BORA BORA (continued) and a sad farewell to lovely French Polynesia

Once settled on a mooring buoy at Mai Kai marina, we were free to enjoy some of the many festivities scheduled for the beginning of Heiva. This is an annual period of festivities which take place throughout French Polynesia, celebrating the Nation’s Independence from colonial power. As we arrived we could hear the drums booming out as the bands practiced for the opening night on Friday 21^st June; serious partying was in the air!

On Friday night we joined the crowd and watched the opening of the festival. We stood immediately next to the band and the sheer energy and precision put

into the music was amazing.

Huge bamboo poles were placed in front of the young drummers who incorporated them into their rhythms.

The highlight, however was the dancing, the dancers and the traditional costumes, performed on a sand floor in an open air stadium. Women, men, and later children in traditional headdress and costumes gyrated and quivered their limbs in exotic harmony, their bodies gleaming with perspiration.

We did not fully understand the stories, myths and legends that were being played out but the atmosphere was enough; it was electric. And on the second night, when all the local choirs joined in with four part harmony, it was wonderfully uplifting just to be there. How fortunate we were to witness a culture which continues to pass on its traditions and beliefs to the children from birth. And on an island of less than 10,000 people, it was extraordinary to count over 90 dancers performing in complex choreographed steps, plus another 30 folk in the choir plus another 30 or so in the band.

At the end of the performances, the audience was invited to enter the sandy stadium and meet the dancers; Robin needed no second invitation!!

Everything in French Polynesia shuts on a Sunday which is kept as a family day and for churchgoing. The yacht club was also closed but we assisted Jessica with the Sail Solstice events; this is a program which is devoted to getting kids out on the water and have a go on a canoe, dinghy, paddle board or whatever will float. Suzie was asked by Jessica to write up the day with photos for the local rag, and she also did a posting on noonsite.com about Bora Bora. Jessica was so impressed with Suzie’s efforts, she gave us our weeks mooring free of charge!

Here are some pictures of the kids trying out their first watery adventures!

Jessica encouraging Number One Son!

A local mum with daughter having a go at a paddle board

Mai Kai kids on Sail Solstice day, Bora Bora

Our final snorkel trip in Bora Bora to the southern reef was a lovely finale to our time in French Polynesia. The tour operators feed the fish on a reef area and as soon as Suzie dropped in the water she was surrounded by clouds and clouds of brilliantly coloured fish looking for a tit bit.

Fish and Rays below our dinghy

We were also (this a bit worrying!)  introduced to a Giant Moray eel some 5 to 6 feet long who was not all that happy with a tourist who got too close to his hole; Mr Eel came out aggressively to show his displeasure. Giant Moray eels have a nasty habit of wanting to have a piece of human for lunch so we all swam a hasty retreat after admiring his spectacular markings!

View from our last anchorage in the south of Bora Bora

Unfortunately, our time in French Polynesia had come to an end and Robin’s visa was about to expire. So, off we went to the Gendarmes to obtain our clearance papers; then, with our last dingbats (local currency) we stocked up on green beans and carrots, and sadly purchased our last couple of scrummy, crunchy baguettes.

Tonga ahoy! Departure 24 June 2013

The distance from Bora Bora to Tonga is about 1,300 nautical miles; our second longest leg across the Pacific and one which often suffers from adverse conditions. The dreaded Central Pacific Convergence Zones lie inevitably in your path as you travel west and these carry squalls, rain and thunderstorms. Yachts travelling west therefore expect poor conditions for a couple of days until (hopefully) you ‘break through’ the other side of the zone. However, we and several of our friends, set off with a fair forecast and high hopes of crossing through the CPCZ quickly. Another shadow lay over us as we set sail however; a good friend of ours has recently had a diagnosis of cancer and we feel so sad for her and her husband. We cross fingers and toes and say a few mantras for a good recovery.

First a whale!........

Great excitement on day 3; a large green patch of water appears alongside True Blue. At first we thought it was oddly discoloured water, but the leviathan black shape which then emerged took away all doubts; this was a magnificent, all-spouting, all-dancing whale.

After gazing for some minutes it dawned on us that our giant neighbour was in fact a Humpback whale; considerable bigger than True Blue and known to hole boats if you and he/she collide. Thankfully, although we had a total of 5 sightings, there were no nasty bumps but we sneakily checked out our safety gear, put the satellite phone on and generally prepared for the worst! Little were we to know what lay in store for us!

And then a gale!.......

Whilst at sea we obtain daily weather reports via our satellite phone. On this passage, we were also lucky to receive information from the skipper of another Australian yacht; Ian is a meteorologist and he kindly gave us daily updates of the  ‘bigger picture’ of weather. Usually the really bad stuff comes from pressure systems emanating from the south of Australia; these travel across the Tasman and can intensify causing really nasty conditions. And so it was to be.

About 5 days out from Bora Bora, we learned that a big high pressure system was building over the Tasman Sea and New Zealand, and the direct route to Tonga would be right in the teeth of the worst conditions. After much deliberation we therefore decided to change our plans and head further north, hoping that by staying high we would miss the worst of the predicted gales. Alas, the high over New Zealand intensified and as the pressure system got closer the winds started to rise. Our lovely blue-sky sunny days rapidly changed to rain and squalls.

