Maamalni - Maamalni - In Port #2 - What price paradise?

The crew of Maamalni really needs to leave port?. It is way too expensive here. The price of a roll of paper towels - $8, a cabbage is $10 and a yachting magazine $30. After having a dinner out, our new crewmember, Larry Heck of Seattle exclaimed, "Compared with the dinner tab, the Tahitian black pearls are a bargain". Little did we think that would lead to actual pursuing and shopping, but this group when faced with the option of going to sea with the fleet or staying in town for another day
of provisioning of course opted for "provisioning" as the beer and alcohol stores from Panama and Ecuador had been serious depleted. If we were to keep ship's crew sedated with grog and morale high, we needed to find what the locals drank. Nothing is cheap in Tahiti but we did find the local 'rock-gut' vodka at a mere $20/bottle compared to the 'imported' stuff for a $120/750 ml bottle. Of course it didn't help that the value of a Dollar against other world currencies is incredibly low, but even
our European friends were complaining too.

As we were in need of the "fresh" type of provisions we added to the grocery cart:
Papaya - $2/pound
Onions - $8/pound
Lettuce for 1 salad - $10
2 - 6oz cans of peanuts $15
2 loaves of French bread - $4 (this was the bargain)
Chicken $8/pound
Lamb $20/pound
Beef $36/pound

That all being said, provisioning the boat for the next leg to Suwarrow was still cheaper than 2 dinners for 3 out in a local restaurant. Fuel was still expensive ($6.30/gallon) but not the same three to four times increase that other things cost. Locals told us that it was expensive for them too and they had only about a 20% increase in wages over their French counterparts. The one saving grace for them is that having the latest fashion is definitely not on their agenda and they didn't have far
to commute to work.

Once having missed the Rally start, we decided that a few last Internet messages would be in order and then maybe we should check out the local pearl shops. That was the beginning of the end? literally. We started with the small shops and then worked our way up to the "Tiffany" and "Harry Winston" of the pearl purveyors. It was fun to be chauffeured around in their boats to their various locations or examine an oyster in its various stages to understand how the pearl develops on its 'core'.
Larry did make a purchase or two and Michael succumbed to adding two pearls to either side of the Galapagos turtle medallion that he has. At which point in time, we attempted to get the "tax" certificate stamped? not a chance. Long story short, it can only accomplished back at the 'international airport' in Papeete so an option not available to cruising yachts heading west, thus assuring that Bora Bora purchases will retain their 16% surcharge. So after having visited the 'gendarme' (a.k.a. local
police station) and being told 'non possible', we raced around in the dinghy to the various pearl shops to try to convince them to offer a discount after the fact? and while doing this managed to hit one of those coral heads that lurk at every turn and bent the outboard propeller. The good news was that a replacement was only a day away? from Papette? so just another day behind... and only slightly more expense than the discount we receive from the pearl shops. It really is time to leave.

Looking for Fair Winds _/) Suzan and Michael