Whew!! I have finished entering blogs about all the places we have visited since beginning our cruising adventure. I did not attempt to mention all the places in detail, but have tried to make at least one mention of the principle places we have visited to date. Just click on the place on the list on the left side of the main page to see postings about whichever location might be of interest to you.
Complete postings about each location as well as about 2000 photos can be found on our old website at the link provided on the left side of the main page of this blogspot for S/V BeBe.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Huahine, Raiatea & Taha'a and Bora Bora in July-Aug 2008
Huahine
July 16, 2008; anchored at Latitude 16°48.6186 S Longitude 151°00.1126 W
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 very 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 the French Polynesia government 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 bouyage system unique to French Polynesia, and we think they have done an excellent job of 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 don't say what Capt. Cook did in retaliation for this theft but I imagine it wasn't 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 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.
Raiatea & Taha’a
Anchored at Baie Haamane; 16.78.22S 151.29.20W
July 16, 2008; anchored at Latitude 16°48.6186 S Longitude 151°00.1126 W
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 very 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 the French Polynesia government 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 bouyage system unique to French Polynesia, and we think they have done an excellent job of 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 don't say what Capt. Cook did in retaliation for this theft but I imagine it wasn't 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 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.
Raiatea & Taha’a
Anchored at Baie Haamane; 16.78.22S 151.29.20W
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.
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 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 Baie Apu, Ile Taha’a
Lattitude 16.40.92S Longitude 151.29.13W
Last night the wind changed direction and is now blowing steadily from the WEST. This is the second time since we 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 WNW 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.
Bora Bora
August 2, 2008
“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.
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.
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 didn’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 Tonga to settle this area. 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.
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 don’t want to leave in light winds; want enough winds to sail comfortably since this will be a fairly long passage.
More about Bora Bora history:
The island of Bora Bora is 7 million years old. As stated in previous log, there is no letter “B” in the Tahitian language; and the real name is Pora Pora. Pora Pora means “first born” and the island thought to be so named because it was the first island formed island after Raiatea, which is the oldest island in French Polynesia. Bora Bora was first inhabited about the year 900 A.D. The traditional name of Vava’u suggests that Tongan voyagers reached here because I know Tonga was inhabited prior to 900 A.D. The ancient inhabitants of Pora Pora were indomitable warriors who often raided the islands of Maupiti, Taha’a and Raiatea.
The Americans set up a refueling and regrouping base here in February 1942 during WWII, code named Operation Bobcat. This was to serve shipping between the US west coast or Panama Canal and Australia/New Zealand. The 4400 American army troops left behind 130 half-caste babies when the base was abruptly closed in June 1946. Forty percent of these abandoned infants died of starvation when they were forced to switch from their accustomed American baby formulas to island food. One guide book states that the naval guns installed as protection around the island (and never used) were 16-inch. Another guide book states that these were 7-inch guns. Yet another guide book states that these were MK II naval guns. So we have no idea which book is correct. However, all the guide books do agree that only one gun is now located on what is not restricted private land.
And, finally, our time in Bora Bora:
The pretty side of Bora Bora is the eastern side. That is where the shallow water is located that has the pretty aquamarine shades of blues and greens. Getting to the eastern side of the lagoon at Bora Bora is easy enough as long as you pay close attention to the navigation markers. The trickiest place in the well-marked channel of the lagoon is where you must leave a cardinal marker on the port side and immediately make a 90 degree turn to port and leave the next red marker on the starboard side (the main land side). After passing that red buoy you immediately turn right again. The lagoon channel is 80 to 90 feet deep all up the west side and north side of Bora Bora until you reach that cardinal marker, where the depth drops suddenly. When moving in the channel between the cardinal buoy and the red buoy, the water depth under our keel was only 2 feet 6 inches. We really get nervous when it gets that shallow. But friends who were here recently had warned us about this shallow spot in the channel and that the bottom was all sand with no coral in that area, so we motored on through. Had we not been forewarned then we would have stopped and turned around when we reached that very shallow spot in the channel.
The eastern side of Bora Bora is very pretty. The various depths of the lagoon with the backdrop of the dramatic mountain shapes are what make it so pretty. Of course, as any sailor realizes, the pretty colored water means dangerous sailing due to varied depths and coral or rocks. Much of the lagoon is very shallow which causes the clear water to appear a very pale green. The water color varies from pale green, aquamarine and turquoise in the shallow areas and in the deep areas there are blues that range from light baby blue to royal navy to midnight blue/black. This is what we expected Bora Bora to look like from the picture postcards sold in all the French Polynesia shops. Unfortunately, all the coral is permanently bleached from the effects of El Nino in 2001. Apparently Bora Bora experienced what we know as a red tide during that El Nino and the coral damage is irreversible. Bora Bora suffered more damage than most other islands because there is only one pass into the lagoon. Islands with multiple passes have better water flow and were not as severely affected by the hotter water during the worst El Nino year. Bet this place was really beautiful when the coral was still alive and brilliantly colored. Now it just looks like gray or beige rocks. There is a deep-water channel on the eastern side that allows boats to navigate down to the southeastern end of the island. You cannot navigate across the southern side of Bora Bora because of the shallow water and coral heads. We watched several boats go through the deep-water channel and most of them went the wrong direction at least once. One boat headed in the wrong direction a total of 6 times while navigating that deep-water channel. Don’t know what his problem was unless he simply did not know how to read channel markers and cardinal buoys. Looked pretty straightforward to us.
