Bora Bora first week

August 2, 2008 Saturday

“The spectacular volcanic peaks surrounded by an extensive lagoon of varied hues of blue make this one of the world’s most beautiful islands.”  That is the opening sentence of Charlie’s Charts of Polynesia, the primary sailing guide for Bora Bora.  We have now spent a full week anchored in the same spot – Baie de Povai near Bloody Mary’s restaurant & bar – so we have seen only the western side of Bora Bora.  Supposedly the shallow eastern side is gorgeous with its light blues and greens of the shallow water.  The western side is deep and just looks like dark blue water around a small mountainous island.  We are not overly impressed so far but will withhold judgment until we have an opportunity to see the other side. 

Winds have been pretty consistent 20 knots with occasional gusts to 30 knots for the past 3 days, so we have been confined to the boat and are getting bored.  We do not want to leave the boat unattended in the high winds.  We are anchored in deep water – 66 feet under the keel or 79 feet from the bow deck.  That means we should have out 553 feet of anchor chain in order to have the preferred scope of 7 to 1.  Unfortunately, we do not have near that amount of anchor chain.  We have down 309 feet of chain, which is scope of just under 4:1.  But the bottom is mud and we seem to be very well hooked.   Bill set an anchor alarm on the GPS and we tracked our swinging for 24 hours, and our anchor is definitely well-set and not likely to drag.  But other boats have dragged anchor so we don’t want to leave the boat unattended until the winds die down, which is predicted to happen in another 3 days.  We will be good and sick of sitting on this boat by then.

Hans and Georgie of S/V ARBUTHNOT arrived here the day before the winds kicked up.  Hans and Georgie assisted us as line handlers during our Panama Canal transit.  They transited the canal exactly one month after we did; and they have already caught up with us.  They are a young couple and live near Perth on the western coast of Australia.   They plan to arrive on the eastern coast and have their boat trucked across the continent.  They invited us to join them for dinner at Bloody Mary’s.  It was a lovely evening; the food was great; and the company was even better.  Needless to say, the bloody Mary drinks are fabulous (and they cost $18 each!, plus tax and tip). Bill and I definitely want to have dinner there once more before leaving Bora Bora. 

Hans was very creative and constructed bamboo poles to use for downwind sailing here in the Pacific.  He got the original bamboo from the jungle in Panama and his idea worked great but did eventually break.  He replaced the original bamboo pole from the bamboo stands on the hillside of Moorea and plans to use the new pole for the upcoming passage to Tonga.  Very creative.  And being free makes the idea even better.  Sorry we did no  t get a photo to show how this works.

Bora Bora was originally called Vavau.  The northern group of islands in Tonga today is also called Vava’U, which leads to the belief that people moved from this area to settle in Tonga a very long time ago.  The Polynesian language has no “B” and the real name of this island should be Pora Pora.  But the world knows it as Bora Bora and that name has stuck since Captain Cook “discovered” this island in 1769.  Apparently the Europeans misunderstood several islander words that originally contained the letter “P” and coined similar words using the letter “B.”  Taboo is another of these words.  The correct Polynesian word to mean something is forbidden is tapu, not taboo.

Quoting the sailing guide authored by 2 French sailors: “In 1942 the US Army built a big naval base here during the War of the Pacific against Japan (1941-1945).  I find that truly insulting.  This was the Pacific campaign of World War II.  I guess all the other countries that participated in fighting Japan don’t warrant a mention by these 2 French sailors.  And apparently they believe that only the European campaigns are considered to be World War II.

