Bora Bora and a False Start

I must admit I’m getting a bit bored with writing this blog, and from the look of the amount of views we’re receiving – you guys are getting bored too! So… I’ll keep this brief!

We’re in Bora Bora and have been for two weeks. We arrived on the 14^th of June and immediately hooked up with a group of cruisers who were planning to climb the peak of Bora Bora the next morning. Of course, we wanted in on the action so had an early evening to have a fresh start at 8am. It was a grueling hike, in fact I’d call it a climb rather than a hike. It was straight up on a poorly marked trail to Mount Pahia at about 700 meters. It was truly an amazing thing to do, not many people attempt the climb but we were in the company of someone who had done it a few years previously which increased the chances of not getting lost on the mountain! At the start of the climb, a Polynesian woman came out of her house insisting that she count how many of us were climbing up and to promise that we check in with her after the decent to ensure we all made it back down.  It took us about 2 ½ hours to get to the top and another 2 ½ to get back down. One guy (a well prepared German of course) brought an extra rope which was really helpful during the decent as a lot of the sections required “repelling”.  That’s enough of that story – here’s a few photos:

The residential part of the walk

View of the lagoon

The climbers (clockwise from rear left) Steve, Jack, Ben, Bill, Renee and Toni

View of the lagoon - yes, those are panties (not mine) hanging from the flag!

Us!

While in Bora Bora, we got to celebrate Bill’s birthday!! We had plans to bicycle around the island, but it was raining. We visited our friends Ken and Patty who we met in Niku Hiva in the Marquesas over 2 months ago. They are doing the same trip as us but on a 40 foot trawler (a Krogan 42 power boat) which is for sale by the way. Ken started pulling Corona’s out of the fridge when he heard it was Bill’s birthday, and that was the beginning of the end. After killing a couple of cans each, we hit the high seas and went to Bloody Mary’s. Seems it’s a must-see in Bora Bora for cruisers. I must say it was a bit disappointing, but we stayed true to form and had multiple bloody mary’s and a blast. We finally made it back to Kailani to shower and prepare for dinner, and who happens to be moored beside us? It was Kurt and Brigitte – the Swiss couple we hung out with in Fakarava! So now it was dinner for 6!

On the Bloody Mary's dock. Carolyn, Bill, Ken and Patty

Dinner at the Mai Kai Yacht Club. From left: Kurt, Brigitte, Patty, Ken, Carolyn and Bill the Birthday Boy

After a week, we decided it was time to leave. Our mates on Knot Tide Down were leaving, and Oogachaka decided to go too. So, we got the boat all prepared and provisioned. KTD left two days earlier, and Oogachaka left the pass two hours before we did – so at 14:00 we were on our way! We had a nice sail downwind in light airs and just as we were passing the island of Maupiti to port, a squall came from behind and did its best to blow us onto the island. In the process of the 120 degree wind shifts we decided to do a controlled jibe away from the island. We turned on the deck lights to prepare (remove the preventer, etc.) only to discover two of the main sail battens had come free from the slider casings and ripped their containment sleeves. They were jutting forward through the stays like a pair of javelins which meant we couldn’t execute the jibe. To add to it all, 3 sail sliders were broken between the two battens. This is all happening in the pitch black (no moon), pouring rain AND of course the wind decided to blow us in the direction of the damned island laying 5 nm away! It took us very little time to decide on our next course of action, which was to drop the sail and return to Bora Bora. Sounds easy, eh? Well, it wasn’t.  The squall hit at 20:00 and by 21:00 we were turning around – so it took us 6 hours to go 32 nm downwind, but the return trip was directly into 20-25 knot winds with 1.5 meter swells and took a whopping 13 hours. Our Westerbeke was stellar and ploughed us through the sloppy seas without a hiccup. We held it at 2200 rpm and averaged 2.5 knots. We limped back into the same bay we’d just left from the day before and had 3 separate dinghy’s come by to offer their help. Kurt and Brigitte on Casa Bianca (the Swissies) ran us around in their dingy all morning as it was Saturday at 10:00 and the shops close at 12. Our dingy was stowed and we had no Polynesian Francs – they really helped us with that. Fabio and Lisa on Amandala offered their advice, use of their grommet tool and their sewing machine. Unfortunately we couldn’t use the sewing machine, but it sure was nice of them to offer. But it was Rob and Katherine on Koa that really came to our rescue. They showed us how to use the awl (hand sewing tool), gave us needles, special UV thread and best of all – extra sail sliders!  We really used the sail repair kit my dad (Jim) gave us as a gift. You never think you need it, but man it was a life saver. There are no sail supplies on the island so thanks to the help of everyone, we managed to collect the tools we needed to do the repairs. It took us 3 days to do the work, and we were very lucky to have good weather.  Now the sail is all stitched back together and probably better than it was before we left Ensenada!

Sewing with the awl

One of the ripped sail sleeves

Repaired slider

 

So then we had to wait for another good weather window to make our way to Tonga. Hewa, a traditional dance competition was underway so we spent a bit of time enjoying the event. It was pretty amazing.  

One of the many temporary restaurants for Hewa - the flowers smelled amazing!

