Tahitian
Islands
We spent 12 days in total in Papeete and
got a lot of jobs done on the boat. The Helm cable was replaced going from the
original 5mm to 8mm. Other jobs being a new part for the Furlex replaced, sand
and poly the cockpit table, a new engine compartment fan, re weld a crack in
the solar panel support, fit a new anode to the prop, and the best was to fit a
Victron Battery Monitor. This included checking out the state of the Batteries
which all came up 100%. The monitor tells us what’s exactly happening on board
with the batteries now, and we can see what’s going in and out and what the
level of capacity is. The original Voltmeter gauge was a guessing game.
getting out amongst it
Whilst here in Papeete, we took advantage
of the prize we had won from the ‘Puddle Jumpers’ association in Panama. It was
for Dinner for two at the Intecontinental here in Papeete. This was a
Traditional show and Buffet meal at the resort so was a welcome treat.
One of the many resorts
We left the Marina berth and went on a
Taina Marina mooring outside the actual marina for the night. I wanted to check
the auto helm was correct after it had been put back together along with the
helm, so decided to go for a short motor up the estuary. We dropped the Mooring,
and as we were moving away from the mooring (not even 10 meters), I was
watching the mooring sliding past us when
we came to an abrupt halt. We had hit the ground! What? Where we were on
the mooring we were in 4.8 meters of water, now we were in 1.8??
I jumped over the back of the boat to have
a look and sure enough there was a little mountain right underneath us. This
was right in amongst all the other moorings. We were still quite close to the
mooring we just dropped so I swam a line back to it and along with the engine
in reverse, winched the boat back off our little mountain. No harm done aside
from a little bit of antifoul off the bottom of the Keel but shows the
undulation of the bottom inside the Reef outside of the marina, even inside an
area of Mooring Buoys, you have to be careful!
Moorea
We left Papeete and motored out to Moorea and
anchored for the night up the far end of Baie de Cook, where we gathered that
James Cook had anchored the Endeavour all those years ago. It wasn’t till we
went around to the next bay which is Baie de Opunaohu that whilst ashore there
we noticed monuments commemorating Cooks landing there. We were a bit confused by this and the locals
we spoke to could shed no light on it either, they didn’t even know the
monuments were there! So we are still undecided where he actually came to while
in Moorea.
One of the monuments we 'discovered' in the long grass
While at anchor in Opunaohu, we caught up
with Len and Erin along with their son Trenten aboard their 72 ft Irwin Ketch
‘Mystro’. We had met them whilst in the Marina at Papeete and it was great to
catch up with them again. We went ashore to two of the resorts there on the
island being the Intercontinental and the Hilton having drinks and a meal there
to see how the other half live.
Len, Erin & Trenten alongside 'Mystro'
Cocktails in the afternoon
Just outside the Intercontinental on the
Lagoon, you can swim/snorkel with Stingrays and Sharks, all in shallow 1.2
meters of crystal clear water-amazing. The stingrays will come right up to you
and let swimmers rub them but we weren’t that game.
We hired a Scooter for the day like we had
done at several other places and went around the Island. It’s a great way to
see the Island, keeps you cool and the cost is minimal. $50 or the Scooter hire
and $1.85 to fill it back up! A great day out.
At the lookout overlooking Moorea
Raiatea/Tahaa
The sail up from Moreea was pretty
uneventful aside from the fact that the Skipper had severe stomach cramps for
some reason and spent most of the trip on his hands and knees. Now I know how
Shelly felt when we left Gibraltar bound for the Canaries and she had spent 3
days sea sick in this position!
The weather wasn’t the best here in Raiatea
and after a couple of quiet days catching up with Len and Erin again we headed
off to Tahaa which is almost joined to Raiatea, its that close.
We spent the day snorkeling at the Coral
gardens by the Resort off Tahaa where there are an abundant amount of Tropical
Fish residing and once again the water is shallow and brilliantly clear.
Shipwrecked at the Coral Gardens
Bora Bora
We had a great sail up to Borabora with
full prevented Main out one side and Genoa poled out the other. In 20 knots we
were humming along at over 8 knots and there were three catamarans in front of
us that we had given probably a 3 mile head start, but we mowed them down and
sailed right through the middle of them.
Once inside the reef, we picked up a
mooring at the Borabora Yacht club and spent the night there after going ashore
to explore.
Borabora Yacht club
We visited ‘Boody Marys’ the next day where all the rich and famous frequent,
it has a board outside listing all manner of Celebrities that have been there.