The first airport in all of Polynesia was built by the Americans in Bora Bora in 1942.  There is also a wonderful breakwater and concrete wharf in the main village of Vaitape which was built by the US and is still in use today.  At times during the war there were as many as 100 transports in the huge deep lagoon on the western side of Bora Bora.  As there is only one pass for entry and exit, this very deep lagoon was the perfect protected area for transports and submarines and ships during the war.  A very strong cable was stretched across Baie de Faanui just inside the pass and the ships would hook onto this cable rather than anchoring.  This would allow faster exit in case of an attack by the Japanese, which never happened.  Eight 16” Navy guns (think huge cannon) were placed at strategic locations around the island.  Seven of these guns can still be found in the heavy vegetation on the mountainsides, but all but one are located on what is now private land of luxury resorts and cannot be visited unless you are a guest of the resort.

The circumference of the main island of Bora Bora is only 32 kilometers, not including the lagoon and the many outer motus or smaller long islands that surround Bora Bora.  Like most of the other islands in French Polynesia, there is only one road and it encircles the island edge at sea level.  The road around Bora Bora was also constructed by the US Army during WWII and is still in use today.  We have been surprised by the constant automobile traffic on the circle road, both day and night.  Can’t imagine why there is so much auto traffic all night when the restaurants close by 9 p.m. and this is not a bar town.  The total population here is only around 8,000 people.  Bora Bora is quite the tourist destination, especially for honeymoons.  Luxury resorts are scattered all around the main island and there are many private motus.  But it is not a party place and the only bars appear to be those located in the resorts, plus the obligatory bar inside each restaurant where one is directed to wait an hour for seating to dine, even when the dining room is completely empty. 

Every tourist activity imaginable on an island can be found in Bora Bora – outrigger tours around the island, helicopter rides, parasailing, surfing, you-name-it.  All for a “nice” price.  We visited the tourist center one day and learned that a 15-minute helicopter ride costs 18,000 CFP per person, or around $250 each.   That is a bit ridiculous for only 15 minutes.  We decided to skip it.  I wanted to see one of the Polynesian dance performances at one of the resort restaurants.  There is a dinner and dance performance at one of the many resorts on every night of the week except Sundays.  They usually cost around $150 per person and that was something I wanted to do while here.  But after sitting here for a week I have lost interest.  Figure it would not be any better than the Polynesian dance performances at the old Mai Kai restaurant that we frequented in Ft. Lauderdale 35 years ago.  So we probably will skip that also.

French Polynesia has the strangest process for clearing out.  Our agent in Papeete took our passports and had obtained Immigration stamps for Tahiti exit.  He also gave us a customs declaration for exit that we were required to mail from Bora Bora to Tahiti 10 days before we plan to leave.  That is hard to do since weather predictions are not accurate that far in advance.  But I completed the customs declaration for exit and mailed on July 31.  We are supposed to visit the Gendarmerie in Bora Bora and have our passports stamped for final exit from French Polynesia one day before our actual departure, and receive a stamped copy of the departure declaration that we mailed to Papeete.   All official clearance in and out of French Polynesia is handled in Papeete, even though you are supposed to visit the Gendarmerie at each of the island groups that you visit.  We hope to depart Bora Bora on the first good weather window after August 9 for a long passage to Niue.  Usually after strong winds lasting this long then there is no wind at all for several days, and that might delay our departure.  We do no t want to leave in light winds; want enough winds to sail comfortably since this will be a fairly long passage.

RadioActive People

RadioActive People

That is not a typo.  I am not talking about people giving off dangerous radiation.  RadioActive is the term I have coined for people who seem to feel a compulsive need to talk on the VHF radio.  They must keep that radio active.