There is a splendid view of the eastern side of Mt. Otemanu on Bora Bora. Near the top there is a completely circle-shaped cave. The helicopter tour takes passengers right in front of this cave. The cave is so dramatic that I can’t help but think that this cave had some significance to the ancient inhabitants of this island. But our guide books don’t even mention this cave, so that will remain a mystery to us.
We anchored in 20-feet clear water off a motu on the eastern side. Bill decided to take advantage of the millpond smoothness and got in the water to clean the scum line. He immediately climbed right back out and dug out his full-body Lycra skin. That water is too cold for us to enjoy! It might feel great to all these Europeans, USA West Coast people, Yankees and Canadians who are all used to colder waters; but to those of us who grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast, this water is too cold. Wearing even a thin Lycra body-suit over your swim suit makes all the difference in the world. That thin fabric helps retain enough body heat to maintain comfort, although neither Bill nor I would want to stay in that cold water for very long even with the Lycra body-suit. We prefer 85F degree swimming water temperature. Don’t know the current temperature of the local water, but it is certainly is lower than our comfort range. But it sure is pretty.
Bill set up a new Excel spreadsheet last week when we were so bored and stuck on the boat in the high winds. He likes to do that sort of thing when he is bored. You would be amazed at his interactive spreadsheet used to track engine hours, generator hours, fuel consumption, passage planning, times of arrival based on various boat speeds, etc., etc., etc. It is really fancy.
On Saturday we motored back and picked up a mooring in front of Bloody Mary’s and enjoyed another great fish dinner with friends.
Many years ago a man named Leo Wooten sailed down to Bora Bora from Hawaii in a boat named Alcoholic’s IV. His first 3 boats were also named Alcoholic and each one sank as he attempted to reach Bora Bora. After his 4th attempt and successful arrival, he stayed here until his death. He was the first fisherman for the Bloody Mary’s restaurant and he later taught several local men how to do deep-water fishing. He became a permanent fixture at Bloody Mary’s – they even had a barstool set aside for him with a plaque identifying it as his. No one dared to sit on Leo’s barstool. Leo died several years ago. The owners felt that Leo was such a fixture of Bloody Mary’s that they buried him in a small corner of the restaurant. He has a very nice stone-covered grave with a bronze plaque and 3 headstones. So you can have drinks or dinner seated next to Leo even today.
NOTE ADDED 6 APRIL 2009 --- On our message board on this blog a man named Alain posted the following about Leo Wooten:
"Hi,
(Excuse my bad English)
By chance I read your comment on the Bloody Mary's and particularly on Leo Wooten.
Thank you a thousand times for this tribute to him. Leo was my friend, I was proud to be his.
He died when I was in France, unfortunately, I was not with her friend to help.
It seems that when his death was known in Hawaii, all his fishermen friends put flag down on boats.
Léo was a “Man”, with a great “M”
Thank you again for him."
How nice that Leo's fishermen friends in Hawaii acknowledged his death that way and that Alain was kind enough to let us know. Now back to our blog as originally posted.......
Bloody Mary’s is the nicest sand-floor island restaurant we have ever visited. They sift and rake the fine white sand daily. The fresh catches-of-the-day are filleted and placed on a large container of crushed ice. The manager calls several groups of customers to stand around the ice table and he describes each fish and the recommended method of preparation and states the price. There are no menus. And they really know how to grill the fish perfectly to order. They also offer boneless chicken breast, various steaks of prime New Zealand beef and baby-back ribs for those who prefer not to eat seafood. Both times we ate there I had Moon Fish, grilled rare; and it was wonderful. Moon Fish is only found locally and is caught from 700 to 900 feet deep; it is not exported. Figured I should try something that I will never have the opportunity to eat again elsewhere. The tables and stools are all made from coconut palms. This place has been here for many years and is famous among the filthy rich and famous folks. There are 2 large coconut palm “walls” at the entrance near the road where names of famous visitors are engraved. The names range from old actors like June Allyson to present-day actors like Pierce Brosnan , Cameron Diaz and Jack Nicholson, just to name a few. The 2 names that surprised us were Buzz Aldrin and Warren Moon. Another set were Bill & Melissa Gates, along with Warren Buffet and Paul & Jody Allen. Bloody Mary’s is a “not-to-be-missed” place when visiting Bora Bora.
Weather forecast is good for departure today or tomorrow. We subscribed to the weather guru for the South Pacific, Bob McDavit, for passage planning to Tonga with a brief stop in Nuie. We have cleared out with the Gendarmerie and filled up with diesel. So, next stop will either be Nuie or Tonga.
P.S. We learned something yesterday that Bill’s brothers and sister will find interesting. Their dad fought with General Patton’s army and he was stationed in France for years. Their dad even was awarded the highest French medal for something done in battle (can you tell I don’t know anything about military medals and stuff like that?). Anyway, the French believe that the US did not rescue them from German occupation in WWII. The French say they did it all by themselves. This belief is pervasive throughout France except in the Normandy area. They feel no gratitude whatsoever to the US for saving their butts in WWII. And history is re-written yet again.
Vava'U Group, Ha'apai Group & Tongatapu Group, Sept-Oct 2008
We arrived in Neiafu, Vava'U in the Kingdom of Tonga on September 1, 2008. Stayed around the various anchorages of the Vava'U Group for the entire month of September. Then sailed south to the Ha'apai Group. By about the third week of October we were in Tongatapu waiting for the right weather window for that dreaded passage south to New Zealand.
