Kosmos Travel Log

We started the day by taking the dinghy into the main town of Vaitape, which is about a mile north by boat from where we are anchored (by land it is farther since the road follows the curvy lagoon). There is a nice protected quay (seawall area) right in the center of town. Facing town from the dinghy, on the right is a parking lot, on the left is an outdoor theater, and straight ahead is a visitor information center and handicraft market. They were setting up for a big concert at the theater. At the information center we picked up a fish guide, so we will actually be able to name a few of the fish we see now.

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This morning we started the day with a snorkel in our newly discovered location. The water is really shallow in this spot, as well, but the snorkeling was nice. There were some pretty coral formations and some nice color to the coral. There were a lot of sea anemone stuck to the coral, which are pretty to look at. There were still a lot of sea urchins around. There wasn’t a ton of fish, but a decent amount, though not too many colorful fish. There were small Parrotfish and Trigger fish. There were a lot of angel fish. The fish are obviously used to being fed and have no fear of getting close to people. They wouldn’t let us touch them, but we got within inches. (more…)

This morning we met the tour guide at the gas station in town at 0830. He is a Polynesian fellow named Vincent. Vincent was driving a four wheel drive pickup with benches in the bed, which seems to be standard for tour companies in these parts. We loaded into the back and we drove for a ways. The road parallels the water, with scenic views of the lagoon. Most of the area around the bay had development of some sort on it, mostly houses. Of course, it was very green and lush.

We pulled into a church parking area where another 6 people were waiting. Once everyone was loaded into the bed of the truck, Vincent gave us the stats of the island – 5,000 people, main industry vanilla farming, etc. He showed us on a map where we were going and told us what we would be seeing. Then he played (more…)

We got up early and prepared Kosmos for departure. We were going to Tahaa, another island in the Society Island chain. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do, so in no time the lines were cast off. Bye Bye Tahiti!

We are noticing a distinct pattern now. The other day when we were on a day trip, the seas were nice and calm. But, of course, since this was an overnight trip, we had strong winds on our port aft quarter (right back corner) producing 6 – 8 foot following seas (waves coming from behind) with the periodic 10 foot beam wave (from the side) that knocks us all over the place. Why the conditions are so similar every time we are out for more than a few hours is beyond us. It drizzled all day, and as soon as it got dark, rained really hard all night long. Poor Shelley was (more…)

It was time to leave Moorea, which we were sad about. We liked it there and wished we had a few more days to spend there. We were heading to Papeete to pick up our friends Pete and Shelley, who were arriving later in the evening.

Since we were only going to be in Papeete one night, we opted to go to the sea wall downtown, aka the quay. We didn’t want to deal with anchoring and getting the dinghy down for only one night. There were a few more boats at the wall than last time, but the wall was still mostly empty. It was a weird feeling to pull in, tie up, and just hop off the boat onto dry land. (more…)