May 6, 2018
When one pictures a South Pacific Island, any one of the Society Islands will fit the frame. Tahiti, Mo’orea, BoraBora, Raiatea, Huahine, Taha’a are all mountainous, lush and dramatic with turquoise water, reefs and waterfalls. Alora arrived from the Tuamotus after a 30 hour sail to Opunohu Bay in Mo’orea, where Mutiny on the Bounty was filmed and I am sure any other film requiring South Pacific scenery.
We spent a few days there with some other WARC boats and then moved to Cooks Bay for a day or two to tour the island and celebrate Steve’s birthday.
On to Pape’ete in Tahiti for a taste of the biggest city in French Polynesia, where you can get pretty much anything for the boat and the crew…except internet, of course. We sampled the local cuisine in several restaurants, provisioned at the marvelous Carrefour and moved on to Raiatea, the spiritual center of the Society Islands with a sister island Taha’a, known for vanilla farming, in the same reef.
A dive on a wreck literally at the lands edge and another just outside the reef was the opening act of a week of deserted anchorages in beautiful bays in Raiatea and Taha’a. A dinghy ride up a river, a visit to the Marae Taputapuatea, the biggest in all of French Polynesia and a magical drift snorkel in the Coral Gardens on Taha’a were some of the highlights of our time sailing these storied islands.
Our new crew, Brian and Shelley Stork arrive tomorrow and sadly, Dan and Debby Hoyt, who have been aboard since end of January, will leave in a few days. I, for one, will seriously miss them as Dan does everything that I, as so-called first mate, will now be required to do!
When you spend every day for three months with people it is a big change when they leave. We hope they will return in the Fall or Winter to continue the adventure and make my life easy again!
L.Stel