This was our second visit to Tonga. We had spent 2 weeks in Vava'U Group on a sailboat charter back in June 2002. That visit was 6 months after the devestating Cyclone Waka that hit Vava'U on December 31, 2001. On our first visit the islands were devoid of most vegetation. There were some 600 ft cliffs that were bare stone all the way down to the sea. This was very striking. We did not realize at the time that this cliffs were normally covered in various forms of vegetation. I was looking forward to seeing these stark cliffs again. Imagine my surprise when we turned south over the north end of Vava'U and there were no bare cliffs. There was various shades of green all the way down to the water's edge. Probably shouldn't say it, but it was prettier when the cliffs were bare stone.
This photo was taken looking outward from Mariners Cave, an underwater cave that is popular with tourists. This photo was taken by Michele on S/V FREE SPIRIT. We did not go into Mariners Cave.
Vava'U was lots of fun. Many dinners out and evenings of bar/band entertainment. Even managed to watch a couple of American football games at a restaurant. That was really a special treat. 
We went to a pig roast one afternoon and watched those little baby pigs twirling above the fire on the beach with sticks pushed through their little bodies. Looked so sad but didn't stop us from eating the little devils.
Sailing southward to the Ha'apai Group was quite an experience. There were whales all around us. Most were humpback whales but I saw a sperm whale broach and that is a memory that I will take to my grave. Majestic was the word that instantly came to mind. Nothing else could adequately describe how this huge mammal looked as its head and forward body shot up out of the water and then crashed down creating a big splash. No way to get a photo of this as it happened so quickly.
After we anchored in the first island at the Ha'apai Group a mother humpback whale and her very small new calf came swimming through the anchorage in front of the anchored boats. The calf kept broaching, time after time, while the mother stayed a little ways behind him. What a sight!
At another island in the Ha'apai Group we were invited into a typical Tongan family home for a "feast." This feast did not remotely resemble the real Tongan feasts that we had attended in Vava'U. This family was so poor they had little to eat, but they gladly shared with us what little they did have. Basically it was just taro cooked in a couple of ways, one bowl of which had some kind of unidentifyable meat. The bones looked different from any meat that I have ever seen. The only animals we saw on the island were dogs and pigs; no goats or lambs. This family had no electricity or refrigeration so the meat had to be local. I do hope we didn't eat a dog. But that is one of those things that it is probably best to not think about it.
Kelefesia is a gorgeous island. One of those paradise places. We anchored there for a few days and are glad that we got to see it on a calm day. The island has white sand beaches and is surrounded by reef and it is absolutely georgeous. But when the wind switches and comes from the south this beautiful little anchorage becomes untenable. The swell rolls around the reef and right into the tiny anchorage. I spent our last night there sitting in the cockpit in case the swell caused our anchor to become unset. At first daylight we weighed anchor and got out of there.
The most southerly group of Tonga is the Tongatapu Group. We sat anchored off Pangimotu island at Tongatapu for almost 3 weeks waiting for good weather for the passage to New Zealand. More and more boats arrived as the days went by, so there was lots of entertainment and socializing as we met up with old acquaintances. Big Mama's Yacht Club hosted a big Halloween party and she also hosted little game competitions several days. This is a great place for cruisers to hang out. One day a banded sea snake swam right past our boat. This is the first time I have seen a sea snake.
One day we took a tour of Tongatapu. Unfortunately, this tour did not remotely compare with the great tour we had on our previous visit back in 2002. They did take us to the old stone formation that marks winter and summer solstice. There are enormous stones that were quarried in Samoa and brought to Tonga on outrigger canoes back around 800-1000 A.D. These stones were used to build the burial grounds for the royal family. It still amazes me that they were able to do this. We also saw the 3-headed palm tree, the only one in the world. 
And the blow-holes lived up to our memories, but the fruit bats did not. The last time we saw huge fruit bats hanging from trees all around one house. This time the fruit bats were much smaller and were in higher trees. Not as impressive.
Sorry that we will probably never return. If someone is thinking of visiting in the South Pacific and can only go to one place, that place should be the Kingdom of Tonga. The food choices are limited and very basic, but the people are wonderful. They still wear traditional clothing every day; they don't just dress up for tourists. Tongans are very Christian. They are the most serene people you can imagine.
This was our second visit to Tonga. We had spent 2 weeks in Vava'U Group on a sailboat charter back in June 2002. That visit was 6 months after the devestating Cyclone Waka that hit Vava'U on December 31, 2001. On our first visit the islands were devoid of most vegetation. There were some 600 ft cliffs that were bare stone all the way down to the sea. This was very striking. We did not realize at the time that this cliffs were normally covered in various forms of vegetation. I was looking forward to seeing these stark cliffs again. Imagine my surprise when we turned south over the north end of Vava'U and there were no bare cliffs. There was various shades of green all the way down to the water's edge. Probably shouldn't say it, but it was prettier when the cliffs were bare stone.
This photo was taken looking outward from Mariners Cave, an underwater cave that is popular with tourists. This photo was taken by Michele on S/V FREE SPIRIT. We did not go into Mariners Cave.
Vava'U was lots of fun. Many dinners out and evenings of bar/band entertainment. Even managed to watch a couple of American football games at a restaurant. That was really a special treat. 
We went to a pig roast one afternoon and watched those little baby pigs twirling above the fire on the beach with sticks pushed through their little bodies. Looked so sad but didn't stop us from eating the little devils.Sailing southward to the Ha'apai Group was quite an experience. There were whales all around us. Most were humpback whales but I saw a sperm whale broach and that is a memory that I will take to my grave. Majestic was the word that instantly came to mind. Nothing else could adequately describe how this huge mammal looked as its head and forward body shot up out of the water and then crashed down creating a big splash. No way to get a photo of this as it happened so quickly.
