02 June 2024
Where am I?
Latitude: 16°36.2 S
Longitude: 151°33.4 W
How is the weather?
Soft South Seas breezes, warm days and cool evenings – the climate is even more perfect than in the Caribbean!
What am I feeling?
Very relaxed and at peace. How could it be otherwise in such spectacular surroundings?
What has happened this week?
We departed Cook’s Bay, Moorea last Monday early evening and sailed overnight to anchor off Fare Village, Huahine – about 90 miles. It was a fine sail and we timed our entrance to the lagoon perfectly, arriving at sunrise. After a couple of days there, we motored south to Avea Bay and picked up a mooring ball. It was a very peaceful anchorage with a few yachts there, including Poco Loco and Tir Na Nog, which are participating in the Oyster World Rally. From there, back to Fare Village to do some (very expensive!) reprovisioning at the surprisingly good Super U. It’s not easy getting used to paying $80 for a bottle of gin!
From Huahine, we motor-sailed west to enter the Raiatea/Tahaa lagoon around noon and motored up to our anchorage for the night on the western side of Tahaa, just inside the reef, where I write this blog. From here, it is a short hop to Bora Bora, very prominent to the west – we head there tomorrow.
The Society Islands, named for the Royal Society by Captain Cook, are astoundingly beautiful and it’s not surprising that sailors through the ages have been beguiled by them – if Odysseus had come here from Troy, Penelope would still be knitting! The sky is deep azure, fading to a delicate egg shell blue where it meets the sea. The colour of the sea too is stunning – deep, deep blue banded by sparkling pale green where the water shallows near the reef. The high, jagged islands are softened with a cloak of emerald green and the clarity of the air is astonishing. One could spend many months here, sailing from island to island and anchorage to anchorage. The elections in India and Mexico and the febrile state of UK politics all seem inconsequential and literally a world away.
We arrive in Bora Bora tomorrow and will be there until we clear out of French Polynesia around 15th June when we head out on the 1,200 mile voyage to Tonga. Thence to Fiji, Vanuatu and Australia.
Meanwhile, boat maintenance continues – I’ve spliced up a new anchor chain snubber, lock whipped a lot of lines and made up a number of pulls for shackles. I still have two maintenance jobs that need to be done. I need a new CommandMic for my iCom VHF radio – the existing one has pretty much given up the ghost. And I need to replace my anchor chain counter which is defunct. My cousin, Andrew, will bring a new CommandMic to Fiji while I have a spare for the chain counter on board. As replacing these involves removing the front panel of my binnacle to access the wiring behind it, then replacing and resealing the front panel, I will do both jobs in Fiji. Otherwise, everything is shipshape for the final legs of our Pacific adventure!
Fujin out!
Sounds idyllic. Hope you find a favourable wind on the leg to Tonga. I am committed to do some hill walking in the next day or two which should be fun, the high tops in the Cairngorms have just had some snow and the wind chill factor has been down to minus 10c!!
Best wishes to all.
Haha Barrie, you take care of the northern hemisphere and I’ll take care of the southern!! After years at school there, the Scottish Highlands will forever be in my heart but I’ve been seduced by the sailing in the Tropics!
It looks great Stuart and glad to see it’s going well. Tahiti has been on the bucket list for a very long time but it’s a little off the beaten track – unless you’re sailing past, of course. Good luck and enjoying the updates.
Thanks David – it’s been a great trip so far! You should come – it’s special place, as are so many of the islands in the South Pacific!