August 1, 2012
Before we go to an island, we use our Charlie’s Charts guidebook to see where we can go and what to do once we get there. But this time the Charlie’s Chart’s authors spent so much time detailing passes through the reef that surrounds Raiatea they forgot to provide any details about the town. The result is that boaters who visit Raiatea arrive completely confused.
We had radioed some cruisers ahead of us, and they told us we can tie up by the wharf. They added that we should try to tie up to the cement area and not the wood dock as there are less waves from the frequent comings and goings of local ferries. This was a little helpful, but we still didn’t quite know where the wharf was and didn’t quite get the wood verses cement thing. And what is the “municipal marina” nearby that we’d heard about?
We motored in and found the wharf where the cruising boats were tied up. We could now clearly see the difference between the wood and cement docks. We got tied up at the cement dock, but the confusion continued. No one seemed to know if we had to pay to be here, or even who the harbor master was. No one knew anything about the marina nearby. The only thing we did learn was the grocery store across the street was big and very good (always exciting), and that we had done well getting a space on the cement dock as it is not only less affected wakes, but it faces into the east wind. Boats at the wood area are sideways to the wind and can actually get stuck against the dock when it’s windy.
We settled in for the day, but with the weather coming, we would feel more secure being at a marina so we decided to go check out the mysterious “municipal marina” nearby. -Cyndi
Note: We were so confused upon arrival here that once we got the lay of the land, we posted a page to hopefully help other cruisers with their arrival here. We put up a new section on our web site called “Cruising Notes.” We’ll add to it as we see a need.
