Greetings from Bora Bora

Bora Bora mountain with reef in front

Dance rehearsal

After dance performance

Enticing Intercontinental Resort

Greetings from Bora Bora

May 28 2015

Here we are in the lagoon of an island considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It is hard to believe! There is a center island with three peaks surrounded by a lagoon and an outer reef with one pass. This would be considered a "middle aged" island in geological time. The reef has formed but the peaks are still there also.

 We arrived Mon afternoon and have been busy with boat and BPO activities until Wed. Today we got out in the dinghy to do some exploring. We went to the south end of the island where the majority of the high end resorts are. We took a long walk along the beaches and then stopped at the Intercontinental Bora Bora resort for lunch. It was all that a south seas resort should be, with bungalows perched over the turquoise water, fine sand, and mountains and other islands in the background. We tied the dinghy up to the dock used for "Bloody Mary's" restaurant,  a favourite haunt of the rich and famous. There is a board outside with the names of notable guests over the years. As you can imagine most things here are pretty expensive.

Before leaving Papeete we also visited the Intercontinental Resort by bike. There were kind enough to give us a wifi code for the day. It was a beautiful property worth seeing. There were no problems getting away and with the new dinghy on deck. Unfortunately we couldn't take the time to stop at the islands in between. The others enjoyed those stops. The overnight part of the trip was a chore as there was one squall after another, the highest winds at 37 kn. The auto pilot stopped for awhile 3 times and you get wet at the helm when going downwind. It is always easier in daylight when you can see them coming and 2 people are awake. But at least there was good wind to make the passage quickly. It has stayed windy all week and is expected  to stay that way for our departure also.

We are at mooring balls at the Maikai marina and restaurant. They have a pool that we still need to get into. One evening we watched a music and dance rehearsal outdoors. We also had a performance at the restaurant as part of a farewell dinner. Tues we had a long skippers' meeting going over the stops and routes for the next few months. We also did some practising with the eye testing equipment.

Wed at 11 was our official send off with leis, the press, and photos for a noon start. The ironic thing is that no one was ready to leave! No Regrets is waiting for Bob's flight in Sun and we are waiting for him as well as he is bringing some supplies from home. Two boats have had family visiting who just flew. Joyful we have just met after their 40 days crossing from Panama to Marquesas and then straight here. Jeff has been to the Dr yesterday and is waiting for a diagnosis for his fatigue. They will need to rest for a week at the best. Libby has just dropped out of the BPO to spend the rest of the season in French Polynesia. The locals say that this area has "claimed" a lot of sailors over the years. Ransom is heading to Australia to sell their boat and buy another so are in no rush. Coconut Woman has made it here after serious engine problems. They still have issues with the boat so need to go at a slower pace so they can keep doing repairs. We are sure going to miss everyone and I'm sure the organizers are disappointed.

 On a more cheerful note, Tahawus has decided to join the BPO although they had just been part of the Pacific Odyssey. Also, Doina and Dan, Jimmy's daughter and grandson, are joining the boat Drina from Samoa to Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Vanuata. Drina came through the Northwest passage route. Luc will be back in Vanuatu to help out and he is busy planning our time in the fall in Indonesia.

There are so many places one could stop in the Pacific that we are on our own for the most part. We have a rendezvous in the Vavau group of islands in Tonga June 18. We are thinking of stopping in Savarrow in the Cook Islands, then American Samoa, on the way. Each country you stop in requires its' own check in rules which are much more work than in the Caribbean. Sometimes it is just easier to keep going. This will be 1400 nm for us to cover in 2 weeks. But when we get there we have until July 14 to enjoy the many anchorages it offers.

A Successful Rain Dance

The culprit! Broken end of our transmission control cable

Poor MAGGIE showing damage to davits, stern rail, swim ladder, and marina railing!

