July 21, 2012
We sailed over to Bora Bora from Raiatea. It's only 34 miles and the winds were blowing out of the NE at 15 kts so it was a fast passage. We left Raiatea at 0800 and took a mooring at the Bora Bora Yacht club at 1418 hrs.
I have been waiting to post my comments on Bora Bora until we had the chance to take the dinghy all the way around the island. The wind has been fresh and gusty so this wasn't possible until today: 30 July 2012.
Upon entering the island through Teavanui Pass one is immediately aware of the beautiful mountain that graces the western side of the island: Mount Pa'hia 2200 ft. On the eastern side is Mount 'Ote-manu which is 2400' ft. Both mountains are extinct volcanoes with colapsed craters in some places but beautiful peaks in others. I think that what makes them so majestic are the wonderful violet, mauve, and purple hues that grace them throughout the day as the sunlight dances around. The beautiful lush green that grows on the mountains are another fabulous sight to behold. Then one has the coconut palms and white sand to set it all off. Next is line beauty are the waters inside the lagoon. These change color form indigo blue to aquamarine, brown, black and purple and finally white. It just depends upon the make-up of the bottom: sand, coral, rock and seaweed. Bora Bora is hyped as one of the most beautiful islands in the South Pacific. Personally, I don't agree but it is awe inspiring in its colors.
The island has the best developed tourism and a very good international marketing team. It is an ideal place for the affluent tourist or honeymoon couple since it has all the water activities, hiking, diving with manta rays, bicycling, etc, etc. There is enough to keep one busy. The hotel resorts are luxurious and provide everything for their clients. The Four Seasons, Hilton, Meridian, St. Regis and a host of others have absolutely stunning Polynesian type bungalows with all the modern amenities. On the yachting side things are a little leaner but mooring are available as well as the possibility to anchor in the lee of beautiful motus. Transportation to restaurants can be arranged free of charge from the establishment. One of the most famous ones is "Bloody Mary's" and has hosted many of the famous movie stars and Sen. John McCain. Nothing too fancy but great food at reasonable prices.
Tomorrow or the next day we will set sail from here to Palmerston Atoll, Cook Isands: 662 nm. If the weather is decent we will take a mooring there for a few days before going continuing on to Niue.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Pictures of Bora Bora from our dinghy excursion. We tried to go all the way around but it got too windy and choppy so we had to turn around, but it was lovely anyway.
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| An outrigger following us with Mount Pa'hia and Mount Ote-manu. in the bay of Fa'anui. |
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| Outrigger out of the water. |
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| This how they dock their skiffs in very shallow water and reefs. |
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Church with a lagoon in front of it. |
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| Don driving the dinghy on our little excursion around the island. |
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| Catholic church in Vaitape, Bora Bora |
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| Cross in front of Saint Peter Church. |
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| Inside of church with beautiful stained glass with Mount Pa'hia in the back ground. |
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| Solstice at sunset taken from the Yacht Club where we are moored. |
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| Mount Pa'hia which we can look at it every day because we are moored right in front of it. |
Monday, July 23, 2012
I have tried to download some great pictures of the Heiva in Huahine but our my computer is not working well. I will add them at a later date.
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| The Heiva in Huahine. |
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| More of the Heiva. |
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| Men and Women. |
Saturday, July 21, 2012
RAIATEA, FRENCH POLYNESIA
July 17, 2012 Tuesday
We got our anchor at 0930 hrs and headed out the pass. The wind and seas have, finally, started to go down. The wind was out of the ENE at 15 kts with a 6' sea. The Valiant 40 can sail along at 6+ kts under reduced canvas. Today, we could have made 7+ kts by crowding on more sail but I like the easy paced sailing without worrying about punishing the rigging and sails. Unfortunately, our staysail is too small to really help us out. It will make a great "storm sail" but just doesn't have enough sail area for an efficient cutter rig. I believe I left the right one in the States buy accident. I'll correct the problem once we get to New Zealand or, maybe, before if I can find a cruizer that wants to sell a used one.
Raiatea is becoming a place for repairs and haul-outs. Many yachties leave their boats here for the remainder of the season and fly back to their respective countries. Our turbocharger on the Volvo Penta 2003T engine froze up so I had to change it out with a spare one we had onboard. Thank you, Dan Morris, for arranging all the spare parts that you knew that we might need!!
