Now back at the Bora Bora yacht club, with a Hinano in hand, reviewing a great month zig zagging back and forth around this little volcanic mountain. Twice we did most, most we loved twice. Half two was an improvement on the rocky windy half one, but the initial period was fun exploring, with the second even better, as we knew exactly where to go for the best of everything.

For Chances 20th birthday, we were back anchored outside the super posh St Regis Resort, for a rather wonderful and rather expensive dinner. In an earlier life I went with family to Butlins for a week, for less!
Check out the bill photo, and to save you looking up xpf - roughly $500 (390 quid!).

We did divert off our beaten track (that doesn't quite work does it?), for a proposed 24hrs right under the airport flypath. Awesome, having a couple of planes sweep right over us,  before the airport gestapo boat chased us away ... for goodness sake ... have you ever heard of a 100 seater twin turbo prop passenger plane taking out a Seawind 1160? Flippin Froggy Polly Jobsworths!

After the St Regis stop we anchored off a nice quiet Motu quite close to the main Island. Oops, short stopped there also, as after a couple of hours speculating on our aloneness, realised that it was a strict no anchoring zone due to pipes and cables crossing the short distance twixt mainland and Motu! Left sharpish, lest impounded! Moved back to the  area of the bommie incident of our arrival - this time much further offshore, towards the main reef. Then the wind died - freaking wonderful - most excellent swimming. Ray's, Reef Sharks, and to cap it all, we were parked right over a bommie with our own Morray eel resident! I'd dived down to look at the fish, and the blooming thing sensed me coming and appeared from his cave, about 2 feet from my face - freak - I backed off sharpish!

Caught up with the guy I'd helped move his Lagoon 45 in Papeete, who anchored close by. He didn't cross the shallows as we did ... turned out he was late to Bora Bora as he'd been hauled out after hitting a reef in Moorea ... Geez, I well remember him in Marina Taina, telling me how he'd hit a reef in Cuba ... Heck .. I'm never following the wake of 'Rheinhard', on x86! So amusing, that his boat is called 'Wiki' and after the last haul out/fix, he has found another leak ... get why that's funny? Let me help: "So, Captain, is your boat sound?" Captain, "Not so much, Wiki ......" :-)

We should be back at the Mai Kai yacht club which is closer to town and the jobs we need to do this week. But, although its balls were hanging, people had grabbed them, so we went back next door to the Bora Bora yacht club, whose balls were not so popular. I cycled to town, to start my exit paperwork, that takes three days here.

On Sunday (19th) K&C fly and I'm solo offski to Fiji, which is strangely called Fidji according to the police who corrected my check-out docs today.
Not a huge amount to do, but it's a 2 week offshore, so everything is important. The first half is pretty easy, but between Tonga and 'Fidji' ... things get tricky, and sleep gets scant.

All's good on x86, three months in Froggy Polly nearly up.