French Polynesia
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Tahiti
True Blue was pristine for the return of the skipper, who had had a delightful time on the UK; she and Biddy even managed a short break to the New Forest where they had a day enjoying the fabulous azalea and rhododendron displays of the vast gardens at Exbury. Robin had arranged a lift to the airport to meet Suzie’s 2200 arrival but these plans fell to ashes as an email arrived to say the flight from Los Angeles to Tahiti was cancelled. The Paris connection had failed to arrive; where was the missing plane?? All was not lost as Suzie managed to squeak into one of 5 vacant seats on the later flight that day. Arrival was 0500 on the 27th, 12 hours later than expected and although Suzie spent an overnight in an airport hotel in Los Angeles the 3 day journey from the UK was somewhat exhausting. A new VHF radio was installed, the stowage rearranged and it was almost time to set off again. As Suzie had only been in Tahiti for a couple of days prior to her UK trip, we decided to have a quick look around the island before we set sail again. The tourist people provided an excellent guide, but we felt that Tahiti Island is without the appeal of the rest of French Polynesia. The people are delightful and the scenery wonderful, but the press of cars and volume of randomly constructed houses everywhere detract from its’ charm. The Paul Gauguin museum, where Tahiti’s famous adopted son has his works displayed, was closed, as were the gardens that bear his name.
We did see some lovely water gardens and grottos beside the road, where a couple of Tahiti’s old buses known as “Le Truck” were parked. Sadly these icons of traditional transport are only now used for excursions.
We also visited some delightful beaches, bought delicious pamplemousse and fresh lychees for almost nothing from a roadside stall, and visited a couple of ancient Marae.
Our plan was to leave on Sat Jun 1st. We were ready to go but when Robin went to pay the bill for the marina, the manager warned him a huge swell was expected from a big weather system to the south west. Having already experienced one of these phenomena, we decided to stay until it had passed. This was an easy decision as we wanted to see a cultural exhibition of traditional dancing presented by the schools from Tahiti and the surrounding islands…..and of course enjoy one more happy hour with friends at the marina bar. As an extra, a Polynesian dance group performed the night we were there and it was fun to watch the dancing and listen to the traditional drum work. Whilst not the slimmest women in the gym, these local ladies can really swing their hips!
The school program was superb, the costumes colourful, the dancing delightful and sometimes spectacular; it was also great to see that the teachers and parents of the children were also involved in the dancing of the traditional stories. These older ladies, many of considerable girth, moved with a grace that belied their figures and years.
Even the tiny tots performed on stage; Suzie speculated that “they must be born wiggling like tadpoles”. It is difficult to describe in words the colour and the movement of the groups as they moved in fluid motion.
As predicted, big swells started on Saturday morning and built during the day. By the evening True Blue was surging and snatching at her mooring lines, but out on the outer wall of the marina where the super yachts and the late arrivals had to moor, it was bedlam and quite frightening. The yachts were rolling and bucking as in storm-like conditions. Lines were snapping, power cables destroyed, and the sea was surging across the pontoons. As the sea built to the expected 5 metres, the surge in the marina tore up the wooden walkways, flooded across the grass in front of the restaurants, and up into the car park. The marina power was turned off as a precaution and the security staff worked like demons to secure boats of absent owners. One of our lines snapped in the middle of the night but we had tripled them up earlier and pulled ourselves way back from the quay to avoid damage’ however, the line had to be replaced, and it was a challenge in the middle of the night as the water surged across the dock. Some folk walked off their boats and spent the night on shore as the movement in the outer marina berths was so violent.
Luckily, we all survived and the only major damage appeared to be to the marina boardwalks and a couple of flipped and subsequently punctured dinghies. We were lucky as the day before, one of the large stern mooring lines attached to the heavy chain at the bottom of the sea, and holding us off the dock, parted. Prompt action by the marina staff fixed the problem but if Robin had not noticed it, and it had not been fixed before the swell came in, True Blue would have been badly damaged.
By Sunday the swell had started to decrease and our day was marked by an enjoyable lunch on board True Blue with the folks who befriended us in Katiu Atoll in the Tuamotos. Caroline and Norris were staying with one of their daughters in Papeete and so were able to visit us; it was wonderful to see them again and after lunch they kindly took us to meet one of their daughters. She lives in a super modern house set high on the hill overlooking Moorea; there could hardly be a better view for a home. Sadly, we neglected to take a camera with us and so were unable to record our time there.