We found a berth at Chantier Naval de Raiatea on Wednesday 18 July and the following morning a very knowledgeable French mechanic came aboard at 0730 hrs and changed out the turbos in 3 hours. He was able to diagnose the problem with the old one and give me operating hints on using the spare. One of my operating problems is that I run the engine too slow for too long without allowing the turbo to kick in. The second big problem is that we have an engine driven refrigeration system. This necessitates starting the engine 3 times a day and running it for 40 minutes or more at a fast idle. It's not good for the engine and a "pain in the ass" on our part. It makes us slaves to the boat and the refrigeration system. Well, all that ended in Huahine when the cooling unit lost too much of its charge and ceased to cool. The unit is charged with Freon 12 which is no longer manufactured and only available in very limited quantities. There is none here in Raiatea and the refrigeration specialists don't want to work on tight cramped yachts. Problem solved: we've been freed from this atrocious system. The future refrigeration system will be DC Solar/Wind generator powered and keel cooled with the new Freon 134A.
The Volvo Penta 2003T is the original engine installed on "Solstice" in 1990. Until I bought the boat, she had not been used that much. She is still running well but there are signs that the rings have a little "blow by". At some point in time, a decision will have to be made to either rebuild the engine or re-power with a new Yanmar engine. The biggest problem with rebuilding the Volvo Penta is that they stopped making this engine in 1993. Parts are still available but becoming more scarce. The plus side is that the Volvo Penta fits in the engine room very nicely and gives some room for other components. The Yanmar is a bigger engine so a lot of engine-room space will be lost. The deciding factor will be what is cost effective in the long run. This engine could run for a long time into the future.
After visiting other islands in French Polynesia, Raiatea has nothing special other than good grocery shopping, limited supplies and the boatyards. Papeete would be the place to take on major repairs and get spare parts in a reasonable time frame.
Tomorrow we sail for Bora Bora, reputedly, one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The distance from Raiatea is only 34 nm so we don't have to leave too early to be there by early afternoon.
We got our anchor at 0930 hrs and headed out the pass. The wind and seas have, finally, started to go down. The wind was out of the ENE at 15 kts with a 6' sea. The Valiant 40 can sail along at 6+ kts under reduced canvas. Today, we could have made 7+ kts by crowding on more sail but I like the easy paced sailing without worrying about punishing the rigging and sails. Unfortunately, our staysail is too small to really help us out. It will make a great "storm sail" but just doesn't have enough sail area for an efficient cutter rig. I believe I left the right one in the States buy accident. I'll correct the problem once we get to New Zealand or, maybe, before if I can find a cruizer that wants to sell a used one.
Raiatea is becoming a place for repairs and haul-outs. Many yachties leave their boats here for the remainder of the season and fly back to their respective countries. Our turbocharger on the Volvo Penta 2003T engine froze up so I had to change it out with a spare one we had onboard. Thank you, Dan Morris, for arranging all the spare parts that you knew that we might need!!
We found a berth at Chantier Naval de Raiatea on Wednesday 18 July and the following morning a very knowledgeable French mechanic came aboard at 0730 hrs and changed out the turbos in 3 hours. He was able to diagnose the problem with the old one and give me operating hints on using the spare. One of my operating problems is that I run the engine too slow for too long without allowing the turbo to kick in. The second big problem is that we have an engine driven refrigeration system. This necessitates starting the engine 3 times a day and running it for 40 minutes or more at a fast idle. It's not good for the engine and a "pain in the ass" on our part. It makes us slaves to the boat and the refrigeration system. Well, all that ended in Huahine when the cooling unit lost too much of its charge and ceased to cool. The unit is charged with Freon 12 which is no longer manufactured and only available in very limited quantities. There is none here in Raiatea and the refrigeration specialists don't want to work on tight cramped yachts. Problem solved: we've been freed from this atrocious system. The future refrigeration system will be DC Solar/Wind generator powered and keel cooled with the new Freon 134A.