A couple of years ago I followed the logs of a young couple doing a circumnavigation.  Shortly after they moved aboard in Florida they mentioned that they had turned off their VHF radio except for when they needed to place a call – like to a marina or harbormaster.  They did not associate with other cruisers because all the cruisers talked about was boats and weather.  I could certainly understand them not wanting to associate with other cruisers because they were young and well below the age of the average cruiser; but not monitoring VHF channel 16 seemed downright negligent.  For you landlubbers, channel 16 is used worldwide for maritime announcements such as mayday or pan-pan or security (pronounced securitay with a long “A”, not ending in the long “E” sound)..  A mayday call should be placed only when you are in extreme distress and are sinking or are abandoning ship during an emergency situation.  You had better be prepared to pay for the rescue in a large part of the world; not like in the USA where the Coast Guard rescues and the government pays for it.   A pan-pan call should be placed if there is a man overboard or you are in distress and need assistance.  And a security call should be used to notify mariners of an uncharted navigational hazard, such as a sunken vessel or lost cargo container, etc.  Every boat equipped with a VHF radio is supposed to constantly monitor channel 16.  Channel 16 is also used as the international hailing channel.  You hail another boat, they answer and then you both switch to any number of other channels to converse.  You are never supposed to have a conversation on channel 16; that channel is for maritime announcements and hailing only.  Sometimes the hailing gets way out of hand because some people are so chatty.  This young couple turned their VHF radio because the frequent radio chatter of cruisers was driving them crazy.

Now I understand why they stopped listening to the VHF radio.  There seems to be a number of cruisers who are really chatty.  The boats with children are the absolute worst.  It is getting so bad that we would love to simply turn off our radio.  Several times recently we have turned off the radio because the traffic was so annoying.

Since arriving in Papeete and all through Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea & Taha’a, and now in Bora Bora, the VHF airwaves are filled with the same few boats hailing one another or crew members of a single boat hailing each other as they run different errands or visit different friends -– sometimes a dozen times in one hour from the same couple of boats.  I can’t mention the real boat names, but there are a few that are driving both Bill and me to distraction.   One cruising family has multiple handheld radios.  They each take a radio whenever they leave their boat.  Let’s give this boat the assumed name of WHALE since it is named after a particular species whale.  So you will have calls such as:

WHALE, WHALE, WHALE – this is MAMA WHALE, MAMA WHALE

or

MAMA WHALE, MAMA WHALE, MAMA WHALE – this is PAPA WHALE, PAPA WHALE

or

WHALE, WHALE, WHALE --  this is WHALE MOBILE, WHALE MOBILE

or

WHALE, WHALE, WHALE – this is BABY WHALE, BABY WHALE

and so on, and so on, and so on, ad infinitum. 

This nonsense goes on all day long and we really get tired of hearing it.  The very worst are the children, especially teenagers.  We all know how much teenagers like to talk on the phone.  On a boat the VHF radio replaces the phone.  So when there are boats with teenagers aboard visiting the same area, the teenagers dominate the radio airwaves. 

Almost all VHF radios can be set to monitor more than one channel.  If our friends on FREE SPIRIT are in the same area then both boats will set our radios to monitor channel 16 and also monitor another channel such as channel 69.  The radios will automatically switch to channel 69 if there is any traffic on that channel.  We call this our private channel or working channel and we can talk to each other without bothering all the other boats within a 25 mile radius who are monitoring channel 16.

All boats with children should set up their own private channel with their children’s friends.  And crew members going shore or visiting with handheld radios should also set up their own private channel.  If Bill leaves the boat and I stay home, he always takes a handheld set to channel 68 (one of the high-power channels) and I set the main boat radio to monitor Ch 16 and Ch 68.  If we both go ashore, then we each carry a handheld radio set to Ch 68.  That way we don’t annoy every other boat in the area with our discussions or unnecessary hailing on Ch 16.

Heaven help us from RadioActive people.  They don’t have a bit of common sense.

Oh, BTW, we are now in Bora Bora; anchored near the infamous Bloody Mary’s.  Boats are supposed to take a mooring ball at Bloody Mary’s, but there is a shortage of mooring balls.  Yesterday afternoon as we were entering the pass we heard several people on the radio.  One person would announce that he was leaving a mooring and another would announce that he was taking that mooring.  First person to claim it had better get there fast.  We decided not to enter into that foray.  Instead, we anchored in fairly deep water behind the mooring field.  Put out 275 feet of anchor chain – the most chain we have used to date.  There is a large expedition super yacht anchored nearby and he is unknowingly supplying us with free WiFi. 

