SVMagenta Ship's Log

The Sailing is Great!

Our second day offshore has been terrific. About 20 kts wind from the northeast pushing us along on our westerly course. We motored out of the pass at Bora Bora, and haven't touched the engine since in about 150 miles.

Offshore Again!

We left Bora Bora about noon today, and are now about 50 miles west. The first day offshore is always a bit difficult, especially when it has been awhile. But all is well, and we're doing fine.

Au Revoir, French Polynesia!

It has been almost exactly a year since we sailed from Mexico to French Polynesia. During our stay here, we have seen lots of beautiful scenery, made new friends, and met interesting people from all over the world. This website has recent posts and picture albums from Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora.

But we are nearing the end of our visa in French Polynesia, and it is time to move on to new adventures. Our next major destination will be the islands in the Kingdom of Tonga, about 1,200 miles to the west of Bora Bora. Along the way we plan to stop at several of the Cook Islands, but at this point we don't know which ones for sure. We will just head west, and do whatever is best with the wind and weather we encounter. As usual we will not have internet access, but will try to post regular updates on this website using our HF radio. You can keep track of where we are using the Latest Position link on the home page of this website. Try zooming in and out using the map, satellite, and hybrid views to get a different look at the islands we visit. Of course, when we are offshore, it will mostly just be blue.

Bora Bora

Bora Bora is called the 'Pearl of the Pacific', and is truly one of the most beautiful islands in the world. There are lots of aerial photos of the island on the internet, and we had one for inspiration on our fridge at home for the past ten years.  The island has a dramatic mountain in the centre, and the outer ring is a circular coral reef with the ocean breaking in huge white spray.  Between the mountain in the middle and the coral reef is a quiet, clear, turquoise lagoon.  As with Tahaa, the best anchorages seem to be on the outside of the lagoon in clear water over white sand.  It is truly spectacular.

The downside to Bora Bora is all the tourists, water taxis, hotels, and other commercial activity.  But we have stayed completely away from that.  In fact there have only been one or two other sailboats in the anchorages with us.

 

Tahaa

The next French Polynesian island was Tahaa (pronounced tah-ha-ah).  It is right beside Raiatea, within the same circular coral reef.  The blue lagoons are so large that it is possible to sail rather than motor to most places on the island.  Actually, we found the outer lagoon by the reef to be the best anchorages, as the snorkeling was fabulous.  Each night we anchored in about 15 feet over white sand bottom, so the anchor and chain were clearly visible at all times.  We also visited the quiet little village of Patio at the north end of the island.  We had lunch in a nice little restaurant, and afterwards Maryse, the owner, asked us if we would like to come to her house and get some bananas.  We did that, as well as a visit to a black pearl farm, and met some of her granddaughters.  We also had dinner with our Texas friends Jon and Madeline at the fancy resort they were staying at.  All in all, we found Tahaa very friendly and easy to navigate.

Raiatea

Raiatea is a large island completely surrounded by a coral reef.  We anchored for a few days in a large bay that was so long it went about 1/2 way through the island.  At the end of the bay was a long river that could be traveled over a mile by dinghy and outboard.  It was a lush plantation with all the South Pacific fruits - bananas, papayas, pamplemouse (grapefruit), lyche nuts, coconut palms, and an amazing display of tropical vegetation and flowers. In most places the vegetation was growing into and overhanging the river.

The neat part of this river story was our guide.  When we anchored on our first afternoon he showed up at our boat on an old beaten-up sailboard, with an old broken paddle, and balanced on a loose metal seat.  He asked if we wanted a tour of the river plantation and botanical gardens. So the next morning we met 'James', and he spent the day with us.   He explained what we were seeing, climbed palm trees for coconuts, hacked down bunches of bananas and leeche nuts, and generally made it a wonderful experience.

We spent the next few days anchored beside a deserted island at the south end of the lagoon. We knew it was named 'Tabu Island', because there were several signs telling us the name. The water was warm and clear, and we spent most of our time swimming and just doing nothing.  We found out later that cruisers call this particular area ‘The Bathtub’.  On the second day a couple from Texas came to the anchorage on a charter boat.  They had done some offshore sailing, so it was fun swapping sailing stories with them.

From Huahine to Raiatea and Tahaa

The passage from Huahine to Raiatea was only 20 miles, and fairly easy.  The waves were 10-12 feet, but about 12 seconds apart, so it was pretty smooth.  Raiatea and Tahaa are separate islands enclosed within the same circular reef.  The lagoons inside the reef are very large, like a big flat lake with no ocean swell.  There will be lots of places on these islands to explore.

Huahine

Our three days on the island of Huahine were bittersweet, as there was a lot of rain.  In fact, all of this part of the South Pacific is covered by a large frontal system that is supposed to last for a another week or so.  We anchored in Avea Bay, and then outside the main town of Fare.  While in Avea Bay we had dinner at a great restaurant with Steve and Portia from Dream Caper, and a group of seven Americans who were there for ten days on a charter boat.  Lots of laughs and good food.

From Moorea to Huahine

We left Moorea at 5pm two days ago for the 85 mile overnight passage to the island of Huanine. We chose that time so we would be sure to arrive during daylight hours. It was a lousy passage. First there were big waves and no wind, so we were bounced around a lot. Then the wind came up, but from the wrong direction. Finally, about 2am the wind shifted to the east, and we had three hours of good sailing. As we approached Huahine the swells were very big. The island is completely encircled by a coral reef (except for four passes), and the sight of the ocean breaking on the reef was truly spectacular. It is amazing how the reef can withstand that constant pounding. Our original plan was to enter the lagoon through a pass on the east side of Huahine, but with the big swells, we opted for the safer pass on the leeward west side. Inside the water changes from the deep blue of the ocean to the familiar turquoise of the lagoon, as the surf pounds the reef into a white sand bottom. We followed the lagoon for about 6 miles along a well marked channel to a very pretty anchorage called Avae Bay at the south end of the island.

Today it rained really hard all day. Although we missed the usual sunshine, we put up our rain catcher awning and filled the water tanks with over 30 gallons. Actually it was kind of nice to do nothing all day. Tomorrow we will take the dinghy to shore and have a look around. There is no internet availability where we are, so this post is being sent by HF radio.