Tahaa to Bora Bora

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we sailed the 25nm from Tahaa to Bora Bora.  We had a great sail in a 10-12 knot N wind between the islands.  Zen Again was powered up under full sail.  Twas a blast!

Moored off Motu Toopua, Bora Bora

We sailed in loose company with sv Apres Ski.  Unusually they didn't overtake us.  We were averaging 6.5 knots for much of the passage.  Great fun.

Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

Bora Bora Ho!

Skirting the reef

Zen Again in Bora Bora!

Sunrise

On arrival the mooring field off the YC was full so we carried on to the Motu Toopua field.  The depth there is 4-6m over sand with scattered bombies.  Very colourful water due to its shallow depth.  But it's a 2nm dink ride into town so we hoped to move to the Y field at some stage.  And hopefully before the forecast strong winds arrived.

Happily friends moored off the YC advised there were free moorings this morning.  So we and Apres Ski headed straight over at 0700 shortly after a spectacular sunrise.  From the YC moorings it's a 1nm to town, and in the lee of the main island in the approaching strong SE winds.

Later this morning we dinked into the main town of Vaitape.  We shopped for fruit, veg, meat and beer.  On the way back we stopped off at several boats, organising a get-together for happy hour at the YC this afternoon.

Moored off Bora Bora YC

Town dinghy dock

2025 is our boat's second visit to French Polynesia.  Her second Japanese owner, 'Zen' Nishikubu, sailed from Japan to Australia via Canada, USA, S Pacific, New Zealand and SW Pacific.  He was in French Polynesia in 1997.  Below is a picture of her in Moorea.  Nice paint job!

Zen in the Society Islands in 1997

Trust all's well where you are!

Raiatea to Tahaa

Hi everyone,

After five days in Raiatea we motored the short distance across to Tahaa in light winds.  The two islands share a single lagoon.  We picked up a mooring at Pt Toamaro.  These moorings are free and provided by the nearby Pearl Farm.

Ray!

Raiatea astern

Raiatea to Tahaa track

Moored off Pt Toamaro, Tahaa

That afternoon we dinked around the bay exploring.  We had our underwater camera with us which showed some nice coral.  Throughout our stay we had remora fish living under the boat.  We regularly saw schools of mid-sized fish leaping from the water so there are some big fish here.

Nice Coral

Remora fish under Zen Again

On Tuesday morning we went ashore to visit the pearl farm.  They provide the free moorings and also a good dinghy dock jetty, so visiting the farm was the least we could do.  It was an interesting tour.  The products were very nice but out of our price range.

Dinghy dock jetty

Octopus at the jetty

Shells of varying ages

Out with the pearl, in with the new seed

Nice products

On Wednesday we went ashore again, this time with the crews of Apres Ski and Boaty McBoatface.  We visited the Vanilla Farm for a very interesting tour.

Vanilla plants growing on host trees

Vanilla processing demo

Tahaa's Pt Toamato is a great spot to take it easy with interesting places to visit ashore.  The marine life in the bay also kept us amused.

Our next stop will be Bora Bora.  We spent a few days resting in Tahaa since the moorings are free.  In Bora Bora they're centrally managed and US$40/night.  We expect to wait out a period of windy and rainy weather there.

Trust all's well where you are!

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!

Moorea to Huahine

Hi everyone,

After six nights in Moorea we sailed overnight to Huahine.  Both are in the Societies but Moorea is in their Windward and Huahine in their Leeward Islands.  It was a good 90nm sail in gradually decreasing wind and seas.  For much of the passage we were expecting two gybes but as we approached Huahine the wind backed nicely for us.

On a free mooring off La Mahana resort

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

The seas were lumpy and the swell confused as we sailed away from Moorea.  We could see swells coming from both sides, looping around both sides of the island.  Once clear of that mess the seas calmed and we had a nice broad reach under minimal sail so as to arrive after dawn.  We were doing 5 knots under double-reefed (triasail sized) main and triple furled yankee.

Go West!

OCC sv Nimue departed an hour after us and passed us late afternoon heading for Raiatea.  US sv Wanderlust also left Moorea and we chatted with them on VHF.  They said they were heading to Avea Bay in Huahine like us, but ended up in Bora Bora.  They probably didn't have enough buckets to slow them enough.

Sunrise over Huahine

While motoring along outside the reef in the lee of the island we saw several whales breaching.  Always a treat at a suitable distance!  Then in the pass we were escorted by dolphins.  Once inside we motored S inside the reefs to Avea Bay.  It's quite a scenic trip and well marked.  Navionics SonarCharts seem very accurate and much more detailed than the official Navionics charts.

Entering the Huahine pass

We arrived in the Bay late morning and set to work tidying up the boat and launching the dink.  After lunch and a brief siesta we went for a swim to start cleaning the hull.  There's not much growth on her, just a little weed near the waterline and on the rudder.  The prop needed a little scrubbing too.

It's nice being on a mooring, especially after the deep anchorages in the Tuamotus and Society Leeward islands.  Our Muir VM500 manual windlass is great, but weighing 16m of 10mm chain plus a 20kg anchor is hard work.  Turning a 75kg old guy into an iron man will take time.  So mooring is a treat.  And most legal locations in Raitea and Bora Bora are mooring only.  Looking forward to them!  The last time we were on a mooring was in Maine!  That was in June last year, and 14,000nm ago.  How the miles fly by!!!

La Mahana resort from the mooring

Later in the afternoon we dinked over to the S end of the bay, chatting along the way with OCC sv Santo who were also moored.  When the 8 moorings are occupied it seems OK to anchor E of the moorings.  It's quite shallow there but appears bombie-free.  There are small bombies inshore close to the beach and that seems a good snorkelling spot.

After our snorkelling recce in the dink we visited the La Mahana resort.  They're very cruiser friendly and it's a very nice resort.  The snorkelling appears to be good around their jetty judging by the resort residents, and its a very good dinghy dock.

We went for a walk N along the road.  Lots of well-kept gardens with friendly locals.  Even the local dogs are obviously well looked after.  We were escorted by one of these fine beasts.

Back at the resort we settled in for happy hour and dinner.  Happy hour offers only cocktails so we went for a jug of beer and ordered dinner.  We can't remember when we last had a jug of beer!  And dinner was great, as you'd expect in a French resort.  US$80 for beer, mains and a shared desert.  We recommend the 'tarte fine' which must be ordered at the start of the meal.

La Mahana resort restaurant

Dinner is served

We're allowed to stay in the bay for three nights.  Tomorrow we expect to be joined by EBBYC sv Southern Wing.

Trust all's well where you are!