The Volvo Penta 2003T is the original engine installed on "Solstice" in 1990. Until I bought the boat, she had not been used that much. She is still running well but there are signs that the rings have a little "blow by". At some point in time, a decision will have to be made to either rebuild the engine or re-power with a new Yanmar engine. The biggest problem with rebuilding the Volvo Penta is that they stopped making this engine in 1993. Parts are still available but becoming more scarce. The plus side is that the Volvo Penta fits in the engine room very nicely and gives some room for other components. The Yanmar is a bigger engine so a lot of engine-room space will be lost. The deciding factor will be what is cost effective in the long run. This engine could run for a long time into the future.
After visiting other islands in French Polynesia, Raiatea has nothing special other than good grocery shopping, limited supplies and the boatyards. Papeete would be the place to take on major repairs and get spare parts in a reasonable time frame.
Tomorrow we sail for Bora Bora, reputedly, one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The distance from Raiatea is only 34 nm so we don't have to leave too early to be there by early afternoon.
HEIVA IN FARE, HUAHINE
July 15, 2012 Sunday
Tonight was the final wrap up of the "Heiva" dancing/singing contest between the many villages located on the island of Huahine. Each participating village sends their group to Fare to perform and be judged by a dedicated panel. I believe that they practice and rehearse throughout the year. The quality of the dancing and costumes are very good. We were lucky to have been in French Polynesia during this special time of festivities. In France they celebrate Bastille Day on July 14th. Here in French Polynesia they start a few weeks in advance and have a continuous celebration of various activities. In Papeete we saw the canoe outrigger races to Moorea. Huahine gave us the most beautiful experience of seeing the exciting "Tamure" dance. We would have liked to sail to more anchorages on this beautiful island but the wind has been non-stop blowing "seven bells of shit". The positive side of this has been that we are dug in and not dragging. I dove on the anchor and it is buried in sand. Even with the 45 kt gusts we are holding.
We will sail over to Raiatea on Tuesday 16 July 2012. The distance is only 25 nm so it won't take more that 5 hours to get there.
Tonight was the final wrap up of the "Heiva" dancing/singing contest between the many villages located on the island of Huahine. Each participating village sends their group to Fare to perform and be judged by a dedicated panel. I believe that they practice and rehearse throughout the year. The quality of the dancing and costumes are very good. We were lucky to have been in French Polynesia during this special time of festivities. In France they celebrate Bastille Day on July 14th. Here in French Polynesia they start a few weeks in advance and have a continuous celebration of various activities. In Papeete we saw the canoe outrigger races to Moorea. Huahine gave us the most beautiful experience of seeing the exciting "Tamure" dance. We would have liked to sail to more anchorages on this beautiful island but the wind has been non-stop blowing "seven bells of shit". The positive side of this has been that we are dug in and not dragging. I dove on the anchor and it is buried in sand. Even with the 45 kt gusts we are holding.
We will sail over to Raiatea on Tuesday 16 July 2012. The distance is only 25 nm so it won't take more that 5 hours to get there.
Monday, July 16, 2012
We went to a sing and tamure dance contest in Huahine and we will be witnessing the final results tonight July 15th
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| Singing comptition |
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| Add caption |
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| Tamure Group dances. |
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| Solo male dancer. |
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| Muscians accompanying the sole dancer. |
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| Student from Seattle Washington whom have learned the Tamure dance. |
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| Newer generation. |
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| Oldest generation, she 92 yrs old. |
FARE, HUAHINE-LEEWARD ISLANDS OF FRENCH POLYNESIA
July 10, 2012
We arrived early this morning at the anchorage of Fare, Huahine. The winds on the crossing from Moorea petered out so we had to motor for about 20 nm. There is a strong Depression forming to the South of us which will bring strong E'ly winds to our area over the next few days. Like all of the South Pacific islands we have seen, the approach to Huahine is beautiful.
July 11-15, 2012
It has been blowing a gale here over the last few days so we have been boat-bound. The strong E'ly winds from a depression to the South of us are reinforced by the mountains here in Fare. The result are gusts of wind exceeding 40 kts which shrieks through the rigging. Fortunately, we anchored in a good patch of sand in 25' of water so we were able to put out 150' of chain which is holding well. We have made a couple of forays into town for short periods of time. Fare is a charming small town with shops, restaurants and a very big supermarket which has about everything a cruiser needs.
