To get from Apataki Carenage, where Painkiller was hauled, to Pape’ete, Tahiti was an epic journey that involved a 2.5-hour boat ride across open ocean in a small fishing boat to a small plane that made 3 stops. The captain of this open fishing boat pictured below did not show up on the dock when scheduled nor was the boat anywhere to be seen. Through pantomime (language barrier) we found someone who told us he was asleep and went to wake him. His son showed up with the boat then went to get his dad and more than 45 minutes after our planned departure for the airport we departed Apataki for Arutua. Apataki does not have flight service to Tahiti so we needed to take this open fishing boat with no seats or nothing to hold onto for 2.5 hours across open ocean to the nearest airport for the weekly flight out of Arutua-but first the captain needed to make a stop in the village on Arutua for some fried chicken breakfast and soda, which he generously shared with us. The Arutau Airport does not have any road access, only water access, so by the time we got to the airport the boats were rafted up to the dock 4 abreast and we lugged our luggage across 4 boats tied together to get to the dock then into the airport where we were the last people to check-in for our flight and our luggage was overweight. The plane made stops in Ahe and Manihi before arriving in Tahiti. The final video below shows us landing in Pae’ete Tahiti as we fly over the Airport Anchorage or Hotel California as it became known while we were anchored there during the confinement.

Our ride to the Arutua Airport 2.5 hours away. You can see Painkiller at anchor in the distance and her sailing dinghy with sail hoisted behind her.

The Arutua Airport parking lot and our captain (above), and the view from the airport (below).