16:37S 151:46W

 

Chick and Pete – our NZ friends – fly out from Raiatea tomorrow so we couldn’t dally any longer in BoraBora....not that we wanted to.  Maybe we missed the best anchorages but overall we were totally underwhelmed by BoraBora and, at times, felt distinctly unwelcome.   At the abandoned (and rundown) Hotel BoraBora complex we were told by an officious and unfriendly chap to leave.   We’d only gone ashore as David had holidayed there as a teenager and wanted to reminisce a little.   Fat chance – the security guard made it clear we weren’t welcome – he even ordered us off the deserted beach.   We had the same response at the Hilton.  It’s okay guys – we get the message! 

 

We did have some nice snorkelling yesterday on lovely coral with lots of fish but the visibility was poor – a stark contrast from the crystal clear water in Taha’a.  And you had to keep a constant eye out for jetskis and fizz boats whizzing by.  Many of the anchorages are deep so last night we headed to the moorings off Maikai Marina in the main town.  We woke this morning to hear a fellow cruiser on VHF stating he’d been burgled overnight and lost three fishing rods.  He was only a few hundred metres from us.

 

This was repeated on our morning SSB net and another cruiser came up and said they’d lost their outboard when they were here last year.  Seems the locals resent the wealth they see coming to their island and feel it’s okay to help themselves.  We’d heard theft was rife so took our new rod and reel below.....but it’s frustrating to have to do that.   We hang so much stuff off Bandit’s stern – we can’t take it all below.  Another reason to spend as little time as possible  there.

 

We’re now having a lovely sail back to Taha’a with wind on the nose – a distinct novelty for us downwind sailors.   We’re loving it!