French Polynesia to Fiji
31st August 2007 ~ Leanne Ray
Moorea
Moorea remains one of the nicest islands in French Polynesia. For whatever reason, it has been slow to develop and was the last of the Leeward Islands to get electricity. The anchorages are adjacent to the passes at Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay and are some of the nicest with clearwater, sandy bottom and particularly unusual in French Polynesia – not too deep. A little west of Opunohu Bay is one of the highlights of anyone’s cruise in Moorea. Here the tourists get to swim with the nearly tame stingrays. These have been handfed by tour boat operators. Fifteen to twenty large stingrays arrive at the sound of the dinghies outboard motor over a sandbank approximately one meter deep. Used to being handfed, they are not the least bit shy snuggling up to swimmers. You’ll be able to see from the photographs how they envelop the children. It was a bit disconcerting initially particularly hand feeding when you are just as likely to get your fingers in their mouths as fish tidbits. Of course stingrays have had some bad publicity recently and that doesn’t help. This experience features on a lot of postcards from Moorea.
In Moorea we got to know well-known Whangarei yachtsman Boyd Smith and his family. Boyd is in the process of delivering his new Beneteau 50 'Young at Heart' which he collected in Panama.
Raiatea
After Moorea we sailed overnight to Raiatea bypassing Huahine. The anti-fouling on the boat, which is the self eroding type, was almost completely gone, not surprising after 8,000 miles in the Atlantic and Pacific. There was a little shipyard on the west side of Raiatea which pulled us out in a trolley a couple of hours after our arrival. At $650 NZ the haul out fees were pretty reasonable but the paint at $100/litre was a bit eye watering. When we discovered a large rat in the shipyard toilet/showers, which wasn’t going to vacate until threatened with a broom handle, Leanne and the girls decided staying on the boat was not a good idea. They promptly booked into a charming B&B overlooking the channel between Raiatea and Tahaa, three or four miles to the north. Run by a German yachtsman it had a swimming pool that the kids were very happy about, keeping them fully occupied, while Tony got on with the business of sanding and painting the boat. The boatyard has picked up on Henry Fords paint specification for the Model T. You can have any colour as long as it is black. We all quite like the result so the change is likely to be permanent.
Back in the water we did a circuit of Tahaa which included a lovely dinner at the Taravana Yacht Club and a tour of the local pearl farm. The food and entertainment in French Polynesia is first class but so is the price.
Bora Bora
Next stop Bora Bora the most famous island in French Polynesia. It is the one that seems to feature in all the tourist brochures but it is probably not any more photogenic than Moorea. It was a nice place when Tony visited in 1978 and it is still a nice place. There are a couple of watering holes which have sprung up since, The Bora Bora Yacht Club and Bloody Mary's are magnets for the cruising boats. The latter attracts all the stars and has a Hall of Fame outside. The girls were happy to pick out the names of the younger set. Leanne knew some of the more middle aged stars and Tony knew all the old ones – like Rod Stewart. We turned up in the sand floor bar asking for coffee at 10 o’clock in the morning and were politely informed that it was a bar not a coffee shop. For all of that it was a nice place and not at all pretentious.
The anchorages off both the Bora Bora Yacht Club and Bloody Mary's are very deep and half an hour walk from the centre of town. The second problem we solved by hitch hiking – remarkably easy in the circumstances given that we traveled as a family of four. There is no 'Truck' (the open-sided budget transport we find in Papeete) so all the locals seem to treat giving rides to visitors as a public service. On more than one occasion we had people pick us up and go completely out of their way to take us back to the boat. The first problem namely the deep anchorages was solved by moving or picking up a mooring buoy if you could get one or moving to the anchorage on the west side of the motu Tuapua which is inside the main lagoon just to the right of the pass. Here you can anchor in 10 meters on sand completely protected from the easterly trades. We spent several days here in the company of two kiwi owned Peterson 44’s Sojourner and Southern Cross from Picton and Napier respectively. Joyce off Sojourner was very kind and shared with Sophie the secrets of her hobby patchwork quilting. Sophie has since produced a very nice baby’s quilt for friends. It is a remarkably good first effort – all hand stitched. Cedric and his family on Southern Cross had collected their boat from Seattle. They were very kind and entertained us on several occasions. When Cedric’s sister flew in from Los Angeles she brought with her a copy of Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows within a few days of its release which Cedric’s daughter Paige made available on loan.
Because we liked it so much we stayed in Bora Bora longer than first planned. The US built a navy base on Bora Bora in 1942 including the present airfield. They also fortified the place and the remains of two of the guns overlook the pass through the reef. We climbed the hill, a bit of a boggy walk to look at them. The view over the lagoon was worth the climb.
The Shangri La boys arrived and managed to get a gig at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. They were joined by Alan off Sojourner who is a classical flautist but was just as happy playing Folk Rock with the boys. Sophie joined in singing back up vocals. The place was packed. The next night when Leanne and I went in for a drink it was empty. At $NZ50 for two drinks it was a compliment to the Shangri La boys that such a large number of crew from cruising boats came along to enjoy their music. Leanne ensures me the pina colada was worth every cent.
American Samoa
We sailed for Pago Pago in American Samoa eight nights away, the longest trip that Leanne and myself had done by ourselves. Our reasons for going were two-fold: to visit Leanne’s cousins Graham and Jan Stubbs who live there and to catch up with Leanne’s mum Nadine who was to fly in for a 10 day holiday. The trip was uneventful and Graham and Jan were wonderful hosts. It was also great to catch up with Nadine after two and a half years. Unfortunately the harbour at Pago Pago is less than salubrious and the holding is terrible. This combined with the fact that our visit coincided with a spell of strong winds meant Tony had long periods on the boat. The girls however had a great time being spoilt, shopping and eating up large on Jan’s fabulous cooking.
Niuatoputapu
Heading for Savu Savu in Fiji a small deviation from the straight line takes you to the small Tongan island of Nuietoputapu. We spent six days on this remote island where they do not have electricity and cook on open fires. The supply boat only comes once every two months and there is currently no air service. People couldn’t be friendlier. There were six boats there at the time and Sia who goes out of her way to welcome visitors organized an umu or hangi for us. The kids enjoyed a morning swimming in the local freshwater springs followed by a walk at low tide to a small motu where they made a secret hideout.
We are now in Savu Savu, Fiji preparing to sail down to Musket Cove for Regatta Week.
