position S17 30.84 W149 51.143

Ocean Rival Journey Log
Adam Power Diana Power
Fri 18 May 2018 07:53

Thursday 17th May. Morea.

We moved yesterday morning from our nice quiet anchorage on the west coast (but in disapointingly dirty water) round to the 1st of the 2 big bays on the north coast- no wind to begin with then 25-30 knots on the nose as we rounded the point and encountered the easterly tradewinds that will hopeully blow us further west when we leave Morea.
In the afternoon we took the dinghy to the head of the bay and walked up a lane to a 'Ranch' where ponies are stabled for trecking duty. The valley is almost like the Stour valley in suffolk with lush green pastures, cattle grazing and oak shaped trees punctuating the landscape. Of course you would have to ignore the towering granite peaks that surround the valley to perpetuate the illusion along with the flame trees and generous splashes of yellow and white flowers.
The area has been assigned as a leisure park with numerous colour coded trails marked for walking, running and biking and an elaborate high ropes course in the trees.
We followed a trail called 'Les anciens'which took us through pineaple fields and then into the forest and up to an archeological site with a large ceremonial platform and useful signs explaining the history. It was very similar to the Maquesas although the signing all more recent and in good order. We read somewhere that Tahiti and Morea are suffering a tourist depression and it appears that there is a concerted effort to invest their french money and revitalise the attractions.
This morning we took the dinghy in the opposite direction towards the mouth of the bay to find a tropical garden that was mentioned in the tourist leaflets. After asking a couple of people in their waterside gardens we pulled up on a private beach and walked though their garden to reach the road. The gardens were up a steep lane on the other side of the road and after a coffee and crepe in a roadside cafe to give us strength we ascended to find a modest garden swarming with school children on an outing. The gardens include a little vanilla plantation and a forest path up to a cascade. We had a slow walk up behind a school party- lots of singing and shouting from the teaachers to boost morale as the party struggled through rocky streams and over fallen trees. The waterfall was worth the effort though and gave a refreshing shower to those who sat on the washing stone.

On the way back to boat we tried the shop that we knew existed but had found shut the previous evening. It was still shut so we hitched a lift along to the next shop a couple of miles round the bay. As we complained to our driver about the shop being always shut it transpired that the shop owner had recently died. That made us feel extra guilty about our relentless need to shop wherever we go. When we did reach the open shop it had no bread and no eggs which probably served us right.

I managed an oil change before going out this morning and this afternoon after a swim and snorkle I rigged the 2nd genoa with the hope that twin jibs will pull us along nicely with that westerly up our backside.

A major problem emerged this evening- our aft water tank appears to have a leak. I though I had pumped an unusual amount of water from the bilges on the way over to Morea and the tank is very empty. We can probably manage on one tankthis trip if that is o.k. but the thought of removing the tank for repair/replacement is daunting to put it mildly.