Bora Bora, Society Islands
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 18 May 2008 19:50
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16:29.323S 151:45.659W
On Thursday (5/15), we had a marvelous sail from
the sister islands of Raitea and Tahaa to Bora Bora (picture 1). We did
stop in the main town on Raitea to fill up with fuel and stock up on some
groceries on our way out. We have to say that this fuel filling experience
was much more relaxing than the last (Marquesas) - no surge, no swell,
no threat of bashing the boat into a massive
concrete wharf.
We arrived in Bora Bora and found a nice spot to
anchor in shallow water tucked behind a motu. Picture 2 was taken as we
made our way through the Bora Bora lagoon. We spent one last night with
the Maloneys anchored out in that peaceful place before moving to an
anchorage outside the Bora Bora Yacht Club with the rest of the rally fleet
(picture 3) on Friday.
Once we arrived back in civilization again (if the
Bora Bora Yacht Club can be considered civilization...), Bill and Kathie hitched
a ride into the one town that exists on Bora Bora and rented a car for a quick
trip around the island while Don and I worked on boat stuff. Pictures 4
and 5 were taken by Bill as he and Kathie toured the island. Picture 4 is
a close up of some of those bargain basement $600/night thatched roof, over the
water bungalows. Picture 5 is a lovely view of Mt. Otemanu taken somewhere
along the beach. All in all, Bill and Kathie felt Bora Bora was a bit of a
disappointment. It is quite developed with many hotels and they felt the
scenery was not as beautiful as some of the other islands we visited (namely
Moorea and Huahine).
Friday night was an official rally event - a
barbeque put on by the yacht club. Everyone donned their best island
attire (even Don went for a flowered shirt) and a good time was had.
Picture 6 is the crew of Graptolite. Martyn, Graptolite's captain, really
embraced the South Pacific, and went for the half-naked look.
This is really quite humorous - especially given that Martyn is a retired
geologist, who worked for one of the big oil companies (BP?). Half-naked
and geologist don't even seem to fit in the same sentence let alone on the same
person, but Martyn definitely should be credited with the most creative
costume of the night.
Picture 7 is a farewell shot of Bill and Kathie in
their island finery at the barbeque.
Thanks again to Bill for taking all the photos over
the past two weeks. Unfortunately, picture quality will decrease
back to 'normal' going forward. In fact, the quality of a lot of things
onboard will decrease back to 'normal' now that Kathie and Bill are gone - the
dinners, the lunches, the quality of the help Don gets when he needs it for
various boat jobs, etc. Even the number and variety of dilemmas we face
everyday will decrease. While onboard, Kathie and Bill were faced with
many dilemmas daily that they struggled with. They included things
like:
Kathie: I'm not sure if I should put on
sunscreen now or later
Kathie: I don't know whether the
sunset looks better in this direction or that direction
Kathie: Should we snorkel now? Or maybe
later?
Bill: I'm not sure whether I feel like eating
a piece of dark chocolate or a ginger cookie for dessert today
Bill: Should I take a photo from this angle
or that angle?
Bill: Should I buy this $65 3/4 liter bottle
of gin and call it liquid gold? (Actually, this wasn't really a dilemma,
Bill decided pretty quickly that the $65 was well worth it - besides, he
was on vacation.)
In general the boat feels quite empty without our
guests and we are hoping they will decide to join us again next year in some
other far flung port.
It is now Sunday (5/18) and the start for the next
rally sailing leg from Bora Bora to Suwarrow in the Cook Islands was supposed
to be today. However, the weather forecast is showing a nasty low
pressure system making its way along our path to the Cook Islands with winds up
to 35 knots coming directly from the direction we would need to go. So,
the rally event manager, Mandy, has decided to delay the start until Tuesday
(5/20) at noon. This is just fine with us as it will give us a little more
time to get some things done on the boat before the four day trip to
Suwarrow. In fact, after reading about Suwarrow and realizing that it is a
small coral atoll (like the Tuamotu islands we visited) with absolutely
nothing on it - with the exception of one caretaker that looks after the island
for part of the year - we decided we ought to stock up a little more before we
leave here. Suwarrow is part of the Cook Islands, which are a protectorate
of New Zealand, and the entire atoll and enclosed lagoon have been declared a
nature preserve. Once there, we'll find one designated anchoring
area and pretty much nothing else except pure nature. We've been told
there aren't even any lights on the island at night. This ought to be an
incredible experience and we are looking forward to the five or six days we will
be spending in Suwarrow.
More on Wednesday when we will once again be
sailing the high seas.
Anne
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