17.32S 149.34W  Tuesday 29^th April – 4^TH May   We have so loved this ‘jewel in the crown’ – majestic Moorea – lush, pretty and enchanting…….   Located just ten miles west of Tahiti she is cut by two deep bays – Opunohu and Cook’s.

 

 

Arrival in Cook’s Bay

 

 

First night’s anchorage – inside the reef but outside the bay itself 

 

The first night many of us anchored at the mouth of Cook’s Bay but when the wind dropped we all started to move in random directions and became too close to other boats so we ended up rafting onto Zippy for the night and taking turns doing anchor watches – when Jennie asked whether we would like to do two or three hours I mistakenly thought an anchor watch meant sticking your head out of the hatch to see if you had moved – I hadn’t realised we would be up half the night!  The next day we all anchored in front of the Bali Hai Hotel which is normally well protected although quite a deep anchorage.  The weather has been pretty unsettled and this has produced some problems too as each yacht has put down different lengths of anchor chain ranging from 40 to 100 meters! When a squall blew up – the result was chaos with boats bumping into one another, anchors dragging, chains being fouled and uplifted, and damage being sustained by some boats.  Jeremy on Hakuna Matata and Peter and Julian on Moonshadow were the ‘men of the match’ racing around in dinghies in the teeming rain, unscrambling chains, freeing anchors and pushing yachts away from one another…….

 

We have had a great welcome from the Bali Hai Hotel – allowing us to tie our dinghies to their wharf, swim in their pool, dump our rubbish, play on their tennis court and generally use their facilities all free of charges.  They also organised a tasty evening barbecue with more dancers to entertain us.

 

 

Hakuna Matata with the dancers……

 

We had the result of the photo competition yesterday – the titles were ‘elegant dining’ won by Shuala III, ‘wild life’ won by Neva and ‘crossing the line’ won by Michael Harwood and Keith on Baccus in happier days:

 

 

Michael and Keith crossing the line – first prize!

 

A scooter ride around the island with the Zippies was great fun, stopping off at Pineapple Beach for one of the most memorable lunches of the trip so far – raw marinated fish with smoked root vegetables in a fantastic setting.

 

 

Beautiful setting

 

 

The bikers!

 

 

 

 

 

We found the scenic viewpoints, fabulous unspoilt beaches

 

 

Surf breaking on the reef…..

 

pineapple plantations and even tried jam tasting made from all the local produce.  Apart from the prohibitive costs this would be an idyllic place to spend more time.  Having said that, I am not sure how ‘Polynesian’ the people seem – the dancing is staged for the tourists and the culture feels more French…….

 

 

Cows in lush green fields

 

 

Tree lined well maintained roads

 

 

Where the palms grow tall!

 

 

And literally hundreds of chickens and cockerels run free….

 

On David (Zippy)’s birthday he had a deep desire for roast lamb with all the trimmings so that is what Jennie prepared and along with the Neva’s we had a lot of fun helping him enjoy it! 

 

We have had our briefing for the leg to Bora Bora – and on to Fiji - there is much discussion about Dengue Fever which is prevalent throughout the next cruising grounds.  Maryanne was a victim of this debilitating illness in Antigua and although fully recovered was hospitalised for some while.  There have been reported fatalities so we are keeping a close eye on the situation and will avoid any areas which are reported to be seriously risky.

 

Peter Seymour BWR brought out our spares and the oil seal for the gear box arrived from America – hoorah!  And we have fitted it successfully. The water leak on the shaft seal has now stopped too.  We have fitted a new diaphragm and reassembled the freshwater foot pump, scrubbed the water line, cleaned the stainless steal stanchions and bright work, dismantled and fixed the faulty auto pilot again, cleaned and re-stowed the back lockers.

 

 

Anahi at anchor in Cook’s Bay 

 

Filling up with diesel taxed our patience – we asked the owner of the Mobil garage if we could come alongside his jetty to fill up – no!  Could we bring our jerry cans to fill up – yes!  Could we take advantage of our vat free status ‘yacht in transit’ – yes but not with a credit card! We toed and froed most of one afternoon emptying 14 jerry cans into Anahi’s tanks, ferrying them to the dock, filling each one and shooting diesel everywhere as the nozzle only has one delivery speed – fast!  We travelled 3 miles in a borrowed car to an ATM to get enough cash to pay for it all using every available card but we finally succeeded………….. We are still waiting for the water maker parts to arrive - although we are able to make water for the time being, the solution is only temporary. Monday we have to retrace our steps, return to Papeete and try and track down the delivery but for our last two nights we have moved around to Opunohu Bay just two miles away – the water is so clear we can see the sand below us - and we are only one meter off the bottom!