A Successful Rain Dance

May 23 2015

Luc was telling us earlier in the week that only if the stars were aligned right and we appeased the good luck gods with a rain dance would we have a dinghy before the weekend. Well, here it is Sat am and a brand new dinghy has been delivered to our slip. It had been in a shipping container all week, but was unloaded Thurs and got through customs Fri. The repair estimate for the old dinghy was about $3000 and a minimum of a week's work. We went ahead with our order before the surveyor being sent from the insurance company visited us. He said it is repairable, however has since changed his mind! We made a claim for it and the marina damage. The boat repairs will be less than our deductible of $15000 so won't bother to clam them.

Rob repaired the engine cable which took most of the week. Someone came and repaired the stern rail using the metal from the davits which were unfixable. We will leave the davits, hydro generator, hull damage, and leaking backstay adjuster for now.

We have a few chores left for today but hope to leave early Sun. The plan is to sail directly to Bora Bora so that we can participate in some of the activities there. It is only 25 nm back to other islands in the chain so could motor that afterwards if we want to see them.

Pannikin (Steve and Angie we met in Fakarave) is now in the marina. They organized a dock cocktail time Thurs which was fun. Chris and Linda (Tom Tom) were here at the time. Tomorrow I can celebrate another Mother's Day with the local holiday. We have also been entertained right at the dock. There has been live entertainment many nights at the restaurant right across the street.

 Last night Rob and I had a special treat. There was an "Abba's Back" concert on the grounds of the town hall. A girl at the gate asked where we were from and invited us to sit in the VIP area up front .Two original members, Benni and Bjorn, were there with a drummer, bass, and 2 younger girls doing vocals. They were very good. The audience was having a very good time singing, clapping, and dancing as well as listening. And this was despite the fact that the girls spoke British English with some accent I didn't recognize, and the audience would understand mostly Polynesian and French.

When we get underway we will start to use the tracker so you can see if it really happens. It will be our first passage with only 2 people.But it is not far.  We should get there by Mon sometime.

Life in Tahiti

Promenade along front of marina - palm tree a victim of high

winds, soon upright

Personal yacht delivery!

Lifelike building size mural

Another mural example

Life in Tahiti

May 22 2015

Enough of boat problems! As we sit here working and waiting we have a great view of downtown Papeete. From our cockpit there is the marina walkway, then on the other side of a gate, a promenade walk along the waterfront. Beside that is the main road around the island, then the downtown area. As you can imagine it is not very quiet. It is great to see so many locals and tourists walking, jogging and biking by. We are now right by the marina gate where we can act as host and hostess. The marina has no VHF and has been advertising half price rates now that they are officially open. So it is filling up after having been down to 5 boats. Despite security gates the local kids have discovered a new swimming playground. They jump off the walkway and swim to the docks for after school and weekend entertainment.

Life starts early here. The traffic and buses start at 4:30 am. The large Sun market is also open 4:30 to 8 am. "Stop" signs are only a suggestion.

French Polynesia gets all the French holidays as well as some of their own. This upcoming Mon is the 4th holiday in May. It makes it a challenge when you are waiting to do work.

When you pronounce the local language you sound out all the vowels. So "Ia Orana", hello, is 5 syllables.

There is a real mixture of cultures here. Obviously many are French or Polynesian or both. The French can come for any length of time whereas we can only get a 3 month visa. But we were surprised to see how many Chinese have immigrated here over the years. They run many of the businesses. There are more US boaters and tourists than in the Caribbean. Also many visiting from Australia and NZ. It seems common for Australians to but a boat in France or the med and cruise back towards home. That is one way to avoid the Red Sea.

Everyone has been friendly and you don't see the poverty here as in more isolated spots. Tahiti manages to control most of the money coming in from abroad. Tourists can only arrive in the airport here to check in before taking local flights elsewhere. And the distances are huge. At the museum there was a map of French Polynesia superimposed on North America. It stretches from Canada to Mexico and coast to coast.

Still they must wonder what life is like in the US. Yesterday there was a freighter tied up close to us that was carrying a motor yacht on top. The American owners want to spend a few weeks cruising here so had the boat shipped and it will then be taken home. It took all day yesterday to get it into the water.

