To Mopelia

May 1! (Hurray, Hurray, It's the first of May, eh JOE!?)

An early morning start as we prepared to set sail for Mopelia - about 100
miles west of us. This would be a full 24 hour sail for us, so we prepared
the boat, and ourselves for a long day and night on the water.

After taking on ths supplies that we were delivering to Hina, some water
from the docks, and a quick snorkel we set off across the lagoon.

It was our first overnight passage in many months, and we were pleased that
the weather gods were kind to us. We were making great speed, and were very
comfortable with only about 1 meter or so of ocean swell, and no wind waves
to speak of. During the night, we had a couple short squally patches, that
encouraged us to reef in main and genoa, but we were doing well.
Unfortunately, the wind moved to a more northerly direction, and we found
ourselves tacking into the wind. Yuck. But since we had made such good time,
it wasn't a problem, and we found ourselves outside of the pass, and the
best time of day for visibility, just before noon.

WHAM...a fish hit our rod, and all hands were on deck as we prepared for
sushi dinner! It was a strong fish, and John grunted while reeling it in.
Finally we were able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful silver tuna that
had been fighting so hard. Unfortunately, it was HUGE. Much bigger than we
could eat. And more than we could keep in our new little fridge/freezer. And
we didn't know if Hina had any refridgeration or freezer capacity on the
island. We decided to let it go. In my mind, it really was the fish of a
lifetime. A big beautiful tuna. For the rest of the afternoon, we consoled
ourselves with little statements like: "It was so big, it must have had a
lot of mercury build-up" or this classic "I'm sure it was ok, it swam away
so quickly" and of course, "it would have been a shame to waste it". Sure,
our spagetti was good...but oh...sushi...

But...back to the story. After freeing nemo, we did a couple of drive-bys in
front of the pass. It didn't look good. The pass was VERY narrow. Shallow
coral on each side. No room to turn around if it wasn't going well. The
outgoing current was obvious. The NW ocean swell was directed directly into
the pass. Swell against current = standing waves. Yuck.

But, we had this lady's food!

And so we went. Anchor ready. Yet, it was fine. We've been through much
worse. But at one point we were only making two knots of progress, with our
engine pinned! We had over 4 knots of current pushing against us.

But, we are here, and have anchored in a tropical remote wilderness. Hina
lives here on her own, and there is one couple living at the other end of
the island. They are all copra (coconut) farmers. At one time they also
farmed pearls, but this lagoon did not produce great quality pearls, and
they now rely solely on the copra. They receive supplies by sailboats, like
us, and on the ship that comes to collect their copra (every three months).
Pretty quiety life.

After a good night's rest, we'll do some exporing tomorrow, and Hina has
offered to take us lobster fishing!! HURRAY!

To The Top!!

We decided to hike up to Mt. Teurafaatiu (380m). Not for the weak-hearted
(me), nor the unfit (me), nor the sandle-wearing tourist (me). Ha. But, we
huffed and puffed our way to the top and were rewarded with amazing
almost-360-degree views. What a stunner. We sat on the volcanic rock and
took in the views of the lagoon with our boat settled in the crystal clear,
azure waters, surrounded with small islands surrounding the main island, and
the coral reefs that dot the lagoon. I took a million photos and a video,
but those will have to wait until we reach the land of internet.

Renova: supply ship!

John waits with the locals for his turn at the water tap.

Another fabulous day on the beautiful Maupiti. We've now left the land of
plentiful internet, and are relying our on sat phone, so photos will be more
selective. We wish we could show you the enticing scenery that surrounds us.

In any case, John had an interesting encounter this morning. Of course, this
island of 1000 are all very familiar with who we are already! We are the
only non-charter boat here, and we're proudly flying our Canadian flag. But,
I suspect the main reason that the locals may recognize us is our dinghy. We
come to shore in a rarely seen hard dinghy (not the inflatable that most
cruisers have - smartly so, I might add). And then we go to some lengths to
tie it to the concrete dock, but so that it will not touch the dock. And
maybe the ancient outboard is also somewhat noteworthy. In any case. They
know who we are when we walk through town. So....that is a long way of
getting to this story. As John did an early morning run to the store to grab
a fresh baguette for our breakfast, a lady stopped him and said that she had
heard we may be going to Mopelia, and would we be willing to take some
supplies with us for her family member that was living there.
Hmmm...What to do. We've heard Mopelia has the trickiest entrance into the
lagoon in all of French Polynesia. We were willing to go and check it out.
But we didn't want to be committed, if the conditions didn't look
appropriate. And they rarely are. We think about it, and talk about it,
while we enjoy our day...
In the early evening, we returned to the kind lady's house, and told her son
we would take the supplies, but they must understand that we may not be able
to enter the atoll. That was fine, and we arranged to pick up the goods the
next morning.

