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Mischief - Mischief Making Log 25 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes



Day 52 Friday 20 April 2018 - Moorea, Passe de Vaiare

Sat for hours blogging whilst the others went ashore for breakfast on a lovely sunny morning here. The guys were back by 1030 and we were about to slip lines when Jean spotted a most unwelcome passenger: a big cockroach had landed on the steering wheel and was scuttling about. Dave immediately jumped at it but it made an escape and shot into the port side cockpit locker which was frantically emptied. It re-appeared on the lid and this time Dave didn't miss, grabbed it and chucked it over the side to a great big sigh of relief all round. This is especially poignant as Air Power, the guys we had a beer with last night had reported that they have a major infestation of the blighters centered on their main bedroom cabin - they have air netting under the mattress and the beasties have laid their eggs in that with the result that they have cockroaches running all over the bedroom and elsewhere no doubt! They are presently sleeping in the cockpit awaiting the pest control people arriving today to fumigate the entire boat. Good luck with that, I hate cockroaches!

We slipped out from Papeete marina and headed off to Taina marina some 5 miles west inside the reef. We had to call port control before crossing the path of the airport runway and motored downstream with the intention of stopping off at the fuel dock and filling up then mooring in the marina and doing a big shop at the Carrefour. All our plans had fallen into place like clockwork over the last few days - there had to be an end to the luck at some point and this unfortunately was it. There was a massive Gin Palace in the fuel dock which looking at the size of it was going to be there all day and there was no room in the marina, neither would they confirm a place for the 24th when we return for the ARC Rendezvous in Papeete. So, what to do?

We retraced our steps back to the entrance to Papeete harbor and headed off towards Moorea, some 10 miles or so north east of Tahiti. Quoting from Charlies Charts, "Even more than Tahiti, the two bays on this island have come to represent the Sailors' idea of Polynesia because they have been photographed so often. The spectacular views of the peaks behind them is one of the reasons that Moorea is known as one of the most scenic islands in the world."

On route Jean and I did a stocktake of the various foodstuffs on board and came across a bread mix package which I made up. Once more the dough did not rise so was confined to a watery grave; I was not too disappointed as it was expected - that's five out of six packs that have not worked.

We sailed under genoa to the Passe de Vaiare straight across the channel where all the fast ferries go and tried to get into the small marina there. No room at the Inn here either so the jokes started: "No Moor 'ere" (unsubtle play on 'Moorea') and various worse versions. We therefore motored around the corner and dropped the anchor off the Hotel Sofitel in 5m of water, a lovely anchorage with stunning scenery and only two other boats here.

As we were not going ashore I knocked up a corned beef hash using shallots rather than onions. So, the jokes started again: "That's sha - lot, you'll get no Moor 'ere" etc……. Spot a Trevor influence?
We plan to move around to Cooks Bay tomorrow and anchor there which should be nice - it is one of the bays referred to above. But meanwhile this particular spot we are in is superb; sandy bottom, flat water inside the reef, the sound of the waves breaking over the reef. Idyllic. So peaceful in fact that Dave and Wendy have gone to bed and it's only 7pm!

There is no wonder that this island is so green - il pleut 'chats et chiens'; but at least the decks were clean in the morning.

Day 53 Saturday 21 April 2018 - Cooks Bay, Moorea

Another beautiful morning. Fitted new leach tell tails to the mainsail and hoisted whilst still at anchor as the wind was light. The water was so clear that I could see the anchor sitting on the bottom and watched it come back onto the boat effortlessly, the anchor chain a perfect straight line. We set off towards Cooks Bay a short way around the north western point of the island.

We entered the bay late morning and dropped the sails. The visage is quite stunning, and words fail to describe it adequately: there are towering tree filled cliffs surrounding the bay and valleys leading off towards further peaks in the near distance all green with vegetation, rivers and waterfalls; breathtaking!

We skillfully dropped onto a tiny fuel dock which was a feat, only to find that the diesel pump was not working. However, the consolation was that the petrol station across the road sold Magnums and Dave came back with one each, a real treat! A small motor boat came onto the dock whilst we were eating our ice cream with half a dozen young people on board and they were telling us about their mission to re-grow coral on the reef using small coral heads broken off by errant fishermen etc. and placing them onto bamboo sticks in nurseries then nurturing them until they can be re-introduced to the reef. So good to know that young people care about these real issues.

We dropped our anchor adjacent to a few ARC boats as Blue Pearl, Solitude and Alora were already there followed shortly by Le Aum - we could almost have the forthcoming reunion in Papeete here without moving anchor. This anchorage is a most stunning place to stay anywhere, no wonder they say it is one of the most scenic in the world, it would be hard to beat that's for sure.

The afternoon was spent admiring the views and dodging showers of biblical proportion - there is no doubt as to why the island is so green. Indeed, the boat swung on the anchor in the current created by a nearby river depositing all the rain water (and mud) off the cliffs into the bay which does make the water here a bit cloudy so its not perfect after all, being a bit picky! So, between showers we nipped ashore to see if we could hire a car for Sunday or Monday to tour the island. There was a landing stage some 150m away with a couple of fishing boats dealing with their catch one of which had a tuna of at least 40kg, it was enormous. All the bits they were throwing into the murky water and reef sharks were happily eating the lot - I'm not going swimming in there!

It turns out that tomorrow, being Sunday, would mean most places are shut but more so it was Presidential election day in Moorea and indeed for the entirety of French Polynesia. Besides we could only hire a four-seater car so not really feasible. However, as luck would have it, we bumped into Steve and Lynne off Alora who were jumping out of a large taxi with the crew off Blue Pearl who had just returned from a tour of the island and the driver has agreed to take us on a similar tour on Monday - sorted! He also dropped us off at the local supermarket to get some supplies, so I bought the dinghy around to the dinghy dock off the car park there but sadly it was almost flat again. As we hadn't bought the pump I dropped Jean and Trevor back onto the boat, grabbed the pump and a few shopping bags and went back to collect Dave, Wendy and the shopping - it's really not cheap here either!

We ate on board as Trevor had made a really good green curry with mahi-mahi (hot!) washed down with a few glasses of boxed red wine which took two glasses before it became remotely palatable, but we persevered - as you do!

I awoke with a start whilst snoozing in the saloon trying to read my book by Jean leaning over me trying to switch off the reading light by my head; I thought my luck was in, but as usual it was not the case so I went to bed instead.




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