A visit to the grocery store reveals different choices in diet. There is almost no pop, chips cookies or crackers. I think what is there is for the tourists. Baguettes are 53 cents so they are in every cart. Lots of pate, cheese and yogurt. There are some awesome canned veggies which is good for us. Also a huge selection of good inexpensive chocolate. Cereal was a surprise. Out of a dozen types 9 will have chocolate pieces. The clerks are wearing dresses of flowered material with flowers in their hair. There are many shops selling just the various fabrics for sewing. Not like Oakville where sewing supply stores are going out of business. The market sells tons of flowers, either as bouquets or head pieces. Many of the buildings in town have huge murals covering one whole side. They are beautifully done. Quite a few look like the Chinese cartoon characters. I wish we had a guide book like the Lonely Planet series. All is in French in the local bookstore.

We are still waiting today to see if we can leave on the weekend or will have to wait until Tues.

An Unfortunate Delay

Damaged davits, stern rail and marina gate

Bent swim ladder

An Unfortunate Delay

May 17, 2015

It's been said that cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations! That is proving to be the case for us.

On Sat we were looking forward to moving on to Moorea and were checked out of the marina and Tahiti Fri. As I backed out of the slip and went to go into forward the cable for the transmission broke. By the time I turned off the motor we still had enough momentum to crash into the dock on the opposite side with a good amount of force. The sound brought out many other boaters who helped us get the boat secured in a slip on that side .Being the weekend, we have just been able to assess the damage and clean up until Mon. There is a fair amount of damage to both Maggie and the marina.

On the bright side, there was not another boat there to hit. Also, there are services here for doing repairs. The dinghy and davits took most of the force so that protected the hull. There is just a chip out of one corner. The dinghy is punctured and the davits bent. They look beyond repair to us. The stern pulpit and swim platform are bent. The hydro generator is broken from its supports and dented.

An Australian couple came over for drinks that night and we had a wind down time. They have been helping today with some of the work. Rob got the solar panels all up with the new controller this morning. We have good power now which is also a highlight.

Further updates to follow: Doesn't look like we'll be able to get any stainless work done until we reach Australia. We believe the boat is sailable in it current condition. The dinghy definitely needs repair, and we are installing a new transmission control cable which is proving to be a challenge. We're optimistic that we won't be delayed too much, and that we can rejoin the fleet in Bora Bora before their scheduled departure date of May 27.

Two weeks in Tahiti

Hand sorting recycleables

Crushed pop cans

Mountain backdrop to Papeete

 

Two weeks in Tahiti

May 15 2015

This has been a long stop for us on this trip. But it is considered the last place to work on the boat and provision easily until Australia in Sept. As well as the new and larger battery bank, we bought three new solar panels. We will install the older two somewhere, perhaps on the davits. With light winds in the marina and the power being 220v, we aren't getting power from shore or the wind or hydro generators. Rob is working on installations at the moment. Nothing is simple on a boat, the panels aren't the same size as previous ones and the chandlery doesn't have the mounting brackets. New wiring and controller also have to be done. All the battery work is done, however. And the sails and canvas are back on.

Tahiti has the most sophisticated recycling system in the Pacific. It was interesting for members of the BPO to have a presentation and a visit to the plant led by the manager, who fortunately spoke good English. Part of his job is to provide incentives to families and businesses to recycle and sort garbage.This includes school programs to educate.  The "green bins" are picked up and eventually the contents are placed on conveyer belts. They are then hand sorted into large bins beneath the workers. In France these workers last about 8 months but here many have been doing it for the 15 years they have been open. The usable waste is then compacted. The cubes of stacked colored cans are quite a sight. Also, the compacted cars after the batteries and fluids are removed. Products like the batteries are shipped to specialist facilities in New Zealand. Ground glass is used as a substitute for gravel under roads and retaining walls. I would be interested now to see all that we do at home.

The eye testing training was provided by an eye clinic in Germany. They have been providing this service to underdeveloped locations for 20 years now. Four people flew here to bring equipment and expertise. As well as the normal eye charts we are familiar with, there are two expensive ($7000) machines that can measure the dimensions of the eyeball, particularly in children. The information is sent to the clinic and glasses are made and sent free to any children that need them. The goal is to help children with compromised sight get a better start in life and in their learning. It isn't perfect as follow up is difficult but it is something to get started and then the parents may seek additional help later. Sailors can play a unique role in making contacts in isolated spots.