A great place with happy hour on all the Cocktails, great food and sand in your
toes. You have to check your shoes at the door.
Bloody Marys at Happy Hour!
One of the many idealic beaches in Borabora
After picking up a mooring at the Makai
yacht Club, we met up with Steve and Debbie on ‘Simmer Down’ We had some good
nights with them on the boat having dinner and learning some new Games.
Steve and I went for a dive just outside
the entrance to the lagoon, which was great. White tip sharks everywhere and on
the bottom we ran into some large Lemon Sharks cruising around, some over 7
foot. They have an aunterage of small parasitic fish with them as they cruise
past you close to the bottom coral no more than a few meters away.
We caught up with Len and Erin again and
Shelly looked after their son Trenten while they went and had some well
deserved time on there own having lunch ashore. Trenten’s only 9 months old,
really well behaved and she really enjoyed looking after him, it was a reminder
of our Grandson that we are both missing back in NZ.
Aitutaki
We wanted to break up the leg from Borabora
to Tonga so called in at Aitutaki on the way. I’d have to say that it isn’t a
great stop with no access into the small lagoon there unless your boat drew
less than 1.4 meters, no mooring buoys outside the reef to hook up to and the
anchoring options are to say the least poor if not dangerous. The water shallows
up quickly to a narrow shelf around the small inlet there and it is full of
foul. We set our anchor there and I snorkeled to check it out. ‘Falshator’ was
sitting in 15 meters of water with 70 meters of chain out but there were rocks
the size of houses there all around us, some coming from 15 meters of depth to
just below the surface. I had to put my dive gear on and go down and reposition
the anchor to a safer place. The cost of entering Aitutaki was not cheap at
over $220 and there wasn’t a lot to offer there. Sorry Aitutaki, but from a
visiting Yachts point of view, we were glad to see the back of you.
Niue
Niue provides a small amount of shelter
from the prevailing South/East to easterly winds with just a small dent in the
island on its west side. There are mooring buoys to hook up to for $15 a night and
at least you felt safe there leaving the boat, unlike Aitutaki.
There is no harbour as such, but a wharf
where there is a crane that you use to lift your tender out of the water and
keep it up on the wharf. It’s the first time we had come across this but it
seemed to work brilliantly as long as you had a strong lifting bridle rigged
up.
Crane on the wharf with little 'Falshator' on the dock
The officials were easy going and the
locals are all very friendly. We started to see more Kiwis here on holiday and
there was a ‘Black Heart’ Fishing contest on at the time we were there with
Kiwis flying up here and going out on Charter boats catching Yellow Fin Tuna
and the like. They couldn’t best one of the locals though who caught a 76 kilo
Tuna on a hand line from his canoe!
Caught on a hand line from a canoe??!
Provisioning the boat was made a bit
easier, as at both Aitutaki and Niue, the shops had things from NZ like Watties
Backed Beans and Spaghetti along with NZ Beer! The small things that you
miss-even NZ Marmite!!
'small things amuse small minds!'
The weather report was for strong
southerlies coming and we were told the moorings weren’t safe in those
conditions so it was time to make a move to Vavau, Tonga.
Niue to Tonga
The forecast was for 20-25 knot southerlies
for the next few days, but after 6 hours in, the wind was getting stronger
along with the seas. This leg has proved to be the hardest we have done to date
with over 35 knots and 6 meter seas that were standing vertical and breaking.
The seas were hitting us on the beam and crashing over the boat. It is the
first time we have had any significant water in the cockpit. One wave hit us
while I was hand helming and I was underwater momentarily and it blew my hat
clean off! As fast as the water would come into the cockpit though, it would
drain out just as quick.
Two hours out
It was hard on the auto helm, so during the
day I hand helmed and at night we ran with a small amount of genoa out only and
the auto helm response turned right down low. This enabled the boat to absorb
the wave, go slightly of course and then the slow acting auto pilot would bring
her back.
It was only a 36 hr passage but we were
both glad to see Vavau loom into sight the next morning. We chose to approach
the Islands across the top of them as it has a clear entrance in the Lee of the
wind and swell from the North Western side and approaching through the reefs
from the south in these conditions would have been pretty hairy.
It was good to get into Vavau and pick up a
mooring there, and once through Immigration it was a matter of giving the boat
a good clean with fresh water, emptying the Engine Compartment fan ducting of
salt water(from the waves coming into the cockpit) and having a beer- needless
to say we slept well the first night there. J
