Huahine to Raiatea

Hi everyone,

We spent four nights at Avea Bay in Huahine.  It's a very nice spot.  EBBYC sv Southern Wind joined us for the last two nights.

We were recovering from colds picked up at the Tahiti to Moorea Sailing Rendezvous.  I also had several sores on my foot which became infected after stupidly swimming.  We dinked around the bay with our underwater camera on a selfie-stick.

Avea Bay coral

Avea Bay bombies

We had a great sail across to Raiatea.  It was a 30nm day passage starting with 7nm back to the pass.  From there we had a great beam reach to the S pass into Raiatea's lagoon.  And from there it was a short motor up to the head of Faaroa Bay.  We anchored in 11m over mud.

Huahine to Raiatea track

Raiatea arrival

Graphs

Approaching Raiatea

Through the pass

Into Faaroa Bay, past OCC sv Wandelaar

We spent our first day in Raiatea doing boat jobs.  It was a good day for it with overcast skies.  Our fresh water galley foot pump had sprung a leak.  We swapped it with the adjacent sea water foot pump then replaced the split diaphragm with a spare.  We also reseated the galley sink drain hose which had been weeping.

The next morning we dinked up the river in nice sunny weather at high tide.  It's a great dinghy ride up to the botanical gardens with the river narrowing and meandering through the 'jungle'.  Very quiet and peaceful with our Torqeedo electric outboard.

River mouth

In the river

Following Southern Wind's dinghy

In the botanical garden

Colourful flowers

Colourful undergrowth

After three nights in Faaroa Bay we motored 9nm around the N of the island in search of a mooring.  Along the way we searched Vairahi Bay unsuccessfully.  We were surprised to find a free mooring at Apoo'iti and grabbed it.  Most moorings at the marina are used by The Moorings and Sunsail charter catamarans but are first-come first-served and we got lucky.

Faaroa Bay to Apoo'iti Marina

Heading N

Apoo'iti Marina with public dinghy dock at left

We had three goals for our stay - top-up water and provisions, and dispose of rubbish.  Water is available for free at the public dinghy dock at the Raiatea Yacht Club, on the W side of the marina.  The trick is finding the tap valve which is located under a green cover beside the tap.

Zen Again on the mooring

This morning we took a taxi into the main town of Uturoa for provisions.  The U Express was open in the morning only (it being Sunday).  The Champion supermarket has closed permanently with a new Carrefour opening at the end of the month.

We could only dispose of plastic bottles and aluminium cans at the marina.  They only accept recyclable waste.  We believe we can dispose of other waste (for a fee) at the other marina 0.5nm S of here in Upapa Bay, so we plan to give that a try by dink tomorrow morning.

Marina entrance

Trust all's well where you are!