Last Sunday 4 rental cars did an island tour. We all took our VHF radios so that Luc and Jackie could comment and keep us together. It is always good to see more of an island than the coast. We did a circumnavigation of the larger island here, Tahiti Nui. The centre of the island is very mountainous and picturesque. Along the coast there are beaches, some with good surfing and fresh water caves and several gardens. Unique to a boating group was the first stop at a chandlery near another marina. Then a long stop at the Museum for the island. You could spend a whole day there studying the science, geography, culture, and history. We stopped for a buffet lunch at a beautiful spot near the south end. That turned out to be a delicious Mother's Day treat.

 A highlight was being invited back to the home of the owners afterwards. Their house and propertyis impressive and has a long history here. The garden could be a tour in itself. There is a swimming pool and a magnificent view.  Roger Gowan sailed here with police friends from Rhodesia when they were young men. He has a scrapbook with the newspaper articles he wrote of their travels sent to London. Eventually their boat was destroyed on a reef here in Tahiti. (There is a good story about that ,also) . He married a Polynesian, Juliette, and they bought the current restaurant 50 years ago.

There are only 8 boats in the marina now, 4 with the BPO. Unfortunately, Heron Reach has decided to head home to Bellingham,

Wa. They will be leaving today and travel to Hawaii. From there it is back to the west coast ,possibly via Alaska depending on the winds. We will miss them! We have checked out so need to get ready by tomorrow am. I'm not looking forward to getting out of this slip at the inside end of the docks. But it will be exciting to move on, just a short hop to Moorea first.

First Week in Tahiti

First Week in Tahiti

May 12, 2015

What a busy stop this is turning out to be! At midway across the Pacific it is the major hub for repairs, flights, and provisioning. Australia in Sept will be the next chance for many things. Luc and Jackie with the BPO have had many activities planned for us as well. Interestingly, also because of its position in the Pacific, there are no lunar tides. There is only a solar high at noon each day, with lows at 6 am and pm. Therefore, you can get through the passes into the reef without difficulty.

Rob wrote the last blog and was kind enough to leave out my poor docking job. With a good audience of line handlers and a good wind, I managed to hit the post with the water and electricity controls. The marina doesn't even officially open until June! But all is repaired except scratches on Maggie and my pride and our pocketbook. The laundry isn't set up yet and the internet stopped working midweek which has been frustrating. But we are right in the middle of downtown Papeete which is pretty cool. The city has wonderful parks and public places. There is a cruise ship next to us only on Saturdays .It is refreshing to see so many local families and individuals exercising and enjoying the facilities. They have also been welcoming.

The tourist department hosted an information session on the sailing destinations in the Society Islands. You could easily spend a season just in these waters. We have met sailors from Germany on "Fat Cat" who will be here a year. Stefanie's presentation was followed  by a traditional dance and music performance with a cocktail party and food .It was a great welcome despite the deluge near the end. We were huddled with our drinks in the laundry/shower entrance. One of the full size palm trees planted for the marina even came down. The media were there and there was an article about the BPO in the local paper. It included a photo of Rob and Bob deploying our drifter buoy.

We went out for dinner with Bob on his last night at "Les Roulettes", which is an area with many different  food trucks and picnic tables. Although we enjoyed it at the time, Rob got food poisoning and couldn't do much for 2 days. We do have meds for that and he is fine now.

I made the visit to the recycling depot one of those days. I also went for training on doing eye testing on some of the more remote islands. Sunday we had 4 cars on an all day island tour. I'll write about those events in another blog on a more leisurely day.

We are waiting now for the electrician to come to install the new batteries. We are having a challenge with the space and wiring as they are larger. But with that and new solar panels we should be back functional on power. That will be worth the work and expense. The repaired mainsail came back yesterday but we had to return it until Wed as it was not finished properly.

