The Voyage of Spectacle

Well, we arrived at the Taravana yacht club to find that all of the mooring balls have been reserved for over a week in anticipation of the big fiesta.  While the Pacific cruising season is coming to an end, the charter season is going gangbusters as Europeans take the month of August off.  Completely disappointed by the big ‘ix-nay’, we perused the cruising guides and decided to head over to Haamene Bay where several mooring balls were purportedly available near the Hibiscus Hotel. 

Usually, mooring balls have some type of loop or smaller line attached so you can hook the smaller line without having to pick up the entire ball which can be quite heavy and under a lot of load.  Unfortunately, the balls at the Hibiscus did not work that way, and it was quite windy.  On our fifth try, we broke the boat hook, and I would like to meet the genius who designed the boat hook that doesn’t float.  With no way to grab the already-difficult-to-grab ball, I jumped in the dinghy to just go attach the line myself.  Then Andy approached nice and slow, slung it in neutral, ran forward, and helped me attach the line to the boat.

We were just getting settled in when two charter boats and a very small sailboat with no engine entered the bay.  After watching one charter boat’s two failed attempts to pick up the ball, Andy hopped in the dinghy to help everyone out.  We then enjoyed a celebratory Hinano and watched the sun set over Haamene Bay which is so protected that the northwestern end is considered a hurricane hole. 

At 6:30 or so, we headed into the fabulously cute Hibiscus dining room for happy hour and dinner.  We chatted up one of the owners’ sons, Mark, who is at university in New Zealand, a wonderful nice guy, and fantastically attractive.  Talk about your stereotypical, uber-masculine, Polynesian-Marquesan warrior.  The detail and artistry of his many tattoos are absolutely incredible with one particularly beautiful design beginning on his chest and extending over his shoulder, down his back, and around the side of his abdomen.  Incredible.  As it turns out, Mark’s whole family seems to have won the genetic lottery … his sister is first runner-up Miss Tahiti.

The Hibiscus Hotel is also an active turtle sanctuary nurturing young or injured sea turtles until they are strong enough to return to the wild.  They have T-shirts for sale to support the hotel and the sanctuary which were very cool.  Andy asked how much, and then I watched all the blood drain out of his face.  At 5000 French Polynesian Francs, the T-shirts were $65 … even more expensive than a watermelon!

Though we remain without the T-shirt souvenirs, we still had a very nice evening at the Hibiscus.  We had a lovely mixed salad with some kind of fruity vinaigrette, tuna carpaccio, caught-that-day mahi mahi seared with capers, and prawns in a red creole sauce.  All courses were very good, and the price was surprisingly reasonable.  The dining room was quite lively and fun, and as per usual here in French Polynesia (and throughout the world), my Obama tote bag was a constant source of conversation and camaraderie.  I swear, if Americans couldn’t vote for president, Obama would win 99.9% of the vote.