Raiatea & Taha’a

Latitude 16.78.22S

Longitude 151.29.20W

Baie Haamane, Ile Taha’a

On Monday, July 21, 2008, we departed from the lovely anchorage at the SW tip of Huahine Iti.  It had rained and the wind had howled for 4 days but the weather had finally passed and the little anchorage was again a millpond.  I wanted to get into the water and clean the scum line on the boat; however, the weather prediction for the week indicated that Monday would be the only day with any wind at all.  So we weighed anchor and headed off for Raiatea with hopes of being able to sail.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to motor through the lagoon back to Passe Avamoa on the NW tip of Huahine Nui and then we were off. 

Someone must have forgotten to give the weather forecast to the wind gods because the predicted 10 knots never materialized.  We ended up motorsailing the entire day, with the anemometer making circles searching for the true wind direction.  The highest wind we recorded during that passage was 6 knots, certainly too low to sail even with our lightest weight sails. 

We entered Passe Teavapiti on the NE side of Raiatea and motored over the north side of the island and down the west side to what was supposed to be an anchorage at Baie Vaoaara.  This is the last bay that can be reached from the north side of Raiatea because the navigable lagoon does not completely encircle the island.  There are bays farther south but one must go outside the reef and enter from another pass on the south side of the island.  Baie Vaoaara was not at all pretty; looked too commercial or industrial for our tastes.  Plus, it was too deep for us to anchor with any peace of mind.  We carry 100 meters of anchor chain (roughly 300 feet) and that would not allow a scope of even three to one and nowhere remotely near our preferred scope of seven to one.  For you landlubbers: the correct scope for anchoring is seven to one; meaning chain seven times the depth of the water --- measured from the deck or bow roller of your boat, not measured simply from the water surface.  One should always use a minimum scope of five to one but seven to one is preferred.  Using anything less increases the likelihood of the anchor dragging if bad weather or high winds should occur while you are anchored.   During the recent 4 days of high winds in Huahine numerous boats lost their anchor holding and dragged.  We had the correct anchor scope down and stayed securely in place.

Bill pulled out the guide books and paper chart while I drove and retraced our route back to the north side of Raiatea.  Every anchorage we checked was between 80 and 120 feet deep.   Bill finally found a spot for us to anchor in 30-50 feet depth on the island of Taha’a and if we hurried we could make it there before nightfall.  I revved the engine higher and we motored at 7 knots most of the way.  We anchored in the darkening dusk in 32 feet of water.  Now this was much more like it!  Mind you, we had managed to turn a 27 mile passage into 56.3 nautical miles; but we were finally safely anchored and enjoying our usual sunset beverages. 

Haamane Bay is by far the largest bay on the sister islands of Taha’a and Raiatea, and we are anchored way inside at the very head of the bay.  It is flat calm and the view of the mountains on all 3 sides is spectacular.  The mountainsides are blanketed by the low spreading canopies of an unusual type of tree.  Some of the trees are covered in tiny bright red flowers and the birdsong from one area is fairly loud.  There is a small village that appears very modern.   The guide book mentions that this particular bay can experience high gusts of wind due to the topography of the mountainous island, but that shouldn’t be a problem for us this week since there is no wind whatsoever.  A little wind would be nice to help cool the sunny days.  Nights in the South Pacific are cool even without wind, but the days can be hot – nothing like the heat of the Caribbean, but occasionally warmer than comfortable.

Now for our history lesson.

