Taboo: a Tiki 30 at Moorea

Everything began four years ago, when I bought Taboo, a Wharram-designed Tiki 30 built in England in 1998. Its first owner had crossed the North Atlantic with it, to the United States. There it was sold, before a new aficionado chose it, and sailed to where surfing was born, and where some of the most beautiful waves in the world are to be found: Polynesia. I bought Taboo two years ago. It was suffering from a serious lack of maintenance, so I set about restoring it. Moorea, a few miles from Tahiti (moreover it is called ‘the sister island’), is like a summary of Polynesia: the island is surrounded by a coral barrier, just like in the Tuamotus, which provides a perfectly protected lagoon.  But it is also a high island, like Tahiti or the Marquesas, dominated by Mont Rotui. The playground is unique, whether inside or outside the passes, most days you will meet a manta or blue spotted ray, a pod of dolphins, or even when it’s the season, between June and October, one of the ...