After we anchored in the first island at the Ha'apai Group a mother humpback whale and her very small new calf came swimming through the anchorage in front of the anchored boats. The calf kept broaching, time after time, while the mother stayed a little ways behind him. What a sight!
At another island in the Ha'apai Group we were invited into a typical Tongan family home for a "feast." This feast did not remotely resemble the real Tongan feasts that we had attended in Vava'U. This family was so poor they had little to eat, but they gladly shared with us what little they did have. Basically it was just taro cooked in a couple of ways, one bowl of which had some kind of unidentifyable meat. The bones looked different from any meat that I have ever seen. The only animals we saw on the island were dogs and pigs; no goats or lambs. This family had no electricity or refrigeration so the meat had to be local. I do hope we didn't eat a dog. But that is one of those things that it is probably best to not think about it.Kelefesia is a gorgeous island. One of those paradise places. We anchored there for a few days and are glad that we got to see it on a calm day. The island has white sand beaches and is surrounded by reef and it is absolutely georgeous. But when the wind switches and comes from the south this beautiful little anchorage becomes untenable. The swell rolls around the reef and right into the tiny anchorage. I spent our last night there sitting in the cockpit in case the swell caused our anchor to become unset. At first daylight we weighed anchor and got out of there.
The most southerly group of Tonga is the Tongatapu Group. We sat anchored off Pangimotu island at Tongatapu for almost 3 weeks waiting for good weather for the passage to New Zealand. More and more boats arrived as the days went by, so there was lots of entertainment and socializing as we met up with old acquaintances. Big Mama's Yacht Club hosted a big Halloween party and she also hosted little game competitions several days. This is a great place for cruisers to hang out. One day a banded sea snake swam right past our boat. This is the first time I have seen a sea snake.
One day we took a tour of Tongatapu. Unfortunately, this tour did not remotely compare with the great tour we had on our previous visit back in 2002. They did take us to the old stone formation that marks winter and summer solstice. There are enormous stones that were quarried in Samoa and brought to Tonga on outrigger canoes back around 800-1000 A.D. These stones were used to build the burial grounds for the royal family. It still amazes me that they were able to do this. We also saw the 3-headed palm tree, the only one in the world. 
And the blow-holes lived up to our memories, but the fruit bats did not. The last time we saw huge fruit bats hanging from trees all around one house. This time the fruit bats were much smaller and were in higher trees. Not as impressive.Sorry that we will probably never return. If someone is thinking of visiting in the South Pacific and can only go to one place, that place should be the Kingdom of Tonga. The food choices are limited and very basic, but the people are wonderful. They still wear traditional clothing every day; they don't just dress up for tourists. Tongans are very Christian. They are the most serene people you can imagine.
Passage to New Zealand in November 2008
Day 1 Monday, November 3, 2008Weighed anchor at 0730 and departed Nuku'Alofa out the western Egregia Pass. ETA Opua, New Zealand, is for Tuesday morning, November 11.
Goodbye to Tonga. This has been the highlight of our South Pacific travels so far. Serene is the best word I can think of to describe Tongans. They are strongly Christian and have such a peaceful quietness about them. A person in Tonga can believe in any religion he wishes but by law only Christians are allowed to congregate together for worship. I love the way the Tongans continue to wear their traditional dress daily. Not like all the other places where if you see someone in traditional attire you know that they are wearing it just for the tourists for a specific function. In Tonga both men and women continue to wear their skirts covered by matting wrapped around their waists and hips. The matting is heavier and different when they are in mourning for a relative. That is their normal daily attire, not something affected for the tourists. If anyone wants to visit the South Pacific and can go to only one place, Tonga should be your destination.
Barometric Pressure: 1011.9
Temp inside boat: 80.2F
Sailed most of daylight and then motor-sailed from 4:00 p.m. all night.
Day 2 Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 22.38.85S
Longitude: 176.41.88W
Miles Made Good: 144.7
Course: 211T
Barometric Pressure: 1011.2
Temp inside boat: 80.0F
All well on board.
A large squall rushed down on us at 0600 this morning and lasted about an hour and a half. Winds were 30 knots sustained and gusts of 45 knots. This storm moved from south to north and traveled at 20-25 knots per hour. Lots of lightning but no close strikes. Bill took in the sails just before the squall reached us. He then turned the boat and ran with the storm until winds died down to 20 knots. Then we turned back to our course of 211 True. Motor-sailed all day and night because winds were extremely light. Many boats left Tonga on Monday and Tuesday. Several who left early Monday are ahead of us - we are not the fastest boat out here by any stretch of the imagination. We are not within visual or VHF radio contact range with any other boat. Most of us are checking in twice daily on the SSB to follow each others positions and verify everyone is okay. Some are sailing in various directions. We are sticking to the rhumb line and motor-sailing. We are only sailing without motor when the wind changes to the right direction for our desired course. We are not sailing to follow the wind which would add many miles to the trip. I would rather waste diesel and get this trip over with as quickly as possible before weather changes again.
Day 3 Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 24.23.08S
Longitude: 178.09.54W
Miles Made Good: 126.7
Course: 211T
Barometric Pressure: 1013.2
Temp inside boat: 76.8F
All well on board.
Guess we have a new president-elect today and someone from home will hopefully send us an email and tell us who won. I certainly hope this election had a clear winner and won't require dragging on in courts as has happened in the past.