Raiatea is the second-largest island of French Polynesia (Tahiti is the largest).  The main town and port is Uturoa and is the administrative, business and educational center of the Iles Sous-le-Vent (“islands under the wind” or Leeward Islands).  Raiatea’s population of more than 12,000 live in 8 villages around the island.  According to our guide book, the west coast of Raiatea south of Tevaitoa (near where we first tried to anchor) is pure old Polynesia through and through.  The rest of the island is modern.  Raiatea is traditionally the ancient Havai’i or sacred isle from which all of eastern Polynesia was colonized.  The islands of Taha’a on the north and Raiatea on the south are considered sister islands because they are encircled by one very large coral reef.  There are 7 passes to Raiatea through the reef and only 3 passes to Taha’a.  The 2 islands are about 3 kilometers apart and it is easy to follow the marked routes between the 2 islands.  There are no beaches on Raiatea but there are 2 very tiny motus between the 2 islands where one can enjoy tiny spits of white sand beaches. 

Legends tell how the 2 islands were cut apart by a mythical eel.  Another legend tells how Raiatea’s first king, Hiro, built a great canoe that he used to sail to Raratonga in what is now the Southern Cook Islands, roughly 575 miles away.   Legends also maintain that the great Polynesian voyages to Hawaii and New Zealand departed from here.  According to Polynesia mythology the god Oro was born from the eruption of Mt. Temehani on Raiatea.  Mt. Temehani is 772 meters tall and has a continuous cloud cover dominating the northern end of the island.  The sacred white flower called tiare apetahi grows above the 400-meter level on the slopes around the summit.  This special flower exists nowhere else on earth and resists transplantation.  It is a distinctively fragrant, fragile, white one-sided blossom that represents the 5 fingers of a beautiful Polynesian girl who fell in love with the handsome son of a high chief but was unable to marry him because of her lowly birth.  The petals pop open forcefully enough at dawn to make a sound.  Sometimes the more romantic local residents will spend the night on the mountain to hear the petals popping open at dawn.  These flowers are protected and there is a minimum 50,000 CFP (roughly $670 USD) fine for picking one.

Raiatea was originally called Havai’i.  Queen Rainuiatea renamed the island in honor of her parents:  Rai, a warrior from Tahiti, and Atea, queen of Opoa.  Before European encroachment Raiatea was the religious, cultural and political center of what is now called French Polynesia.  Funny to me is that Huahine 30 miles to the east also makes this claim.  Raiatea supposedly was Captain Cook’s favorite island; he visited here 3 times.  In one of his journals he wrote that “Haamanino Harbour” was his favorite anchorage.  I assume that Haamanino Harbour is the same Haamane Baie where we are now anchored.

The islands of Taha’a and Raiatea accepted Christianity soon after the Tahitians were converted.  A Protestant missionary named John Williams arrived in 1818.  From Raiatea Williams carried his work to Raratonga in 1823 and then to Samoa in 1830, later moving on to Vanuatu.  The inhabitants of the Vanuatu Islands were not receptive to Christianity at the time and Mr. Williams met a rather ignominious end  -- he was stewed in a pot by the Big Nambas of Vanuatu.

Queen Pomare IV spent the years 1844 to 1847 in exile on Raiatea.  When France annexed the island in 1887, Chief Teraupoo launched a resistance campaign that lasted until 1897, when French troops and warships finally conquered the island.  Chief Teraupoo was captured after 6 weeks of fighting after the French troops arrived, and he was then deported to New Caledonia.  The Queen of Raiatea and 136 of her followers were exiled to the remote Eiao Island in the Marquesas.  It took the French a great many years to do it, but they finally had Polynesia.

Today the Polynesians are trying to revive their culture before it is completely lost.  The revival of tattooing in the Marquesas, after being banned by the European Christians for nearly 200 years, is an example of that.  Several of the temple platforms and marae have been restored on Raiatea.  The largest and most important temple is the Marae Taputapeatea and it has been the best maintained.  Its ahu measures 43 meters long and 7.3 meters wide and between 2 and 3 meters high from the ground.  Stone backrests in the courtyard still mark the seats of high chiefs.  In the old days guests would be received at the welcoming marae when they disembarked from their canoes.  Then they would proceed to a temple where rituals were performed.  Meals would be served in another temple platform called Hiti Tai.   Marae Taputapuatea is directly opposite Teavamoa Pass and fires on the marae once were beacons to navigators in ancient times.  Papa Ofeoro was the place of sacrifice and about 5,000 skulls were discovered during excavations at this site.  Another temple platform called Opu Teina near the shore was where visitors would say their farewells.  Departing chiefs would often take a stone from this marae to be planted in new marae being constructed elsewhere, which would then also be named Marae Taputapuatea.

