Puddle Jumpers Gather at Tahiti-Moorea

Each year dozens of boats ‘jump the puddle’ from the west coast of the Americas to French Polynesia. Because they arrive over a three-month period, it’s impossible to stage an end-of-passage celebration which all Puddle Jumpers can attend. But those who were lucky enough to be passing through Tahiti last week were given a splendid two-day welcome by Tahiti Tourisme board and its partners called the Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendezvous.

Following opening day dockside festivities at the Papeete Yacht Quay and an evening cocktail party Friday, the fleet set sail for Moorea Saturday morning past hundreds of local canoe racers.

Once ashore at Moorea, Puddle Jumpers enjoyed a traditional Polynesia ‘maa’ luncheon then joined in a wide variety of age-old Tahitian sports. The highlight was the canoe race, where cruisers are teamed up with local paddlers in six-person outrigger canoes. Paddling the course was quite a workout, but well worth the effort.

Latitude 38 is proud to have been a partner in this two-day fête, and we’ll bring you a full report in next month’s magazine (also available online after August 5).