The Society Islands are the most beautiful in French Polynesia. First, they have tall, lush green mountains, coral reefs that protect the anchorages, and markets with lots of fruits and vegetables. The Society Islands are thought to be named so because Captain Cook’s expedition in 1769 was sponsored by the Royal Society, and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich for studying the orbit of planet Venus and its transit in front of the sun.

TAHITI

After an overnight from Rangiroa, we arrived at the island of Tahiti. Our first anchorage was in Venus Bay, just north of Papeete.

Venus Bay

Downtown Papeete

Marina Taina

We had a good spot in the marina! And we had arrived with plenty of time to get ready for our trip. 

We were leaving our boat in the marina for 3 weeks to go to Rome, Italy, where our son Robbie and his fiancé Jade were getting married on June 26. We would not miss this for anything in the world. We were so excited!

Our time in the marina was great fun while we prepared the boat to leave. There were excellent services, nice markets nearby, and even a weekend fishing tournament! Giorgio enjoyed watching the fish come into port for prizes. It was great to see our World ARC 2020 friends, Marie and Anders, who had left their boat in the marina to return to Sweden for several months. 

Problems to fix

There is always a running list of items to repair on the boat. Some are more urgent than others, but when we docked in the marina, two repairs jumped to the top of the list.

First, Giorgio noticed one broken strand (1 out of 19) in the port side V1 shroud (lower section of the upper shroud). Since we are very proactive sailors, we decided to have it repaired. They replaced both the port and starboard shrouds. 

Second, when entering the marina, our bow thruster did not work. After docking, we called the company in the US, and it was determined that the main switch was not working. The photos show 1) the control panel at the helm, which monitors both the stern and the bow thrusters and 2) the main switch (with the red button on top), located in the V-berth cabin next to the thruster. We took the main switch home to the US and sent it to New York for repair. We brought back a new one and installed it while they repaired the damaged one that we’ll keep for a spare.

Museum of Tahiti and The Islands

MO’OREA (our favorite island!)

MARAE- ANCIENT TEMPLES

Marae are ancient stone structures that functioned as ceremonial and social spaces throughout French Polynesia. We visited a huge site on Mo’orea with several marae, altars, and archery platforms. 

Pineapples everywhere

HUAHINE

During our overnight sail to Huahine, Giorgio made friends over the VHF radio with Kevin, the captain of another sailboat, Wild Spirit. Kevin explained that they were motoring and not sailing because their main sail had been suddenly torn in multiple places. They had a boat similar in size to ours and could not find a sailmaker available to make another sail for several months. Having a spare new mainsail on board, Giorgio decided to give our used mainsail to them. It began a great friendship, and we have become very fond of Kevin and his wife Diane.

Preparing the used mainsail to transfer to Wild Spirit!

TAHAA

Treated to a delicious local dinner by Kevin and Diane, we were also able to meet the cook and her darling little helper!

Our Unforgettable Tahaa Anchorage

BORA BORA

Goodbye World ARC 2023! They left for Fiji and we headed back to Tahiti to leave our boat at Taina Marina so that we could go to Robbie and Jade’s wedding in Rome.

MAUPITI

Many years ago, Giorgio read an article about Maupiti in Cruising World magazine, remembering the view from the top. Needless to say, it became one of the places on his bucket list. And so we climbed up the hill…to the top!

Family Tombs

Wedding Update: Robbie and Jade!

We will continue our voyage to the southwest as we head to Fiji, where we will leave the boat again to go to the wedding of our younger son Marco and his fiancée Bekah in Monte Rosso, Italy, in September!