Thursday 15th May
It’s really beautiful here, and although we’re definitely getting spoilt, the colours of the sea , coral gardens, fish, flowers, sunsets,( and locals!) still blow us away. As usual, we have breakfast while taking it all in then decide it’s a jobs morning. Ian cleans the transom, Stewy and Brian go off to get the fuel and Annie does a bit of boat work then cleans her shell collection. Stewy and Brian return frustrated – the fuel man still claims they don’t have the right paperwork for the duty free fuel - we’ll try again tomorrow. In the afternoon, Brian goes for an explore ashore, walking round the quiet end of the next bay north of the main village. While there he’s sure he meets the same dog that bit Paul from Into the Blue, but is prepared and snarls him out with a big stick! Ian, Stewy and Annie go across to one of the motus for a snorkel and explore but snorkelling disappointing and not what we’ve become used to – the coral is grey and there’s only a few interesting fish! Annie has a walk round the motu -a beautiful deserted palm fringed coastline – not a soul to be seen. Back to the boat where we decide to head down to Bloody Mary’s for tonight’s dinner. We phone ahead and book a table, then motor down enjoying the views. We anchor up - it’s busy and all the moorings are already taken.We enjoy the sunset before smartening ourselves up and heading ashore. The restaurant is buzzing and full of familiar faces – we meet Tallulah Ruby, Strega, Into the Blue and Andante of Mersey. We also meet a friend of Lil’s from Glasgow, Malcolm, who has nothing to do with the Arc and is out here on holiday! We start of with the famous bloody mary’s, choose our fish at the seafood bar and are later called to out table when it’s ready. It’s a superb meal – Ian treats everyone to a crew dinner. Afterwards, Stewy starts buying BMWs, there’s lots of mischief and shenanigans and getting home is a bit of a blur!
Friday 16th May
Slow to rise this morning – Annie jumps off the back of the boat a few times to wake up, Then Ian runs Brian and Annie ashore after breakfast as they’ve decided to walk the few miles back to the village. Annie has decided she’s on a fitness and diet spurt as a good pal at home has pointed out that the Jus Do It crew are getting bigger in each photo! Stewy and Ian are less than enthused by this new regime and agree they will motor up and meet the other two in the village. Annie and Brian power walk all the way apart from a stop at Alain and Linda’s Art gallery. It’s a worthwhile stop with many interesting sketches and paintings by local artists. Linda is a charming lady who is welcoming and explains some of the pictures – one of Papeete Harbour in 1960, unrecognisable from the way it is today. In the village, Stewy and Ian have already tied up at the harbour wall but are not in good form. While coming alongside, someone failed to catch the stern line, resulting in the bow scratching against the quayside. Ian’s upset ,but Brian, who we are discovering is a man of many talents, is confident he can repair it as good as new. We all treck to the nearest supermarket and stock up for the next part of the voyage. We’ve checked in the harbour office and they’re happy for us to spend a few days tied up on the dock. They’ve heard there’s some bad weather coming but no-one seems particularly concerned We had planned to head to Maupiti for a few days before setting off on the 450 miles to Rarotonga ( the Cook Islands) but reports are starting to come in of a depression coming through with strong winds and a big sea swell. As we’re beside Strega we start to discuss our various options and possible alternative routes – not many! Looks like we might have to stay here longer than planned – what a drag! There’s an Arc BBQ at Bora Bora Yacht Club tonight, so Jens, Johanna (Strega) , Brian and Annie all walk, (gathering a pack of stray dogs as they go!) and meet the others there. Most of the Arc fleet are there and there’s lots of chat, and conflicting reports about what the weather is going to do. It seems it may not be as bad as first predicted ,but nevertheless, everyone is concerned to secure a good spot for when it does arrive. Ian chats to local sailor, Captain Richard ,(who sailed here from the States in the 70’s and never left!) and gets some good advice. According to Richard, Maupiti is definitely not a good idea now unless we’re prepared to get stuck in there for a few weeks. He tells us the pass into Maupiti is OK 90% of the year but not after big winds, “ it’s kicked my ass a few times - don’t even attempt it now” – He tells us a few more horror stories to make sure we won’t be tempted!