Several boats were affected by the squall yesterday morning. The mainsail halyard on S/VNUKUALOFA separated and their mainsail came down. Luckily it landed on the deck instead of in the ocean. They are continuing on to NZ under foresail only. S/V DON PEDRO had a lightning bolt strike the ocean directly behind the boat. Their boat wildly vibrated and all electronics ceased functioning. They turned everything off; waited 30 minutes and turned everything back on; and all started working again. They are darn lucky about that. S/V TOKETIE was knocked down. For you landlubbers, that means the boat was laid down on its side in the ocean. The keel on a monohull will cause a knocked-down boat to right itself, which is exactly what happened. Sometimes the righting happens quickly and sometimes it takes hours; depends in large part on how much water is holding the sails down in the ocean. Water also normally gets into the interior of the boat through the companionway when a boat is knocked down. This extra weight will also affect how long it takes for the boat to right itself. I do not know how long TOKETIE was knocked down, but assume the boat righted itself fairly quickly. The boat turned back upright but the mainsail was damaged. They spent the day repairing the sail and are now back underway to NZ. Good thing TOKETIE is a monohull. A catamaran would have flipped right over and remained upside down and the occupants would have had the opportunity to use those escape hatches that are built into the bottoms of catamarans. None of the boats were anywhere close to one another, but this storm rushed on everyone quickly. Bill had seen it on radar and thought it would take about 1 ½ hours to reach us. It was on top of us in 20 minutes. Really glad he got the sails furled away before the squall engulfed us. Something to be said for furling electric sails. We can get our sails in faster than manually controlled boats with old-fashioned hoist-up sails.
Day 4 Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 26.09.86S
Longitude: 178.32.53W
Miles Made Good: 134.5
Course: 200T / 270T / 220T
Barometric Pressure: 1010.4
Temp inside boat: 76.2F
All well on board.
Had good sailing during afternoon and most of the night. Winds shifted from E to N to W to SW during late afternoon and overnight. Change in wind direction forced us farther east than desired for this point of the trip. Encountered 35 knot winds and sheet lightning around 0500 this morning, ending with winds from SW. So we turned and sailed due west for 5 hours. This squall never appeared on radar because it contained no rain, just high winds and sheet lightning.
The weather forecast has changed again (what's new!!!). There now are 2 LOW pressure systems that are developing deeper and on collision course. One LOW is moving from NW to SE. A smaller but deeper LOW is moving from SW to NE. As these 2 systems converge or collide there will be a "squash zone" forced between the 2. It is supposed to be very bad to get caught in the squash zone. Boats now at Minerva Reef are running south in hopes of getting far enough south to be inside the more southerly LOW system before the 2 systems meet one another. We are already well south of Minerva Reef and will continue on our SSW course. We sent an email to Bob McDavitt the weather guru asking which direction we should head: south or west. Hope to hear back from McDavitt this morning.
P.S. Received an email from Bill's brother, John, this morning telling us that the US presidential election had a decisive victory this time. Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama. Only thing that worries us about Obama is his lack of experience. Hopefully, Joe Biden will be able to help him along, especially regarding national security issues.
Day 5 Friday, November 7, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 27.29.39S
Longitude: 178.51.12E *
Miles Made Good: 110.9
Course: 220T
Barometric Pressure: 1017.7
Temp inside boat: 71.2F
All well on board.
The 2 LOW systems are still predicted to collide Saturday or Sunday. Boats that were at Minerva Reef are running south as fast as possible. And boats enroute that are farther north than us are running to Minerva Reef as fast as possible. Seems people there want out and those people who are out want in. Bob McDavitt answered our email and said we should continue same course and speed, and that should put us south of the convergence point before it occurs. He said we should be prepared for gusts to 35 knots and seas 3 meters on Saturday and/or Sunday. Won't be pleasant but shouldn't be dangerous. We have been in worse conditions before. Here's hoping this forecast is accurate and doesn't change again for the worse.
* We crossed the meridian mid-afternoon yesterday. Notice our longitude is now east instead of west. Remember third grade geography. The equator encircles the planet east to west and separates north and south latitudes; the meridian encircles the planet from north to south and separates east and west longitudes. We are now in the eastern hemisphere, south of the equator, and will remain in the eastern hemisphere until we cross the prime meridian several hundreds of miles west of southern tip of Africa. The prime meridian crosses through Greenwich, England and is home to UTC or GMT or Zulu time. We will re-enter the western hemisphere when we cross the prime meridian in spring 2011. Also notice the temperature. It is getting colder each day as we get closer to NZ.
Day 6 Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 29.09.864S
Longitude: 177.33.617E
Miles Made Good: 120.1
Course: 210T
Barometric Pressure: 1017.0
Temp inside boat: 70.4
All well on board.
Forgot to mention earlier about the currents. We have experienced a head-current ranging ½ knot to 1 ½ knots for this entire passage. By the time we reached the half-way point on Thursday evening we were also experiencing a very strong westerly-setting current. Seems like it wants to push us over to Australia. We must make frequent course adjustments in order to remain on course. Other boats enroute behind us are reporting favorable currents, but we haven't found any yet.
Friday afternoon we transferred all the diesel jerry jugs to our main tank, except for one 5-gallon jug that we are saving as our emergency reserve. Figured we should take advantage of the totally flat calm seas and zero wind to do this fuel transfer since we are expecting rough weather Saturday night. I also moved the few remaining items from the freezer locker into the fridge since we are down to our final few days of this voyage. First time I know of that we have had both freezers turned off. Found brownies and a few other treat surprises in the freezer that I had baked in the past 3 weeks and forgotten about. We should arrive Opua on Tuesday morning with no excess of prepared meals on hand. We will be ready for the restaurants.
