Moorea - Raiatea -Bora Bora then back to Raiatea
Boundless 1
Richard Clennett
Sat 2 Jul 2011 02:38
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We stayed two nights at Moorea and got caught
up in the "Puddle Jumpers" Tahiti - Moorea rally after another dinghy trip
to the stingrays and sharks, just as enjoyable as the first one with Kate and
Dave . The festivities after the rally involved a meet and greet, canoe
races, traditional weight lifting and lunch on sunday before we headed off to
Raiatea at 4pm. We had met several of these people when in the Marquesas and
Tuamotus. We had a good overnight sail, slowing down early the
following morning to make a daylight entry to Raiatea, just as a few
gusts and squalls started passing through.
We spent the night in a deep bay, steep sides,
lined with dense green foliage and took a dinghy trip up the river which was
quite interesting, banana plantations and vegetables growing on the river
flats.
The following day after provisioning we headed up
the west coast of Tahaa and anchored off a motu to snorkel. The recommended pass
was less than impressive and afterwards we spent the night in another deeply
indented bay. The wind by then was very light and this is foecast to continue
until late in the weekend.
On wednesday morning we motor sailed to Bora
Bora and anchored in the lagoon, very still - completely different to our
previous stay here. Enjoying snorkeling around the boat, bombies with plenty of
fish and a reef very close by. We ventured into the town and are
now stocked up and ready to leave when the wind returns! The photo of the
containers shows one man delivering these to a hotel, he passed right between us
and another boat, local transport is very interesting!!
Unfortunately, the water maker then decided to
pack it in - after much exploration and discussion with a technician in
Papeete, it appeared there was nothing we could do, although he felt the problem
was electrical - however a fellow traveller (Kiwi) was able to give us the
name of an electrician in Raiatea, so after chatting with him, we left early
this morning to return there to see if he could assist. Hopefully this is the
third and last thing to go wrong - after the autopilot and starboard motor!
Richard the electriciam has just left after
replacing the capacitator on the watermaker and leaving us with a spare, so we
will still be able to keep clean and remain hydrated - phew! As
well, he repaired the stovetop burner that wasn't working. He is also going
to tackle the old autopilot as he has a supply of parts and will hopefully have
that back to us late tomorrow. What a magic man......I offered him a berth for
the remainder of the journey which he politely refused! Damn....
Andrew has been very patient, waiting with us for
the engine work to be completed and now for some wind so we can head off.
Needless to say we are enjoying his company very much and are looking forward to
Barb joining us somewhere around July 15th in V'avau, Tonga.
So, it seems we will be in Raiatea until we depart
on sunday. Disappointing as we were looking forward to some more exploring
on Bora Bora, but much better that these things are repaired. Still no definite
plan in regard to breaking the journey to Tonga - will depend on weather and
timing.
We're all looking forward to a meal ashore tonight,
to celebrate today's achievements!
The local month long festival of "Heiva" has just
commenced so there is a carnival mood everywhere we go, with music, singing
and dancing and general celebration, as well as many sporting
events.
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