Saturday 17th May
We rise to buzzing harbour life, children and families fishing off the quay, ferries to and from Maupiti and Papeete coming and going, local boats coming in and out the harbour collecting and delivering people and goods. We say goodbye to Val and Hugh from Blue Flier and wish them all the best as they leave, hopefully temporarily, for medical treatment for Hugh. Ian and Brian get on with repairing yesterday’s damage –the gelcoat repair. Annie finds some bugs in the rice and pasta so clears out a few food cupboards. Stewy and Brian go and get the duty free fuel.at last. We fill the water tanks, get a few more vittles, then decide to motor across to one of the recommended anchorages, at Pearl Beach Resort. There’s still no clear information regarding the weather although the start of the next Arc Leg to Suworrow has been delayed from Sunday until Tuesday . As we’re not doing that leg, heading to Rarotonga instead, we still have to decide on a departure time and route. We motor across the bay to the Bora Bora Yacht Club (approx 10 minutes) for the skippers briefing and farewell drinks party. We have few drinks with Captain Richard and pick his brain for more local information and advice. There are a couple of other islands we could visit en route but wind conditions would need to be
right or we won’t be able to anchor at all. We make a loose plan with Tallulah Ruby and Strega to sail in company to Rarotonga, departure time to be confirmed. The fleet is now almost evenly divided with half heading for Suworrow, the others to Rarotonga. It’s hard to know what to do for the best – they both sound wonderful in totally different ways!
Sunday 18th May
A great view of the much photographed Mounts Otamanu, Pahla and Matalhua. It’s easy to see why Cook called this island the “Pearl of the Pacific”, although now there are rather too many hotels and resorts for this spoilt crew who are becoming too used to having these crystal clear ,palm fringed lagoons to themselves!
Just so we don’t feel too hard done to, we enjoy a champagne breakfast as it’s Annie’s birthday. Jens and Johanna come over bearing gifts and birthday wishes and we plan to meet at the Bora Bora Hotel later, weather permitting. It looks as if the front may be on it’s way as there’s a lot of cloud around and more chop in the water. At our leisure, we motor south and anchor in the lea of Motu Toopua. There’s a few other boats here and it’s one of the anchorages recommended to us by Captain Richard. It’s not too deep so Ian’s happy we can get a good hold here with lots of chain down. While anchoring we watch the Maltese Falcon go by under full sail – quite a sight. Ian and Annie go for a snorkel on the reef where there’s dinghy moorings to tie onto. It a great snorkel with shoals of very colourful fish all around us and swimming right up to our masks – it’s obvious this is one of the spots where hotel guests are taken to come and feed the fish! We don’t feed them but hope there’s no big hungry one’s around as they’re certainly not scared of us! It’s a great snorkel and we decide to come back aqain tomorrow. Earlier we spoke to Cleonie who are meeting us at Hotel Bora Bora, the oldest on the island , so when we get home, we shower then up anchor (we’ve decided it’s too far by dinghy in the swell) and motor to a day anchorage just beside the hotel. We have a great afternoon with the 4 Cleonie crew, James, Chris, Will and Elizabeth,. It’s a perfect setting , and we lunch and enjoy a good wee session until it’s time to move back across to the motu. We give Cleonie a lift back to where they’re anchored in the lea of the motu. By this time Maltese Falcon has dropped anchor in the middle of the lagoon. They appear to have turned back – what weather reports have they heard we wonder?! At 5.30pm we head across to Tallulah Ruby who have invited us for sundowners – more birthday champagne & pressies – another lovely night. The wind’s starting to get up now so we head back to JDI3 for dinner, then go to bed. We’re not long down when TR calls – the wind’s up and we’re quite close. Looks like we’re going to have to do an anchor watch……..