Wednesday 4th August
Sailed back to Bora Bora where we all went snorkelling again before picking up a mooring at the Bora Bora Yacht club.
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| Anchorage north side of Tahaa. Huahini in Background. |
We hired a car and circumnavigated Bora Bora and we were amazed at the number of resorts . A few of these have closed down, including Club Med.
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| Cherie studying the local guide |
Dinner at Bloody Mary’s was an interesting experience. Patrons order their seafood from the fresh fish display as you enter the restaurant.
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| Hoisting the local coutesy flag |
Thursday was Cherie’s last day with us before flying out of Bora Bora for Brisbane via Papeete and Auckland.
Needless to say there were a few tears from Cyndy and Cherie after we took her to the wonderful airport in our new dinghy with a 15HP outboard. It was definitely “ride em cowboys” as we were bounced 2 ft off the sides of the dinghy in windy conditions. Cherie thankfully arrived dry which is more than can be said for Stephen and Cyndy. They were thankful that they were wearing their board shorts as they left a puddle under the table as they were having a farewell drink. It was wonderful to watch the gorgeous launches ferrying the guests to the 5/6 star resorts from the airport. It has to be one of the most gorgeous settings in the world.
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| Cherie leaving Bora Bora Airport |
We spent the next week catching up on chores on Salacia whilst meeting and socialising with the other cruisers at Bora Bora. We met lots of nice people. We visited Bloody Mary’s again with the crews from Nikita (Dave, Rae Anne, Jake and Isabel) and Liquid Courage (Don, Devin and Jen). We had a number of boats over for parties on Salacia during the week. We have met lots of nice people, including Chad and Brett off Broken Compass and Lee off Jagot. We also caught up with a number of other crews in a huge “pot luck” at the Yacht Club. My home-made bread was a great hit.
We also heard the news and gossip ......
· 57 foot Catamaran “ANA” over turned in 60 knots during a passage to Niue.
· 45 ft Catamaran “Troutbridge” dragged their anchor and ended up on the reef at Fatuava in the Tuamotus and is in Raiatea for repairs.
· 12 m Catamaran “Naomi” with a single hander aboard was 30 days overdue in a passage from the Marquises to Tuamotus but it thankfully turned up 3 days ago.
· A yacht with a couple aboard had a medical emergency when the wife had a stroke. It was too rough to airlift her so she was left aboard until he arrived at Papeete.
· A Panga flipped at the Lava tubes at Isabelle Island in the Galapagos with the crew of “Freedom” aboard.
When we did this trip out of Villimil we were concerned when the Panga Captain looked at the high surf breaks and decided where he was going to go through the break and “gunned” the powerful outboard motor and we surfed in on giant waves. The ride out again was even more hairy and we were literally dropped from a great height as we went across the back of the huge waves.
· “Restless”, who helped us search from our stolen dinghy and outboard, had an attempt of theft with their own dinghy. The Skipper heard a noise on a very windy night and got up and turned on the lights. When he went out onto the deck the dinghy, which was on davits at the stern of the yacht, was partially launched. ie one side of the dinghy and outboard had been lowered into the water and the other side was yet to be launched. A sharp knife that was lashed to the wheel was on the transom of the yacht and a winch handle was missing. So it certainly shows that you can’t be too careful, and reinforced our new practice of chaining the outboard to the dinghy, and the dinghy is padlocked to the stern of “Salacia” when we leave it in the water..
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| Stephen found the part he was looking for! |
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| Boa Bora with Ile Toopua in Background |
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| Sunset at Bora Bora Yacht Club |
Wednesday 11th August
oss and Dian Jones flew into Bora Bora and joined us on Salacia after spending a few days in Papeete. We took them on a tour of the island and had a lovely lunch at Restaurant St James.
Weather was unsettled so we waited for a better outlook for further touring. Ross and Di enjoyed the snorkelling and they also they also spent an afternoon cleaning the bottom of Salacia. Anyone who has rubbed down a boat on the hard will appreciate how hard it was for them to free dive while rubbing down the underwater areas of a 53 ft yacht. They thoroughly enjoyed making acquaintance with our friends.
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| Ross and Dian enjoing first meal at Bora Bora |
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| Ross and Dian giving Salacia a clean |
Saturday 14th August
We departed Bora Bora 0930 for Palmerston Island (660nm). This was not originally on our schedule but have heard so many positive comments regarding the hospitality of the locals that we decided to see for ourselves. Our plan is to visit Palmerston Island (Cook Islands) and Niue on route to Tonga.
Wind is 15-20 knots from ESE so we are looking forward to a pleasant sail. Cyndy prepared several evening meals before we left Bora Bora to keep galley time to a minimum as we reacclimatize ourselves to food preparation under way.
Salacia should arrive Palmerston Island on Wednesday.
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| Leaving Bora Bora |
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| Dian enjoying the sailing |
All for now.
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