Paradise Found

We are now at Maupiti. It is a small island to the west of Bora Bora, and
tourism hasn't quite reached here yet! Although the narrow pass into the
lagoon looked shocking at first (big surfable breakers on each side of the
entrance), it was very well marked, and an easy trip into the lagoon.
And...what a paradise we found inside!!

We dropped our hook between numerous bommies (coral heads) in about 25 feet
of water, and quickly jumped in to explore the coral surrounding us. We
first took the dinghy to the beach to find a beautiful sand and coral beach.
Then, we explored the coral surrounding the boat, and found more fish than
we'd seen in all the Society Islands. My ID skills are weak, but even I
could identify several butterflyfish, the moorish idol, trumpet fish,
triggerfish, surgeonfish, wrasse, parrotfish, angelfish, and forceps fish
(one of my favs). But the big treat was a HUMONGOUS moray eel. I don't know
which species. All I can tell you is that it was big enough to make me gasp
into my snorkel and quickly rise to the surface!

Today we went to town, where a lady rented us two bicycles, and we toured
around the island. We found it to be a peaceful, idyllic paradise. School
children playing soccer were barefoot, or wearing flip flops. Tahitian was
the language we heard most often, instead of the french we're so used to
hearing. Everyone was so friendly, shouting 'Ia orana' (hello) from their
front porches as we rode past.

Tomorrow...we'll hike to the top of the mountain.

Our current position: 016 27.15 S, 152 14.84 W

[labels: french polynesia, sightseeing, Maupiti, fish]

Casse Croute

I can't recall if we've discussed this Polynesian specialty before. I
thought my foodie friends may enjoy this. So...this is the ubiquitous burger
of the south seas. It is simply a half baguette with yummy fillings. You
remember... A baguette is a meter long. So a half baguette is no subway foot
long, I'll tell you! Anyway, I digress. You have many options for fillings.
Poulet frites is a favorite. Also fried fish with fries - yum. Tuna with
fries. Even steak or pork with fries. As a matter of fact, I've yet to meet
a casse-croute that I don't like.

I have to admit that receiving the fries IN my sandwich, instead of BESIDE
my sandwich took me by surprise. But it is yummy. No complaints here.
And...if I say so myself...I consider myself a bit of an aficionado of
French fries. I mean, let's be realistic. It's not like it came from FRITZ
on Robson Street, but these are pretty good. And cheap too. $2 or $3 for a
half baguette. And EVERYONE around here eats them.

Paradise Found

We are now at Maupiti. It is a small island to the west of Bora Bora, and
tourism hasn't quite reached here yet! Although the narrow pass into the
lagoon looked shocking at first (big surfable breakers on each side of the
entrance), it was very well marked, and an easy trip into the lagoon.
And...what a paradise we found inside!!

We dropped our hook between numerous bommies (coral heads) in about 25 feet
of water, and quickly jumped in to explore the coral surrounding us. We
first took the dinghy to the beach to find a beautiful sand and coral beach.
Then, we explored the coral surrounding the boat, and found more fish than
we'd seen in all the Society Islands. My ID skills are weak, but even I
could identify several butterflyfish, the moorish idol, trumpet fish,
triggerfish, surgeonfish, wrasse, parrotfish, angelfish, and forceps fish
(one of my favs). But the big treat was a HUMONGOUS moray eel. I don't know
which species. All I can tell you is that it was big enough to make me gasp
into my snorkel and quickly rise to the surface!

Today we went to town, where a lady rented us two bicycles, and we toured
around the island. We found it to be a peaceful, idyllic paradise. School
children playing soccer were barefoot, or wearing flip flops. Tahitian was
the language we heard most often, instead of the french we're so used to
hearing. Everyone was so friendly, shouting 'Ia orana' (hello) from their
front porches as we rode past.

Tomorrow...we'll hike to the top of the mountain.

Our current position: 016 27.15 S, 152 14.84 W

[labels: french polynesia, sightseeing, Maupiti, fish]

For Your Screensaver

Well, not really useful for your office screensaver, since these images have
to be reduced to mini-pics, but at least you get a glimpse into our
surroundings here.

Leaving Bora

April 26 - Well, the time has finally come to move on. We've been here for
almost two weeks, and we're ready. Although we checked out of the country
today, we may stop in at Maupiti, if weather permits. It is only 40 miles
away, and supposed to be a beautiful atoll, off the beaten path. Wonderful.

