Typhooning on Tahaa

Hebe
Wed 7 May 2014 01:05

May 5th 2014

16:39:94S
151:33:23W

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Bora Bora on the horizon in calmer times…..

Rather an exciting day, tried to sail back to Bora Bora for Louise and Phil to get ashore and have 2 blissful hotel days before heading home. The weather got seriously rough (refer previous to shepherds - Ed)….
Hebe as you know has this wardrobe of five dresses….two have to stay on deck as there's no storage room. After leaving the calm of the lagoon this afternoon we hit a very unexpected rough sea, waves over the boat, soaking myself and poor Loo Loo and more alarmingly wrenching the parasail from the deck…away she floated to our horror.  I think Hebe was secretly thrilled as that sail has always been a real pain in the arse.  It was the other sail trying to follow that had the Hebe Jeebies, we managed to save it  Andrew hanging on with one finger, and then turn tail and make a dash for our trusty buoy in the sheltered lagoon -  exactly where we started that morning. 

The thing with sailing is it's 90% boredom followed by 10% sheer panic.  Oh for some Radio 4. 

Still, during our stay on Tahaa Phil, Louise and I visited a pearl farm, quite an inconspicuous shack on the waters edge where priceless pearls are created….the lady owner beckoned us to her lair…a stunning old trellised house on the shore where she showed us thousands of black pearls.  She caressed them like lovers and was clearly reluctant to sell as her prices were eye watering and she wasn't interested in the gleam in Louise's eye. .
Later still….well last night was even stormier than before - yet more red skies at night bringing shepherds fleeing the storm. The wind howled and even though on our trusty buoy we were again on deck checking everything anxiously.  Having no real contact with the outside world,  and the Shipping Forecast…a distant memory, we think we are in a small typhoon.
Louise and Phil are water taxying and flying back to Bora Bora, what a performance, but all part sailing's rich tapestry. 

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Thank you old friends for coming half way around the world to see us, we'll miss you lots xxxx