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Blue Pearl - Moorea



So, Moorea is the Island with the most photographed bay in all of French
Polynesia! And that's where we are "Baie d'Opunohu". A bay surrounded
by majestic mountain scenery and the location of many famous movies
such as "South Pacific and "Bounty". When we woke up this morning , we
saw the result of all this beauty and fame, a huge cruise ship
obstructing our view to the ocean outside. That's progress for you.

We arrived here yesterday after a 36 hour passage from Rangiroa in the
Tuomotu's, also in French Polynesia. We didn't have much wind so we
motored for about 24 hours, never as nice as sailing. Rangiroa was a
delightful spot. We dove, relaxed and visited a pearl farm. If you have
an opportunity visit a pearl farm, you'll be amazed at the complexity of
the process. I thought you'd just get an oyster out of the water, crack
it open and voila, the pearl is right there. Forget it, this is a pretty
scientific undertaking. In fact people go to pearl school for a few
years to learn the process. Of course, there was a shop (they call it a
boutique) which found a good client in the Blue Pearl crew.

I personally also experienced my best scuba dive yet in the Rangiroa
waters. A drift dive starting on the reef outside the cut through the
reef and then drifting back through the cut on the flood current.
Amazing scenery, sharks, baracuda's, dolphins, all sorts of smaller
brightly colored smaller fish and to top it off a huge manta ray with a
wing span of close to 10 feet , a majestic animal. The coral was amazing
too. Vibrantly alive and undamaged. A real treat.

So, we are now in the Society Islands. We'll visit the main island,
Tahiti, next and spend about a week there in a marina. Blue Pearl needs
a little bit of taking care of after almost 6 months on the move after
leaving Newport in October of last year. Nothing significant but some
required maintenance. We will then be in the Society islands for about
three weeks ending up in Bora Bora before jumping off on the next stage
of the rally but I will write all about that later.

Captain Ruud.


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