 There have been several days of pouring rain but things are finally drying out, and boats are starting to leave. No set time yet for us but we hope soon. We still need to rent a car to provision and get to some chandleries as well as the rest of "the list".

Papeete

Marina de Papeete

Carol at the market

Tahitian dancers at our welcoming reception

May 7, 2015

After sailing for two days we arrived at the Pointe Venus in Tahiti after dark, however had been assured that it was an easy anchorage to enter in the dark and that proved to be the case. There was only one other boat there, and we didn't realize that until the sun rose in the morning.

We motored about five miles to the Papeete harbour entrance early next morning and got ourselves settled into a new marina right downtown. The marina is owned by the city and isn't scheduled to open officially until June. The organizers of the BPO made arrangements for our boats to use the facilities, and there are several other boats here as well. Not everything is complete, such as washing machines that are in place but not hooked up, however we do have good washrooms, showers and wifi.

Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, is a modern city with a beautiful waterfront, and lots of services. We are looking forward to provisioning here for the months ahead.

Monday and Tuesday were taken up by meetings of the BPO group and Jimmy Cornell who flew in for a few days. We were able to reach a consensus on routes, stops and timing so the meetings were a success. We will be spending a couple of extra weeks in Australia, and three extra months in Southeast Asia. We should reach South Africa by mid-July, 2016, and leave for Brazil/ the Caribbean in November, arriving back in Martinique in the spring of 2017.

Most boaters, including us, are working away on boat projects between meetings, and planned events. For us it looks like battery replacement is in the cards as one of our three large house batteries is dead. Unfortunately, although the other two are ok, they are three plus years old and need to be replaced all at the same tine.  

After the weekend we hope to rent a car and drive around the island. We are back to the volcanic islands with their high peaks and great views. We can see the island of Moorea, which is only twelve miles away. The other islands in the Society Islands group are approximately one hundred miles further west. The final one for us is Bora Bora, where we are scheduled to depart on May 27, so we have time to enjoy all of the islands.

After spending five of the past six months on board with us, Bob is moving to another boat which wanted one more crew as one of the original crew had to return to the US for several months. We will miss Bob, certainly on the overnight passages, and he has always been a big asset on the boat. He flew home last evening, and will be returning on May 31 to join his new boat. Of all the boats who had extra crew there are only one or two boats where a member of the original crew is still on the same boat they started with!

Maggie at Anse Amyot, Toau

Fish feeding frenzy off our boat

May 2 2015

Toau Atoll,Tuamotu

On Wed April 29, we decided to make a brief visit to a nearby atoll, Toau. There is no pass into the lagoon, but a small bay with 6 mooring balls. We were glad that we made the stop as it was quite interesting and beautiful. We stayed an extra day from our plans and left 5:30 Fri am.

The special treat was the snorkeling. From the mooring ball you could swim over to the reef and see dozens of different kinds of fish. Rob saw a "friendly" black tipped shark swim under him! Right from the boat you could see a good variety of fish. They were under the boat feeding off the growth on the hull. If you put any food in the water they would swim out and compete for it.If we stayed longer they may have finished the cleaning job for us.

Only one family lives on shore, fishing, maintaining the balls, copra farming, and sometimes serving dinners to cruisers. We got in some much needed exercise hiking around the motu, a small islet along the reef. We had a good visit with the wife, Valentine, and did some bartering. We traded some grapefruit and rum and advil for our mooring fee, a fish, lichee fruit and some coconuts. We were both happy with that deal.

We are now on the 230nm trip to Tahiti. We hoped to do it in 2 days and one night with the forecast. But with a wind angle too close to downwind and a series of squalls it will probably be a bit after dark. We knew, however, that there is an outside anchorage that can be used with poor visibility. Also, there is a full moon.

Luc and Jackie have sent us a schedule of events starting Mon. One interesting one will be training for doing eye testing on children. We are also looking forward to Jimmy Cornell's thoughts on the scheduling of stops going forward and who will be participating where. We will be staying in a brand new marina that just opened isn't actually scheduled to open until June.