Day 7 Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 31.20.905S
Longitude: 176.26.615E
Miles Made Good: 143.3
Course: 206T
Barometric Pressure: 1016.8
Temp inside boat: 68.5F Burrrr!!
All well on board.
Bill did not sleep at all last night. He is on an adrenaline rush. The rough water didn't help any either. It was blustery, wet and cold. Winds were 25-33 knots all night; seas 3 meters and very rough; but really not too bad. When the water is rough like this, it sometimes sounds like logs are striking the hull very hard. This loud impact sound is actually caused by air pockets in the waves created by all the sea motion. We experienced lots of these impact sounds during this bad weather. The waves were stacked so closely upon one another that many times there was no trough between waves. There was so much motion that one needed both hands to hold on as one crab-walked around inside the boat. Same conditions will remain all day today. Weather should begin to lighten up a bit this evening. Supposedly we are in the small "squash zone" but it really is not all that bad. At least there is lots of wind so we can sail and not run the motor. We have spent all night shortening sail over and over again because the boat was going too fast. Finally found the perfect sail configuration for these weather conditions. We took in the mizzen sail altogether; mainsail is triple reefed; foresail has just a handkerchief-sized piece flying. We have 20 wraps on the foresail furler. Leaving it triple reefed was still too much sail and boat was still going in excess of 8-9 knots. By flying just a handkerchief-sized piece of the jib we have reduced boat speed to about 5 to 5.5 knots and it is much more comfortable. We both have numerous little bruises from being thrown about inside the boat. When in the cockpit we sit in the driest corner wrapped in blankets. Sixty-eight degrees might not seem cold to most people, but out on the sea with 30 knots of cold wind blowing on you, then that 68 degrees is darn cold!
Day 8 Monday, November 10, 2008 at 0730
Latitude: 33.29.42S
Longitude: 175.10.67E
Miles Made Good: 144
Course: 204T
Barometric Pressure: 1021.9
Temp inside boat: 66.1F
All well on board.
Only 109 miles to go. YIPPEEE!!!!
Winds moderated down to only 20 knots around midnight last night. Believe me, there is a huge difference between 20 knots and 30 knots of wind. The seas are still quite large and confused and rough, but we are sailing very smoothly this morning at 6 to 7 knots. This is marvelous sailing and very comfortable.
Added 8 p.m. Monday:
The morning dawned sunny and clear, but clouded up more and more as the day wore on. Never rained, thank goodness that is over; but looks dreary and gray. And we don't care a whit because we are almost there. As I type this on Monday night we are at 34.44.69S 174.25.208E which is about 37 miles from our destination of Opua. We notified Russell Radio on the SSB this evening that we should arrive at the Opua Quarantine Wharf about 0100 tonight. Hopefully there will be room for us to tie off at the Q dock; it is supposed to be large enough to dock at least 15 boats. We will tie off and wait for Customs to open in the morning so we can officially clear in.
For those who are following such things (see Bruce, I am thinking of you), the Customs and Quarantine Wharf is located at 35.18.82S 174.07.35E. It has been a great passage for us. The few squalls we encountered weren't severe and most of the passage was smooth sailing. Do wish we had not had to motor so many hours, but the light winds and motoring we experienced were far preferable to heavy winds and seas.
First, to recap our passage to New Zealand: On the final day, Monday, we sailed 122.3 miles. That totals 1046.5 miles made good for the entire passage. Actually we sailed more miles than that but we only track MMG. Any miles sailed that do not bring us closer to our destination don’t count with us. I know that won’t make any sense to the landlubbers, but sailors understand that sometimes you must sail in the wrong direction in order to get to the right destination. Passage duration was 0730 Monday through 0130 Tuesday of the following week, for a total of 7 days and 18 hours (8 nights at sea). A 46-foot British boat left Tonga at exactly the same time we did and they arrived in Opua about 16 hours after us.
We arrived at the Quarantine Dock in Opua and were tied off at 0130 Tuesday morning. Of course there was no one around to help us with the dock lines but that was simple and we did not require assistance to dock. We followed a German boat in through the channel; then they drifted around because they couldn’t figure out where to go. It was misting rain and difficult to see in the pitch-black night. We nosed around until we found the Q Dock (it is back behind the old wharf and south of Opua Marina). After we were tied off then the German guys followed and tied up behind us. This Q Dock is quite long and could easily accommodate 20 to 30 boats. It is a long floating dock and is not attached to land. Bill and I ate a very late dinner of the final 2 bowls of chili; had a hot shower; and went to bed. We were up and dressed at daylight because had no idea when Customs and Quarantine officials would arrive to clear us in.
Two Quarantine officials arrived at 0800. After all the stories about how difficult Quarantine can be in New Zealand, I was greatly relieved with how very simple it really was. The men were very polite and helpful. One of the men carried a heavy-duty black plastic bag into which he placed our garbage bag and the few items that they removed from our boat. The second man wrote down each item that they removed. We had no fresh or frozen meat to dispose of, and they did not take one single can of any canned meat because ours did not contain bones. They did say that many canned chicken products are prohibited because things like canned chicken chili or turkey chili contains ground bones. Mayonnaise is often removed but I had Hellman’s and that brand is not a problem. Several other people later told me that Quarantine removed all their mayonnaise. The country of origin didn’t seem to be the deciding factor. The officials seemed more concerned about the brands. Guess they know what they are looking for. Since we have only microwave popcorn, they let us keep that. Regular loose popcorn kernels are prohibited, but microwave popcorn is okay. They approved all my spices because they are all in bottles and commercially prepared. I usually do not buy local spices and had none onboard. They did not take cheese, butter, canned milks or UHT boxed milk. Powdered milk is not allowed but UHT is okay.
