August 4, 1998- Wandering Aimlessly Through the Societies

Part 1

One night in Papeete as I sat in the cabin with a cold Hinano beer contemplating a chart of the Society Islands. I asked Judy, “Which islands do you want to stop at; there are six”, and I listed them: “Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and Maupiti”. We were already at Tahiti, so there were six more.

“All of them” She answered, without hesitation.

Maybe it surprised me; we’d been skipping along pretty fast since we hit Polynesia, stopping only here and there, but I accepted it. She wants to stop at all of them, we’ll stop at all of them.

In the end we skipped Maupiti; after getting hung up at Huahine and Bora Bora we had to in order to make it to Fiji for the Musket Cove Regatta by early September. Still visiting the other five was a decently thorough tour of the Societies.

“I guess we’d better get going in a day or two then”, I answered, and I started to plan an itinerary.

Moorea.

A couple of days later we cast off our shore lines and stood out of the pass, bound for Opunoho Bay, on Moorea, 35 miles away. It felt good to be at sea again, reaching across the SE Trades, rising and falling in the heavy pacific swell. That same afternoon we were anchored in Robinson's Cove, with stern lines ashore, next to our friends on Annapurna, and looking out our hatch at Mt Tohiea’s famous profile. The place looked and felt like the movie set for South Pacific. It was.

It was fun to hook up with Buddy and Ruth on Annapurna. We’d sailed with them in Mexico, including that long hot, summer in the Sea of Cortez, and crossed the Pacific the same month, so we hung out with them for a few days exploring Moorea.

A dingy ride out to the reef quickly revealed that the coral was mostly dead and bleached, and there were no fish. We found ourselves taking walks around Opunoho Bay’s shoreline instead of going diving, seeing native homes and meeting natives; plus we saw a flock of sheep and a cow; pretty exciting. One day a family, (a man and two children) paddled out on half of a surf board to visit us. We had a polite conversation with them but we didn’t invite them aboard. On another day we hiked up Mt Tohiea to the Belvedere lookout, and a day or two day before we left Moorea we took the bus to Cook’s Bay, then to Afareaitu, and the high speed ferry to Tahiti where we visited Jim and Annie on High Roler, just arrived from Mexico. We got back to Opunoho Bay after dark and we couldn’t see where to have the bus stop to let us off. In the end we went past the place where the boats were tied to shore and we had to stumble back in the dark.

So that was Moorea; other than the scenery, not much for us here. Off to the next island.

Click here for more.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Bora Bora

August 4, 1998-Part 2-Huahini to Bora Bora

Huahine



Click here, for part 1 of this story

On another glorious trade wind day we set sail across a sparkling blue ocean for Huahine, close reaching with flags flying, and watched the island on the horizon grow bigger. Soon we rounded the south end of Huahine and hardened up to sail close hauled on the leeward side, just off the breakers of the reef, until we got to the pass at Fare. The anchor splashed down in gin clear water over white sand off that small, sleepy, town. Fare looked dumpy from the boat, and going ashore, we found it to be so, but the lagoon was drop dead gorgeous.

Somewhere I’d read a report from another boat that said they had found paradise almost all the way to the south end of the island, down inside the reef, so we set off motoring south inside the reef, winding our way carefully from mark to mark, looking for the holy grail of anchoring spots.

Finally, and only after very carefully squeezing through a shallow twisting bit where the navigation aids were curiously missing, we poked our way into a broad and beautiful bay with a white sand beach overhung with coconut palms that stretched out for a mile ahead of us.

Offshore, in the distance we could see the surf breaking on the reef, and hear its steady thunder, but in this unnamed bay, all was quiet. It looked untouched.

We enjoyed our stay on beautiful Huahine but it turned out to be a bit longer than we’d planned. The day after we arrived the wind came up we found ourselves trapped, unable to get back over the shallow spot where we had come into the bay because of wind driven waves which obscured the bottom and therefore the path through, not that we didn’t try. We attempted it twice, creeping forward inch by inch, trying not to touch, and at times we had the engine in reverse to stem our forward progress in the current. Finally, with the keel just inches above the coral, and a three knot tide running, we gave up and returned to the anchorage.