Since July 14th is Bastile Day in France, French Polynesia has been celebrating the event with canoe racing, singing and dancing. Over the last few nights we have gone to the local stadium where, at long last, we have seen the TAMURE DANCING competitions. After viewing the beautifully sexually charged Tamure dancing by the men and women, I have an inkling of understanding why Scott and Kitty named their Valiant 40 "TAMURE". Does "Tamure" gyrate, weave and bob, roll and pitch it the arms of Neptune?
I have read a little about the Tamure dance which originated from the Upa Upa. Once the missionaries arrived, it was outlawed as being too sexually explicit. At the same time Tattooing was banned. What we see today is a sanitized version of the former dance. Tattooing is very much in vogue and many of the men and women wear them. Many of yachties have acquiesced getting a tattoo. This started in the Marquesas and continues in Tahiti and the Leeward islands of French Polynesia. The tattoos are black ink, without color and very well done. I have never seen one that I would care to wear for the rest of my life which gets shorter by the year.
We will be sailing over to Raiatea in the next few days. I would have liked to see more of Huahine but we are anxious to move on.
We arrived early this morning at the anchorage of Fare, Huahine. The winds on the crossing from Moorea petered out so we had to motor for about 20 nm. There is a strong Depression forming to the South of us which will bring strong E'ly winds to our area over the next few days. Like all of the South Pacific islands we have seen, the approach to Huahine is beautiful.
July 11-15, 2012
It has been blowing a gale here over the last few days so we have been boat-bound. The strong E'ly winds from a depression to the South of us are reinforced by the mountains here in Fare. The result are gusts of wind exceeding 40 kts which shrieks through the rigging. Fortunately, we anchored in a good patch of sand in 25' of water so we were able to put out 150' of chain which is holding well. We have made a couple of forays into town for short periods of time. Fare is a charming small town with shops, restaurants and a very big supermarket which has about everything a cruiser needs.
Since July 14th is Bastile Day in France, French Polynesia has been celebrating the event with canoe racing, singing and dancing. Over the last few nights we have gone to the local stadium where, at long last, we have seen the TAMURE DANCING competitions. After viewing the beautifully sexually charged Tamure dancing by the men and women, I have an inkling of understanding why Scott and Kitty named their Valiant 40 "TAMURE". Does "Tamure" gyrate, weave and bob, roll and pitch it the arms of Neptune?
I have read a little about the Tamure dance which originated from the Upa Upa. Once the missionaries arrived, it was outlawed as being too sexually explicit. At the same time Tattooing was banned. What we see today is a sanitized version of the former dance. Tattooing is very much in vogue and many of the men and women wear them. Many of yachties have acquiesced getting a tattoo. This started in the Marquesas and continues in Tahiti and the Leeward islands of French Polynesia. The tattoos are black ink, without color and very well done. I have never seen one that I would care to wear for the rest of my life which gets shorter by the year.
We will be sailing over to Raiatea in the next few days. I would have liked to see more of Huahine but we are anxious to move on.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moving from Robinson anchorage in Opunohu Bay to Cooks's Bay for a change in scenery for one night and then sailing of to Huahine ,an overnight trip. Will be here several days weathering out a strong weather system.
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| Phyllis boat bound after being bitten by dog. |
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| Coming into Cook's Bay. Change of scenery. |
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| Church not far from where we anchored . |
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| Cook's Bay |
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| More of Cook's Bay. |
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| Catching up to Adventure Bound on our way to Huahine |
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| Catholic Church in Huahine. |
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| Inside the Holy Family Church. |
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| The Baptismal Font. |
Papeete to Opunohu,Moorea and anchoring in Robinson Bay
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| Opunohu Bay |
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| The village of Opunohu Bay |
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| Our friends on Adventure Bound waiting for us |
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| Beautiful view of the mountains. |
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| More of Opunohu Bay |
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| The beautiful Robinson Bay where we anchored |
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| More of Robinson Bay |
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| Hope I'm not boring you, these mountains were just so beautiful. |
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| Change of senery, We went to watch a group of dancers and drummers at the Bali Hai Hotel at Cooks Bay |
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| Beautiful bird |
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| Goldfish pond at the Hilton Hotel |
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| Fan shape palm tree, very unusual. |
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