The worst was yet to come. Three days out from Samoa we were hit by gale force winds; for 24 hours we sustained winds of between 33 to 40 knots.  The second day of the gale was worse; the gusts topped 45 knots and seas over 6 metres high roared above us. We had taken the precaution when we received the bad weather forecast of laying our parachute anchor in the cockpit, ready for deployment. But True Blue somehow always managed to lift her skirts and sail up and over the huge swells, slithering down the other side without once turning away sideways (this would have put us at risk of being knocked over). After the first horrible hours we became somewhat acclimatised to the sights around us and shrieking noise of the wind in the rigging…..but there were without doubt a few moments of chattering teeth and we both quietly checked and double checked our safety gear. However, our windvane (now promoted to the name of Hughie the Hero) did all the steering for us (we had just a scrap of staysail up, just enough to give us steerage) so we pressed on, encouraged by a fresh forecast that said the worst would be through within 12 hours. And so it was. A day out from Samoa the wind dropped to just 30 knots (by this stage this seemed like a gentle breeze!) so we pulled out more sail and roared into Apia, the capital town of Samoa. Never has a protected harbour looked more welcoming!

Gale Aftermath

We arrived in Apia tired, but without any damage. Only then did we realize how well True Blue 1 had taken care of us. The same weather system had hit a 65 ft yacht and this boat, with 7 experienced crew on board, is now considered to be lost at sea with all hands. A yacht next to us in Apia marina suffered badly with one crew member telling us he thought he was going to die as he was thrown from one side of the cockpit to the other by the water which continuously got dumped in the cockpit. They arrived with all navigation systems broken, water throughout the boat and in a generally sorry state. A catamaran travelling behind us had its cockpit filled by the huge seas 5 times in the previous 24 hours as the strong winds and big seas travelled east towards Tahiti.  The single wave which dumped a modest amount of water into True Blue’s cockpit suddenly seemed like a minor affair indeed, especially as down below was always snug and dry.

Ahoy Samoa!

The marina in Samoa has not been repaired properly since the devastation of the 2010 cyclone. Half of the pontoons are underwater or sticking out at odd angles, and totally unusable. Only one pontoon has water and the electricity supply to it is a bit dubious.

Getting into our berth was a tricky event as the room is limited and the water is shallow, however the skipper did it beautifully and there were plenty of assisting hands on the dock.

A brush with bureaucracy

Our arrival in Samoa was not without incident, however.  The rules dictate that everyone waits on board until cleared by Immigration, Quarantine, Health and Customs. Health is supposed to come first. However, our first visitor was from Quarantine – fairly straightforward, and then Immigration and Customs arrived. The immigration guy just stamped us in for up to 60 days – lots of smiles BUT the customs man (a huge man, nicknamed Buddha,) decided to be difficult. Our paperwork was, he said, not in order. We were cleared from Bora Bora to Tonga. So why were we in Samoa? The skipper started to bristle but controlled her tired temper and tried to explain to “Buddha” that we had to come to Samoa because of the adverse weather conditions - Force Majeure and all that. Buddha claimed not to understand and insisted Suzie accompany him to see his boss. Suzie tromped off, the steam from her ears rising in the warm air as she sat outside the boss’s office whilst Buddha took another victim into the inner sanctum. Suddenly Buddha stomped out and told Suzie he had had the interview with the boss on our behalf and it’s all ok –she can go…..or rather, we can stay!!.

Back on board we think it is all over and wander off for an ice cream (our first since the Galapagos), forgetting that Health has not been to see us. When we got back world war three was about to break out as the Health guy (another huge man of 25 stone – so much for health!!) has found that we have left the boat before being cleared. He was really angry and threatened us with big fines etc etc. Suzie had to be at her persuasive best and quickly blamed the predicament on the customs Buddha (this required a convenient forgetting of the ice-cream diversion!). With a smile of indignant innocence she offered to take Mr Health to the Buddha to let him explain and confirm that he had whisked her off the boat (what about Robin’s absence though??). There ensued much talking, apologising and smoothing of feathers with cold drinks and koalas…..hurray, the second giant was eventually forgiving, agreeing it was the fault of the customs guys. Quick as a flash Suzie signed the Health bit of paper (do you have Yellow Fever, do you have Lice, do you have Insanity???!!) and we were ‘in’ without a large fine. Thank heavens we were here in Samoa and not in Australia.....there we would have ended up in jail!

To finish a surprisingly challenging afternoon we took 5 big bags of washing to the laundry round the corner. What a simple pleasure it is to have all our clothes, towels, and bed linen washed, dried and folded!

July 7/8, A wet weekend in Samoa

Saturday was to be our sightseeing day but as if to thwart us the heavens opened and it poured all Friday night and through Saturday. Undeterred, we trundled off with raincoats and umbrella into the town to check out the sights and various markets which run 24 hours every day except Sunday.

Yams, yams  and more yams for sale

We also found the bus terminal, where buses of every description with names such as “Remember Me”, “The Lord’s Trolly”, and “Vagabus” roared by. Most of these buses were converted trucks with hard wooden seats, and seemed always full to bursting with people. We ran after one with the right name for the east of the island and rode it out to its destination, squashed along with bags of Taro root, rice, and other sundry market items.  The average weight and size of the passengers can only be described as “huge” so it felt like we were the tiddlers in a large can of sardines.

Our carriage around the island akka ‘the truck!

Regardless of the rain, we had an enjoyable trip; it was an interesting glimpse of the beautiful lush countryside and we were able to observe the living style of the local Samoans who are universally friendly and eager to help. Although some of the houses have windows and doors, many are of the traditional style which means that ‘home’ comprises a concrete floor base and roof supported by pillars, and nothing else! No internal walls, just bamboo screens which can be dropped down in case of rain being blown in. 

But although the standard of living in Samoa is by no means high, everyone we saw was cheerful and busy tending their gardens, which were mostly bursting with colourful plants and vegetables.