Stuck in paradise!

Fourth of July anchored in Tahiti!

July 4th!
 We're missing the Fourth of July festivities back home in Kenwood, but I guess being in Tahiti is not all that bad.

Who OWNS these mega- yachts? This one really looks like a submarine!

 Today, we walked downtown along the waterfront promenade admiring the mega-yachts. It's a lot like being in San Francisco except for the coconut palms and warm weather! It's a little dirty with run down buildings among new hotels and busy restaurants and the docking cruise ship. Touristy and crowded. This is the black pearl capital of the Polynesia with pearl shops everywhere! Hard to not buy another!

Heiva dancers in Tahiti

July 6-Heiva
Last night,  I went to the Heiva, a festival and competition between traditional Tahitian  dancing, drumming and singing teams. It was a huge production with many teams participating from all over Polynesia. The downtown waterfront venue was packed with Tahitians and tourists just off the cruise ship. The groups dance or sing a traditional folklore story and the commentator translates before each segment in three languages; French, English and Tahitian. This takes some time. The top recognized dance troupe, Ti Tahiti performs this night. They are a group of at least a hundred dancers on the stage dancing in a synchronized performance that is colorful in natural costumes of native plants and shells.  There's not a lot of history of the dance or Otea as its called (not hula) as this dancing was considered too erotic and was forbidden when the missionaries first came "to save the natives".  This story dancing has evolved over the years from memory. The stories are elaborate in costume and choreography and makes for good entertainment! ( If any readers have more correct facts, please feel free to comment.) The dancing segments were my favorite. We learned that a revival of dance has begun since 1950's and it has become a favorite sport for many.

Beautiful costumes made from natural materials!

The singing is different in that it's presented  a capella-style in a round shape of tightly packed, seated singers each with a special voice or chant. It's harmonious, but long as each song is about ten minutes...and boring...I'm sorry, its an  interesting style,  and I'm sure its traditional stories have great meanings but it's  boring and put me to sleep!
The best is the drumming and percussion segments which accompany the dancers..the drumming is contagious and I found myself tapping to the beat! It's fabulous to see the gyrating hips of the females dancers in beat to the drums and clopping sound of coconut shells! the drummers also use stones, rocks, logs and water filled bottles to create a variety of sounds.  Next, come the male dancers who perform amazing bent-knee movements that show off their amazing strength and muscles! Hubba-Hubba! (now, I sound like a "Polynesian panther"...haha!)
After each dance a carnage of floral debris is left on the stage, some dancers even loose their grass adornments during the frantic dancing! How those coconuts don't fall off, I don't know!
The show goes long into the night and we are blurry-eyed at midnight on our way back to the boat. I'm glad  to have experienced a cultural event in Tahiti.

Bri and Rob are moving on...

July 9th- Easy come , easy go!
Our crew Rob and Bri have taken a new opportunity to crew on another boat going to Bora Bora! We wish them fair winds and hope to run into them again. We will miss their help with chores, cooking and playing music! Our boat repairs have stuck us here in an anchorage until we can get fixed. this is not what travelers want...they want to move and explore...so Rob and Bri are moving on ...we'll miss them!

Capt. john installing the new windless

Ain't she pretty?! The new addition is a Lofrans Kobra windless!

It takes lots of these to repair Wizard! 

About the repairs? When we came up the east coast of Tahiti last week(July 4) our depth sounder quit on our way into the Tahiti Yacht Club anchorage! We asked a neighboring boat for the depth, but during our repeated tries of according up and down, the windless( the motor that pulls the anchor and chain up) also quit! double- whammy ! We dropped an appropriate scope of chain 220 ft and called it good. we are now stuck in this spot until we can get a electrician to install a depth sounder and hook up a new windless. That's how it goes sometimes...our tropical paradise is memory...until we can get repaired and on the road(ocean) again! ...and so it goes....