So, tomorrow the 1^st of July we plan to depart for our 1300 nm journey to Tonga. We’ll be out of touch again – but that’s nothing new. You should be able to follow our progress on YOTREPS.

See you next time in THE KINGDOM OF TONGA!!

(I guess it wasn't short!)

 

Raiatea and Taha'a Islands

Well, I don’t even know where to begin.
We've been having so much fun we haven't had any time to blog!

Since the last post, we left Fare, Huahine with Tony and Steve on Knot Tide Down (KTD) at 0800 or so. We had a bit of trouble lifting the anchor as once again… it was wedged under a rock. Luckily, Steve from KTD who just happens to be a fireman/rescue diver or something superman-ish like that, dove on the anchor the day before so we knew what to expect and which angle to approach and lift from. So up it came and through the pass we went! We left first on the 25 nm passage (towing our dingy), but KTD passed us en route (not towing their dingy) and made it through the Teavarua pass in Raiatea/Tahaa with us close on their stern. So I suppose they won. They’re looooonger than us… that’s all I have to say… I’m not a sore looser or anything.

Arriving at Raiatea

Knot Tide Down ahead of us

We've taken to calling Tony and Steve "the girls". They are completely manly men - lots of lumpy bumpy muscles and totally capable, so the nickname is a bit of an oxymoron since nothing is 'girly' about them in the slightest. But best of all, they're some of the nicest guys we've met in a long time.

 

That's enough about the girls. We headed to Apooiti Marina on the north end of Raiatea to rendezvous with Andy and Betty on Discovery. Don’t know if you recall that we met them in Cooks Bay, Moorea. We all hung on mooring balls as more bad weather was on its way. It’s no wonder its so green here – it rains and blows all the time! The six of us made lots of noise and had boat loads of fun for the next 5 days – eating and drinking our way around various bays and islets. That’s why we haven’t been posting – we’ve been too busy having FUN!

From left; Bill, Steve, Tony, Betty and Andy aboard Knot Tide Down

Local kids learning to sail on Optimists

After swimming with 'the girls' on Knot Tide Down

We stayed moored at Apooiti Marina and Le Carenage for a few days as the weather was packing it in. It didn't stop us though, we still managed to enjoy lots of dinner party's and happy hours. We dingyed to a little islet to do some snorkeling and Steve went spear fishing. He didn't catch anything but Carolyn managed to get 'speared' by a sea urchin in the knee. Ouch. Luckily, nurse Betty was around to dig the spears out of the knee using a needle. Yuck!

Nurse Betty digging out the urchin spines from my knee

When the weather finally came right we were all ready for a change of scenery. We had another fun race from Raiatea to Tahaa's Tapu'amu Bay. Actually it was a regatta seeing as we were 3 boats. There was a lot of competitive maneuvers as Discovery tried to hold the lead, but when it comes to boats size does matter and once again.... the girls on Knot Tide Down came in 1st!  Bill and I just watched the stern of their boats all afternoon!

Discovery holding the lead with Knot Tide Down looking to pass...and they did!

"Wait for us !!!"

We anchored at Tapu'amu bay where the fun continued.

 

Betty and Andy arriving at Kailani

The Girls - Toni and Steve boarding Kailani

 

From left, Steve, Carolyn, Tony, Andy and Betty on Kailani

The parties seem to go well into the night and there's never a shortage of laughter

 At night, the locals trained for a native dance competition which Andy was very keen to see. We all went ashore to watch the dancing and listen to the drums and singing. It was pretty spectacular. We have some video of the practice, but the files are too large to upload on French Polynesian internet, so these pictures will have to do!

The dancers

The musicians

Another day, we all boarded Discovery to sail across to Tautau, a motu (island) with excellent snorkeling and an insanely expensive resort. It is quite unsettling anchoring here so we all went in one boat. We motored over, while Super Steve opted to paddle board.

Andy and Betty helming Discovery

Steve on his paddle board - what a guy!

Carolyn and Betty - I just love that woman!

 

And Betty LOVES her Pompelmousse (grapefruit) !

Sunset with Tautau in the foreground and Bora Bora in the distance

Later KTD left for Bora Bora to pick up and friend flying in from LA, while Discovery and us went to Faaroa Bay to dingy up the longest and only navigable river in French Polynesia. Was pretty beautiful. We were greeted by a local named James who is happy to show his corner of the world to whoever is willing to venture up the river. Here’s a few more pics and then I'll stop rambling :)

James who will tell you everything you want to know about the area

Bill, Andy and Betty heading up river

James cutting up a coconut for us to eat

We walked up from the river to a vanilla plant nursery (on the right under the nets)

Carolyn, James and Bill

James took a fern and slapped it against our skin to create a little fern tattoo - can you see it?

Bill sucking on sugar cane

Despite all the rain, we managed to empty one of our water tanks. It was a bit disconcerting as we have always been so careful with water. I guess no passage making has meant little to no water making since we prefer to use open sea water to make water from. So now we’re laying in wait to depart for Bora Bora and meet up with The Girls while Andy and Betty are setting sail for Seattle via Hawaii. It's so sad :(