Moorea 17:29W 149:51S On the 4th June we motor-sailed the 27 miles across to the mystical island of Moorea, the Bali Hi island of the original musical-film South Pacific. There was little wind and a lumpy sea but the anchorage in Opunohu Bay was calm, protected and beautiful, with a sandy bottom and crystal clear water. A swim and snorkel was the first item on the agenda, then a walk ashore to get a warm baguette for lunch.
A small disaster! Suzie broke a tooth. So next day we hitched a ride to Cooks Bay, another deep indentation where the commercial centre of the island is situated. Another stunningly beautiful setting where Captain Cook is supposed to have anchored on his third voyage to Moorea, although there is some conjecture whether the landfall was here or in Opunohu Bay.
We found a dentist and had the tooth patched with a warning that the patch may last a week or three months.... Suzie was given some material to make another! She is not sure she wants Robin to practice his non-existent dentistry skills on her, and fingers crossed we will make it closer to home before (or if) the patch fails! Biddy has advised antibiotics in case of an abscess so we have checked out our on-board supplies. The following day we took the dinghy (and a friend Eva from Kahiba) some 2 + miles across to the stingray feeding zone where we got up close and personal with the huge rays who nestle up to you to be petted in the hope you have a morsel for them. A number of sharks cruised around ....oooh!! But these were only interested in any leftover titbits. It was a bit unnerving though. It was a fascinating experience to have these giant creatures brush you with their velvety skins and after the first few anxious moments we played with the rays for over an hour before we needed to leave to weave our way back to True Blue through the reefs in the setting sun.
We could have spent another week here, it was so beautiful, but ever mindful of our ticking clock and other islands we wanted to visit in French Polynesia, we set sail for Huahini.
Huahine 16:48S, 150:59W Huahine is known as the island that “engenders women” and from Fare, the largest settlement, the contours of the mountains resemble a reclining pregnant woman watching over the island, which was first populated in 850. It is claimed that Huahine was the first of the islands in the group to be settled way back then.
We ghosted past the village of Fare to Avea Bay at the southern end of the island where we anchored in another fabulous setting.
One reason for coming here was to meet up with another of our Tuamotus friend’s daughters Brenda, who is an educational psychologist in the local schools on the islands. She and her husband have a pension right on the beach and a restaurant which sadly was destroyed in the huge seas that we had recently experienced in Tania marina. We were told that 9 metre waves broke a cross the outer reef in Huahine and the resultant swells wrought havoc along the shore. We could see evidence of this as we beachcombed.
Brenda and baby
It was an enjoyable meeting with Brenda and her husband, 5 year old son and baby; we were kindly offered a loan of the family car but we were worried about insurance etc. Luckily Brenda drove us to Fare the next day so we had a pleasant overview of the island’s beautiful lush interior. We were anchored next to our good friends Gunner and Eva on Kahiba and the four of us then spent a day and a half re-stitching the UV strip on Kahiba’s genoa. It was a pleasant activity and very rewarding to get the job done without having to visit a sailmakers loft.
We also enjoyed a couple of “happy hour” sessions at the local “Fare Yacht Club” – a restaurant/bar on the beach - with other yachties, before setting off early on the 14th June for the famed Bora Bora.
Bora Bora via Raiatea 16:31S, 151:46W We set off early for Bora Bora intending to try to get the 50 odd miles over by sunset, however the wind strength was such that we knew we would not make it so we changed course for Raiatea to stay the night. Our friend Frank on Another Adventure was there so we looked forward to catching up with his news. We took a mooring buoy near Another Adventure and dinghied ashore to find Frank talking to Richard, an electrician who was highly recommended by other yachties on Noonsite. We struck up a conversation and learned from Frank that Richard had repaired his 10 year alternator, which he had discovered was on its last legs. Robin thought it would be a good idea to have True Blue’s alternator checked as it too was 10 years old so that night, we removed it at dusk and installed our spare reconditioned one. Not too painful an experience and we were very gratified to find our spare, hidden for many years in a distant locker, popped into place without a fuss and then worked perfectly. We were very pleased that Richard gave the old alternator a full service and because we wanted to leave early the next day, Frank kindly agreed to bring it to Bora Bora where we would meet again. We sailed across to Bora Bora and anchored in yet another stunningly beautiful anchorage. Again our good chums on Kahiba were nearby, and at one time there were three Australian-flagged yachts within 100 metres of each other. A sense of ‘going home’ intensified and we had pangs of homesickness as we realised that Brisbane (or more importantly Russell Island) lies ‘just over the horizon’!
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