In 1995 a fleet of traditional Polynesian voyaging canoes, including 3 from Hawaii and 2 each from Cook Islands and Tahiti plus a raft from Easter Island, gathered at Taputaputea to lift a 650-year-old curse and rededicate the marae.  The 7 canoes then left for the Marquesas navigating by the stars and swells.  Some carried on to Hawaii and the west coast of the United States in an amazing demonstration of this aspect of traditional culture.  In April 2000 a Tattoo Festival took place at Marae Taputapuatea.  During important events at the marae, firewalking is practiced at a site near the main temples.

The northern island of Taha’a is smaller and shaped like a hibiscus flower.  Four long fjord-like bays cut into its rugged south side, the largest of which by far is the one where we are anchored.  Mt. Ohiri is the highest point on the island at 590 meters.  Legends maintain that the mountain is named for Hiro, god of thieves, who was born here.  Taha’a is known as the vanilla island for its plantations that produce 70 percent of Polynesia’s “black gold.”  Vanilla is a vine belonging to the orchid family and is locally grown on small family plantations.  Vanilla was brought to Tahiti from Manila in 1848 and later mutated to the current Tahitensis type.  These plants must be hand-pollinated.  They are harvested between April and June, so we have missed that season.  After harvesting, the pods are put out to dry for a couple of months.  Between 1915 and 1933 vanilla production was 50 to 150 tons per year.  This peaked in 1949 at 200 tons, but production continued to remain high until 1966, when a steady decline began because the producers began leaving for higher paid employment in Papeete, Tahiti, related to the French nuclear testing.  By 1990 the vanilla production had fallen to only 39 metric tons, but production has been slowly picking up since then.  It is possible to take vanilla tours but we will skip that since we have missed the growing and harvesting season.  Don’t think looking at a bunch of drying pods would be too interesting.

Each October a festival includes stone fishing – a line of people in canoes herd the fish into a cove by beating stones on the surface of the lagoon.  There is no public transportation on either Raiatea or Taha’a.  Cars are often seen on the larger island of Raiatea but are not so common on Taha’a.  The 4,500 residents on Taha’a use small high-speed motorboats to get to their gardens on the outer reef motus or to go shopping on Raiatea, otherwise they walk.  The entire island comprises only 90-square-kilometers so it is not that difficult to get around and cars are really not necessary.  There are many restaurants and many of them along the shores have mooring balls where a boat can secure overnight if one eats a meal at that restaurant.  With the high price of food in French Polynesia, this probably means that we would easily spend $100 to $200 just to spend a night on a mooring ball and eat a meal that we don’t want.

There are numerous small pearl farms around both Raiatea and Taha’a.  These appear to be much smaller operations that we saw in the Tuamotus.  It is possible to take a full-day outrigger canoe trip and visit a pearl farm and a vanilla plantation, including lunch and snorkeling.  It would cost $400 USD for the 2 of us.  That seems a bit pricey to us; but we couldn’t do it even if we were willing to spend the bucks because the tour can only be arranged by telephone and we don’t have a local cell phone.  Or, for $275 USD we could have a drive across the island in a 4WD and have a canoe ride and picnic lunch.  Thinking we will pass on these excursions.

One interesting tidbit is that the inhabitants of Taha’a are authentic Maori.  This is the only island in French Polynesia to claim this distinction.  The warrior Maori of New Zealand are more well-known.  The Maori in New Zealand are thought to have emigrated from this area.