The things removed from our boat were: 3 boiled eggs, 1 orange, tiny bit of leftover baked boneless chicken and 6 bags various dried beans. And it was convenient for us that they took away the garbage accumulated during the passage. So, moral of this story is to ignore those oft-told stories of difficulty of clearing into New Zealand Quarantine. It was a breeze. BTW, we arrived with about 1 case of beer. Bill did a pretty good job of drinking up or sharing those 25 cases we had aboard in mid-March in Panama.
Shortly after the Quarantine officials left then the Customs guy dropped by to deliver a gift bag to us. Now that is a first! Certainly never had an arrival gift from Customs anywhere else we have visited. This gift was a nicely decorated heavy straw bag containing all sorts of useful information about the Opua area and New Zealand. Even had some discount coupons for coffee shops and bakeries and the like.
Soon 2 Customs officials arrived and we did the paperwork dance. Turns out that we indeed should have that Multi-Entry Visa that we tried to obtain both in Niue and again in Nuku’Alofa and were told that we did not need. They said we will need this Visa when we clear back in at the airport in January because it proves that our later departure on a boat is guaranteed. We will try to take care of that before we fly home on December 10 but I am not very hopeful that this will be accomplished. The complete clearing in process with both Quarantine and Customs took less than half an hour. Then we moved the boat a very short distance to our slip at Opua Marina.
Other people arrived worn out from their passage but we felt well-rested and ready to start exploring New Zealand. Hard to believe that we have actually sailed all the way here..
Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands in May 2008
Early on Saturday morning, April 27, 2008, we weighed anchor at Wreck Bay at Isla Cristobal and sailed/motor-sailed/motored the 42 miles to Santa Cruz. We arrived at Admiralty Bay at Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz around 4 p.m. and found a spot to fit into. This anchorage is very crowded and also faces on-coming swell; so boats must use both bow and stern anchors. This is the first time that our stern anchor has ever been into water. The anchoring went smoothly and we found the motion not at all uncomfortable. People complain about the motion in this anchorage, but we find it quite comfortable with the bow facing into the swell and being held in that direction by a stern anchor. We will clear in with the agent and do some tours. Our friends on S/V FREE SPIRIT arrived an hour or so later. There are now 17 sailboats anchored in this bay, and probably all of them will be heading off to the Marquesas soon.Puerto Ayora is quite the tourist town. Almost 70% of the economy of the Galapagos Islands is derived from tourism, another 20% from exporting wahoo and other fish to the mainland and nearly 10% from agriculture. In recent years Santa Cruz has experienced 7% population growth annually with a total population of around 12,000 to 14,000 today. Approximately 120,000 tourists visit here each year. Each person who visits the Galapagos Islands is supposed to pay the $100 park fee, whether they arrive via airplane or boat. The waters surrounding the islands comprise the Galapagos Marine Reserve and are protected. It is illegal to remove any marine wildlife. Guess the cruisers better hope they don’t get caught trailing fishing lines while sailing through this area.
The $100 park fee is distributed as shown below:
Galapagos National Park – 40%
Galapagos Marine Reserve - 5%
Quarantine and Inspection Service – 5%
National network of Protected Areas – 5%
Ecuadorian Army – 5%
Galapagos National Institute – INGALA – 10%
Galapagos Provincial Council – 10%
Local Authorities (Town Halls) – 20%
Some cruisers have the mistaken idea that they are not required to pay this park fee unless they participate in an organized tour. Not true; the entire Galapagos Islands area is inside the designated national park; some parts are called reserve but it is all part of the park. This is such a unique environment that paying $100 each to visit should not be considered a burden, especially since the largest portion of the fee goes to protect the environment. So much of the local environment has already been destroyed and they are doing their best to preserve what remains.
Yesterday we did what is called the Highlands tour. Rancho Primicias is private property but of course is located inside the national park. It is owned by one of the older families of Santa Cruz. Our guide was wonderful. His name is Dario Morales and he speaks English exceptionally well. Dario plans to become a private tourist guide in 2010. He hopes to specialize in the Galapagos Islands since this is his home but also provide unique tours in remote areas of mainland Ecuador. Dario’s mother is of indigenous heritage from mainland Ecuador and his father was of Spanish Ecuadorian ancestry. Dario was born in Santa Cruz in 1985, but he has visited relatives and has friends in many remote areas of Ecuador. Dario speaks English, Spanish and one of the rare indigenous languages. He is intelligent and has studied and knows the geography, history and environment very thoroughly. He should make a wonderful personal guide. If you are planning to visit Santa Cruz anytime soon, we would highly recommend Dario Morales as a guide. He can be contacted at dariomorales_gps@hotmail.com or his cell phone is 091262874. Sorry, I don’t know the country code or area code and do not know if additional prefix numbers are required to call internationally. Dario also works at Ida Mario Yacht in Santa Cruz, work phone number 02526117. Guarantee you that he is the best guide in the Galapagos Islands.
The Highlands tour is very simple – we just walked around the premises of Rancho Primicias looking for giant tortoises and then walked partway through a lava tube. Dario pointed out various plants and animals along our route. Unfortunately, this is the time of year when most of the male tortoises migrate down to the lowlands to mate so there was not the abundance of tortoises that one might find at other times, but we saw a total of five.