A recent lack of blog posts could indicate we've been too busy having fun,
or we've been too mellow to have anything interesting to write about. Well,
both is true. We've been pretty slow-moving these days. But we have managed
to explore some of the island and lagoon.

Here's a quick summary:

Lots of time at the west lagoon: swimming with rays and sharks, several
trips into town to shop and organize officialdom, visiting the well-stocked
marine chandelry, exploring local beaches, hiking, eating casse-croutes, and
enjoying many sundowners with Lady Meg and Australia 31.

A few days on the east lagoon: exploring coral reefs (requiring a new prop
shear pin for the impeller - oops), snorkelling, bird watching (kinda),
shell-collecting, beach-combing, hair cutting, and so on.

We also had a crazy rain storm last night, filling our water tanks, and
keeping us awake for most of the night! But the sand bottom of the lagoon
provides great holding for our anchor, so we didn't budge.

And of course, lots of boat projects. After we leave Maupiti, we're heading
for the Cook Islands, where we expect to make landfall at a deserted island
700 miles away. We'll be at sea for a week, so we've been preparing Renova
and her crew for her first passage in quite some time!

Labels: BoraBora, French Polynesia, cruisers, sightseeing, departure

Catching Up

Well, life catches up to us, even in paradise. Today I decided to sit tight,
and take care of some internet chores - submit my HST return, pay a few
bills, and look into our airline ticket refund. Since we have lighting fast
internet here (weird), I decided that this is as good a time as any. Most
things went well.

Here's my favorite part: While I called the airline (via gmail), and waited
patiently on hold...I took advantage of the down time, and loaded up a heap
of blogs that I don't normally get the pleasure to read, since our internet
time is pay as you go around here. I was thrilled to learn of our cruising
friends who have had a safe passage to the Marquesas, or who are almost
there!! (Ceileih, Adios, Southern Cross) and to get a glimpse into the
awesome blogs of friends [sonseastars.wordpress.com] - congrats! Now...if
only I can convince Mark [52weeks52eats.blogspot.com] to cook up a dish that
is made entirely from canned goods. No fresh ingredients, and a limited
spice cabinet. A challenge to you, my friend!!

Here's my least favorite part: the airline didn't receive the fax I sent two
days ago. The same fax that cost about $42 dollars to send 6 pages. Hmpf.
Since they are holding my $3200 hostage, I didn't feel as though we had a
lot of options. Still - just a bit disappointing.

Camera woes

Well, we have bad news on the camera front. I dropped the camera yesterday,
and broke the lens. It was our work-horse lens. The go-anywhere, wide range,
kind of lens. We now have only our super zoom lens. Oh dear. Needless to
say, the captain has relieved me from camera duty. And, if that wasn't
enough. Our little computer does not seem to want to read our SD cards. So
even though I can still take photos with our little camera, I can't seem to
upload them onto our the computer. Bleh. So...that is a long way of
saying...we have no photos for today's blog.

SO... In your mind's eye. Imagine. Cereleun blue lagoon. Lots of wee
fishies. Locals paddling their va'a (outrigger canoes) through the
anchorage. Oh yeah...about 5 charter boats that have anchored within 100 ft
of us. REALLY? In this HUGE space. Oh well. It normally wouldn't be so bad.
But since some french guy made a joke to John yesterday about Canadians who
only speak one language, our intrepid captain is pretty ticked off by anyone
hailing from the land of wine and cheese. In fact, John tells me that he
responded with a bit of german, with a touch of international sign language
to amp up the classiness factor.

On a side note, my french is getting better. I seem to be able to have a
very basic conversation, and ask for the things we need. Sadly, when the
locals answer me too quickly and I give myself away with that look of *DUH*
on my face, they usually switch to english, foiling any hopes I may have had
to use them as my practice victims. Even though we're almost moving on from
this french-speaking country, I continue to torture John with my daily
morning podcast of coffee break french.

We continue our leisurely circumnavigation of this island. We have noticed
that huge resorts have sprung up here in recent years...since the
publication of our guide books. Sadly, most of them are almost empty, as
tourism numbers are very depressed. The tour boats we see are almost private
cruises, and huge resorts have only a couple people on the beach or lounging
on their lagoon balconies.

Yet, we still revel in our cleverness in being able to anchor in a beautiful
lagoon, shared with a huge resort hotel, and enjoy the same snorkelling and
swimming, yet escape from the $500/night price tag.

We are currently anchored in about 12 feet of water at 016 31.98S, 151
42.32W.