July 24, 2008 Thursday

Lattitude 16.40.92S

Longitude 151.29.13W

Baie Apu, Ile Taha’a

Last night the wind changed direction and is now blowing steadily from the WEST.  This is the second time since left Moorea that the wind has switched from the normal trades from the E or SE and blown from the completely opposite direction.  This abnormal wind direction is supposed to last a few days.  We very obviously will not be sailing westward to Bora Bora until the winds change back to normal.

Since we were anchored in a long bay that is known for violent wind gusts when the wind comes from the west, we decided to move before those gusts started.  So first thing this morning we motored round the lagoon to the SW side of Taha’a to what is affectionately called The Yacht Club.  I think the real name of this place is Marina Iti, although there is no marina here.  But there are a dozen or so mooring balls set in water that is 105 to 140 feet deep.  The Yacht Club is closed today and will reopen tomorrow.  They will expect us to at least go to the bar and buy drinks tomorrow night in exchange for the privilege of staying on this mooring ball overnight.  Ioranet WiFi is also available in this mooring field.  We have less than 100 minutes left of prepaid WiFi from our original 30 hours of Ioranet time, so we won’t be browsing the net; but at least we should be able to update the website once before we leave for Bora Bora.

The wind coming from the west and southwest is cold.  You must realize, of course, that anything less than 80F degrees is now considered by us to be cold.  It is now noon and is 80.2F inside the boat and feels very comfortable.  Sitting in the cockpit in the wind feels cold.  We are loving this South Pacific weather.
 

Huahine

2008-7-16 to 20  Wednesday to Saturday

Title: Huahine

Latitude 16.48.626S

Longitude 150.59.62W

The 93 mile overnight passage was easy.  Seemed like most of the boats anchored at Opunohu Bay decided to leave at the same time we did.  Eleven boats departed at about the same time, just before sunset Tuesday.  Two boats set course for either Raiatea or Bora Bora and the other nine headed for Huahine, so we had a little flotilla.  This was the first time we have made a passage accompanied by so many boats and I have to say that I did not really like it.  Some of the boats passed us much too closely during the night for my comfort level.  The winds slacked off during the night and we ended up motoring 49% of the passage, including the motoring a long way inside the lagoon to where we are now anchored.  We went over the north side of Huahine and entered at Avamoa Pass near the NW tip of the island and then followed the lagoon all the way to the very SW tip of the island and anchored in Avea Bay.  This was a bit different for us because our charts ended a mile or so before this anchorage.  The electronic charts and the sailing guide books all indicate that it is not possible to navigate to this area; they show it as all coral reef.  But I had saved The Moorings charts and guide that they give to their charter customers for the Tahitian islands and we followed those.  This is a great little anchorage behind a very wide reef.  Long very white sand beaches all along the bay at the base of the mountain make a beautiful setting.   

Must say that French Polynesia has done a marvelous job of placing navigation markers in the past couple of years.  If you pay attention it is very easy to follow the navigation markers and buoys.   Their system is the ILA-A which is opposite of the US system.  Upon entering a pass from the sea you have green markers to starboard and red to port.  No more “red-right-returning” as used in the US and Caribbean.  Once you enter a pass the lagoon is marked with red to land side and green to reef side.  This is consistent throughout French Polynesia.  So if you are following a lagoon to the right  (counter-clockwise) after entering a pass then the green markers remain on your right.  But if you turn left after entering a pass then the red markers will be on starboard and the green on port.  This did take a bit of getting used to, but now we are old hands at it.  This is a buoyage system unique to French Polynesia, and we think they have done a very good job at placing these navigational aids.

The island of Huahine is approximately 9 miles from north to south and 6 miles from east to west.  Like Tahiti, it is actually comprised of 2 islands.  Huahine Nui is the northernmost and larger of the 2 islands; and Huahine Iti is to the south.  The 2 islands are separated by a shallow narrow channel and are joined by a bridge.  It is possible to navigate this channel by dinghy if done slowly and carefully to avoid the numerous coral heads.  On the western side of Huahine Nui at the location of the beginning of this channel is very deep Port Bourayne.  The large Port Bourayne with high mountains surrounding 90% of it looks very much like a Scottish loch. 

