What an entertaining four days the Tahiti Pearl Regatta turned out to be. We should have guessed there would be some problems on the horizon when I asked our captain Borat what sort of racing he had done before and the answer was none. "I liiiike to sail only for the fun" he confirmed several times before the regatta, then come the first race day, a mere five hour sail around the island of Ra'iatea and Borat announces that there will be no talking allowed duri...

So here is the low down on the boat we are hitchhiking on from Tahiti to Fiji. Her name is Melis and she is a Bavaria 42 Sloop. Bavaria is the name given to indicate where it was manufactured, Bavaria is somewhere in Germany. The 42 is the boats length in feet, thats 12.8 meters. The sloop means in only has one mast. She carries a main sail, a Genoa, a storm jib, a spinnaker and an asymmetrical spinnaker. She weighs in about 10 tonnes and can comfortably hold si...

Feeling very chuffed about finding a boat to Fiji, the next day we decided to hire some transport and go on a road trip to explore the island of Tahiti and investigate if the locals really do wear bones in their noses and eat pale tourists for breakfast. But top of the list was the awesome Teahupoo, one of the most dangerous and famous surf breaks in the world and it just so happens that the best 44 surfers in the world are also competing in the Billabong world ...

After a week of exploring the island of Tahiti we are starting to love this place. Here is some of what we have learnt. Tahiti is the name of just one island in the French Polynesia group, an area of archipelagos that could cover Europe. Tahiti is a colourful mixture of French and Polynesian cultures. The Polynesians provide the beer, turquoise sea, black pearls and the coconut. The French have brought over the chic, the seductive, topless sunbathing, souped up...