We got one of the last spots. By the time this picture was taken some more had opened up.

Racing back to be exact. Not racing against other boats, but racing against the weather. And sort of racing against other boats. Let me explain.

We knew there was going to be a storm blowing through this area around 2000 today. Given that, we wanted to be out of Moorea and firmly tied up at the Quay in Papeete well before dark. We started putting things away fairly early this morning so we could leave. Paddleboard deflated and rolled up, check. Dinghy motor put away and dinghy deflated and tied down on deck, check. Snorkling stuff picked up off the deck and put away, check. Boarding ladder put away, check and on down the list of stuff that needs to be squared away after sitting at anchor for five days.

Just as we’re ready to hoist along comes a new friend in their dinghy to say “hi”. Nice to chat but we’re working against a deadline at this point. But we chat a while and after half an hour announce that we really have to go. Now we’re getting a bit late. OK, anchor up and we’re out. Later than I would have hoped to leave, so now we’re starting to feel the headwind predicted and see the beginning of the three meter swell. Halfway across to Tahiti I can see the storm front. It’s very well defined with low cumulous clouds followed by a wall of stratus, suggesting there were be a gusty front and lightning. Now I really want to get into Tahiti soon and we’re racing the storm. We’re 4 miles out to the southeast, the storm is coming down from the northeast and is about 10 miles away but no doubt going faster than we are. Who is going to get there first?

Just to complicate things, I know that there’s going to be very little room at the Quay downtown and I can see another boat also heading into Papeete about the same distance away as we, but coming down the coastline (whereas we are coming across the channel). I want to get there first, so I push the throttle up a bit to give us a little more speed. If we can’t tie up at the quay, the next available spot is an anchorage several miles away from town. At least another hour or two to set up there if we miss out at the quay.

Without recounting every detail, here’s the outcome: we entered the pass about 200 yards in front of the other boat and maybe a couple miles ahead of the storm front. Once inside we kept the speed up toward the quay and I had Ann steer while readying Charisma with fenders, bowlines, sternlines and such for tying up. I knew we would only have one shot at a space and if that didn’t turn out, the other boat would grab any other one that might be available. As we turned into the cove where the quay is located I had the binoculars out and was scanning the available space. Not much, but I saw one likely looking spot and committed to going there. We squeezed in (with Ann doing a tremendous job handling the bowlines, which was a critical job given the wind (now increasing to 20 knot gusts) and the ebbing tide. We secured the bowlines, grabbed the stern mooring line and snugged it up and were stable within minutes. The boat behind us motored past looking for a spot, but it turns out we got the very last one. He was out of luck. Last we saw before dark, he was side-tied to the road against a cement dock. I think he’s going to stay there for the night since it’s too late to move. If the wind really kicks up, he’s going to spend a lot of time fending off to avoid boat damage.

Nearby there is also a graphic example of what happens when you “goof” out here. A mile down the way is a boat that made some kind of mistake a week or so ago and is firmly stuck on the reef. It’s not salvageable at this point having dragged across 100 yards of reef it’s sitting in two feet of water and people are stripping it. Sad to see. I don’t know what happened but likely that they either fell asleep at the helm or tried to come in at night and got confused with the lights. That’s why we’re so conservative. I always set approach waypoints at least 10 miles offshore and don’t go into anyplace at night where there’s a reef.

We lucked out on the spot on the quay. We also did well on the storm. We can see lightning in the distance and the rain started up at 2000 as advertised. I feel really good that we’re snugged in here and will sleep well tonight. I’ll even enjoy watching the lightning approach and listening to the rain on cabin top. It’s a soothing sound when you’re tied up and not worried about dragging anchor down on a lee shore.

We’ll be here exploring Tahiti for about 5 days or so. I want to find a whaling museum. If anyone can find out where there is one, please let me know.