesterday we weighed the pros and the cons and realized we were having so much fun with Jackie and Ryan plus we really don’t want to take down the Christmas lights before Christmas because they remind us of home, so we’re staying in Tahiti until after Christmas.

Cruising tip: Avoid being outside from 5 to 7 pm in Phaeton Bay.  Most boaters close hatches or put in screens because the mosquitos will come inside.

Cheers!

Wade and Sara