Captain Cook was the first European to visit the island of Huahine.  He made several visits between 1769 and 1773.  In 1777 he stayed here 7 weeks.  An island native stole his sextant during his last visit here.  The guide books do not say what Capt. Cook did in retaliation for this theft but I imagine it was not too pleasant.  Cook had a real hatred of theft and usually was quite violent in his retaliations.  Missionaries from the London Missionary Society arrived on Huahine in 1808 and converted the inhabitants to Protestantism.  (Bill says they ruined everything.)  Huahine was the last of the Leeward Islands to become attached to France in 1888, forty years after Tahiti.  Huahine presented strong resistance to French control and there are monuments to the dead located at various points on the island.  Huahine was the religious center and cultural center of all French Polynesia prior to the arrival of  the Europeans and they did not forfeit their society and religion easily.  Huahine was annexed into French Polynesia in 1897, but French citizenship was not accorded the inhabitants until 1946.  Sounds to me like France wanted to make certain that all the inhabitants who resisted French control were dead before allowing the remaining inhabitants to have French citizenship.

The guide books recommend renting a car and touring both islands.  Since this was the ancient religious center there are many, many marae and some have been restored.  Supposed to be a couple of small museums which might be interesting.  But Bill is not interested in driving around so I do not think we will be renting a car to see the archeological sites.  Winds picked up to 20+ knots last evening and are predicted to remain high for another few days.  Think we will stay on the boat.  Friends are also anchored here and we will do pot luck dinners and visit and just enjoy the scenery for a few days before moving on to the next island. 

Our tentative plan is to leave French Polynesia from Bora Bora around mid-August, weather permitting, of course.  We already completed the departure clearance paperwork in Papeete, Tahiti.  All we have to do for clearance formalities is mail a signed form to Papeete 10 days before our final departure and then get a stamp in our passports at Bora Bora just before leaving.  Our 90 days in French Polynesia is up on August 26 and we could stay until then, but there is still so far to go to New Zealand that we would prefer to start moving again by mid-August.

Opunohu Bay, Moorea

Last Friday we moved over to Opunohu Bay on the northwestern tip of Moorea.  The French sailing guide states that this bay is prettier than Cook’s Bay which is 2 miles to the east, so we wanted to check it out.  Sorry, French guys, but Opunohu Bay does not begin to compete with Cook’s Bay.  Cook’s Bay is far prettier and more dramatic.  We anchored behind the reef not too far from the Sheraton Resort.  There was a pretty beach and a nearby park and they were having a summer day camp where kids participated in every water sport known to man.  There were kids sailing by our boat all day long.  Sounded like a couple hundred Zacharies and Elisabeths.  But it provided entertainment and we did not mind all the kids.  At least they did not run into our boat; some of the other boats were not so lucky and were bumped by hobie cats being sailed by little kids.

Bill went out and swam with the rays on a couple of days.  I did not get into the water but did go there one day and watched the rays from the dinghy.  These rays are just amazing.  They are so docile and gather in one spot because the guides from the local resorts go there and hand-feed them several times daily.  You anchor your dinghy and jump into chest-high water.  The rays swim all around you.  If they think you have fish to feed them, they will come right up to you and even stick their heads and mouths up out of the water to try to get the fish.  Look at the photos of Bill standing up and taking photos of the rays.  The rays were all over him because they thought the camera was a fish that he might feed to them.  There were also black-tipped reef sharks swimming all around and among the rays.  The sharks do not bother the people in the water because they are so accustomed to being hand-fed daily by the resort guides.

We have been waiting since last Friday for a proper weather window to sail to the next island.  Today is good sailing weather.  Just before sunset today we will leave and head to either Huahine or Raiatea.