We did spot one very large tortoise cooling himself in a pond filled with green algae. A tortoise must maintain his body temperature between 15C and 35C or he will die, so they require ponds for this purpose.The shell of a male tortoise displays rings inside each section which indicate his age – sort of like the rings inside a cross-section of a tree trunk. But the rings do not change past the age of 80-90 years. So you can tell if a tortoise is 90 years old but cannot tell much after that age. It would be impossible to tell if a tortoise is 170 or 120 years old based on the rings of his shell sections, only that he was older than 90 years. The shell of a female tortoise has smooth sections; no rings. The female is also considerably smaller than the male. Lonesome George is a tortoise believed to be about 175 years old and is the last of his species. The researchers have tried to mate him with the most similar species but he has shown no interest whatsoever. Sorry we missed old George but not doing that long walk in the heat again just to see him.
The 2 primary reasons of death of adult tortoises are a result of mating mishaps. When the male mounts the female to mate, he places his front feet on the shell of the female on each side of her head. The shell actually curves up at these places so nature made allowance for this practice and put perfect footholds in the correct positions. However, sometimes the male will lose his balance and a foot will slip out of place on the female’s shell. When this happens the entire weight of the male drops down onto the female’s back and splits her shell and kills her. The second problem is that sometimes the male loses his balance when dismounting from the female and turns over towards her side instead of backing off towards the rear. When this happens then the male ends up turned onto his back. If a park guide or a guard finds the tortoise soon enough then they can turn him over and he will be fine. But most times the tortoise will be left on his back and he will die of starvation or excessive body heat. We were fortunate to see both male and female tortoises during our walk around Rancho Primicias. At the center snack bar there were shells of 2 tortoises who had died on the grounds in years past, probably due to mating mishaps.I said in our last log that each island in the Galapagos has a different species of giant tortoise. This is also true of the land iguanas. Isla Isabella was formed by several volcanoes. The area near each volcano has a different species of land iguana and they cannot successfully interbreed. Sometimes the iguanas do mate between species but the baby iguanas of mixed species do not live beyond 2 years. Maybe this will change over the centuries and eventually produce viable offspring and a new sub-species, but for now the baby iguanas of mixed species all die.
Next was a quick stop at the snack bar and gift shop where we bought the obligatory tee shirts for our grandson and granddaughter. Since we have no idea when we will see them again we bought 7-year-old Zach a size mans small and 6-year-old BeBe a ladies small. Hopefully they won’t have outgrown those sizes before we see them again!
A short drive later brought us to the lava tube. This was what I have wanted to see for years. A lava tube is formed when part of the lava has cooled and hardened but a stream of hot liquid lava still continues to flow beneath it. The result looks like a man-made tunnel. This particular lava tube is very large, ranging 10 to 20 feet high and 15 feet wide. Water continually drips down from the ceiling of the lava tube so it is muddy inside. This lava tube is approximately 2 kilometers long and is partially collapsed at the far end. It is passable but is only about 4-feet high at the final section. 
Neither Bill nor I were keen on crawling through mud to exit the lava tunnel and there was no way my knees could squat and duck-walk through there, so we opted to walk half-way and turn around and exit from the main entrance.As we exited the lava tube we were treated to a small tree filled with Darwin’s Finches. Like all wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, these birds exhibited no fear of mankind.
We stood right next to them and they weren’t bothered by our presence in the slightest.Several days ago we attempted to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center to see Lonesome George and the land iguanas, but we never found the center. Supposedly we were within a block of it but couldn’t find it. They have no signs here. It was hot and we were hungry so decided to blow it off and went back to town for lunch.
BTW, the red-footed booby that visited our boat several hundred miles before we arrived here was something special. Most people here have only seen the blue-footed boobies. Dario explained why. The blue-footed boobies feed near-coastal so are commonly seen all around the shores of the Galapagos Islands. The red-footed boobies, OTOH, are native to the small northernmost uninhabited islands of the Galapagos. And the red-footed boobies feed on squid way offshore. That also explains the black stains all over the foredeck near where the booby sat on the rail – squid ink.
Isla Isabella is the largest island in the Galapagos and is located west of Santa Cruz. We do not have permission to go there. Could have taken a tour from here but would have had to leave our boat for 3 days. FREE SPIRIT offered to watch our boat in our absence, but we just would not feel comfortable leaving our boat on anchor like that. There are penguins on Isabella and the second largest volcano crater in the world and many species of land iguanas and many other interesting things to see, but guess we will be giving Isabella a miss. There are boat tours available to go to another smaller island to see fur seals but we will skip that also. Galapagos would get a lot more of our tourist dollars if they would allow us to take our boat to these various places.
Tomorrow a diver is supposed to come clean the bottom of our boat. The scum line around the boat is filthy and really bothering me. We have no idea of the condition of the actual bottom of the boat or the prop since we can’t see those, but want it all cleaned before the next long passage. There are many sharks around our boat but that isn’t the reason that Bill and I aren’t doing this job ourselves. We aren’t afraid of the sharks bothering us (they are NOT white-tipped sharks). Bill would have to kit-up with his diving gear in order to clean the bottom of the boat and that would mean finding a place to re-fill the air tank that he would use, because we want to leave here with both air tanks full. Plus, this water is cold and Bill detests cold water. Simpler to pay someone else to do it. Diesel also will be delivered tomorrow to top off our tank and jerry jugs. The agent will clear us out and bring our final bill.
We plan to leave Saturday morning for the 3,000 mile passage to the Marquesas. Our visit to the Galapagos was not long, but was long enough for us. we can now check this one off the bucket list.
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