A couple of days ago we pulled up anchor and headed to Papeete. We had waited a few days in Moorea for the weather to get a little better, but the swells and waves were like sailing in a washing machine. Papeete feels like Honolulu with crowds of people, bumper to bumper cars, and noisy at times.
We have not been moored to a pier since leaving Hawaii (around 4 months), so it took us a little time to pull out finders and lines to moor in the new Marina Papeete.
We embraced the busy rush and hit the ground running with errands. We first had to check-in at the harbormasters office; get our duty free fuel voucher and drop-off our propane tank to be filled.
As we were returning to the boat from our errands, we tried stopping for a bite to eat around 5 pm and learned that the restaurants and even the roulettes do not serve food before 6pm, so we headed back to the boat and whipped up a few appetizers and swapped stories with fellow cruisers.
Papeete day 2 and 3 were about the same filled with errands and shopping. The new marina is located in front of the Papeete Market; which seems to always be filled with people. Tomorrow we begin our journey around the island.
Boat position at noon: 17 degrees 32 minutes 23 seconds south and 149 degrees 34 minutes 14 seconds west