Another boat, Shedir, had also found its way down there and was marooned in the bay like us. Shedir was a fine 49ft sloop flying the Swiss flag, sailed by Marcus and Verena. We spent some time with them and their guests from Switzerland at Huahine, and learned a lot from these two very capable young German Swiss sailors. When we did go ashore we shared exotic cocktails and cold beers, at a little resort on the beach, it was a good time, but we were itching to go.

A week later the wind dropped and we got out.

Raiatea & Tahaa

Next we sailed to Raiatea and came flying in the pass with islands and breakers on either side, and small boats sailing nearby, and found our way to the small marina on the north shore. After a short overnight stay in the marina and a trip to the supermarket, we departed Raiatea to look for some nice place to stay over on Tahaa.

Click here, to see the Carenage at Raiatea.


That evening we motored in a dark gloom deep into the island where a bay penetrated, with rain softly falling and lights reflecting off the still waters, and anchored off a school.

It looked like some place in Washington State, quiet, dark, still.





Further on around the island in the days after we passed close to the shore and saw numbers of small homes or businesses along the water’s edge, and we enjoyed the sightseeing, but again, we didn’t want to stay. We were restless and needed to keep moving. We wandered from place to place like a fickle lover, never finding any place we wanted to be with for more than a one night stand. The last night in Tahaa we anchored off the island’s west side, and could see Bora Bora in the distance. It seemed to call to us.

Bora Bora calling









Bora Bora

Reinforced Trades. That’s what the weather was called, and it meant thirty knots of wind blowing all day and night. We got into Bora Bora safe enough, despite the wind, but all we could do after we arrived was hunker down in a protected anchorage with the other cruisers behind a small island just inside the pass. The wind kept up and more boats arrived and it got a bit crowded.. With the wind and currents we mostly felt we had to stay on the boats, trying to keep from getting too close to a neighbor, and waiting out the wind, and hoping for a chance to go move around to the shallow lagoon on the east side where it was supposed to be the best snorkeling anywhere. We never made it.

Bora Bora peak

In early August 1998, we gave up on the idea of an idyllic visit to Bora Bora, which we had been looking forward to, and saying farewell to French Polynesia, sailed with three other boats for points west.










Fred & Judy, SV WINGS, Bora Bora

July 15, 1998 - Fete' - Papeete, Tahiti

It is fun to arrive at a destination right when a local festival is about to occur, and for west-bound Pacific cruisers the timing and location of French Polynesia’s Fete couldn’t be better. Fete (pronounced “Fet”, like “let”) is a month long celebration which takes place in July on all of the Society Islands - with the largest celebration happening in Papeete in the middle of the month. It really doesn't matter where in the Societies you are, anchored under the shadow of Mount Muaroa in Oponohu Bay on Moorea, on the west side of Tahaa, or at Bora Bora, Fete will be happening there with dances, parades and sports events. The biggest number of activities and the most spectacular however occur in Papeete on the island of Tahiti.

Papeete

We arrived in early July and soon had WINGS tied up to the quay on the main street right in the central harbor of Papeete. It was a busy place. Lots of traffic and crowds of people make the quay a noisy place but we loved this central location, even with the hustle and bustle. It is close to electronic stores, marine stores, and every other kind of marine business you could imagine, plus restaurants, discos and supermarkets, and most of all it is close to most of the Fete activities.


On the Quay


The dancing competition shows are the biggest attraction. For a couple of weeks teams of young Polynesians come to the stadium just down the quay from the parked cruisers and perform for the judges. Most cruisers go to some of these competitions. The tickets to the finals are more expensive and harder to get, but if you want to see the best native dancing in French Polynesia these are the ones to see. There are also craft fairs (great places to see the best Polynesian craft work), music festivals (with all kinds of good live music from Zydeco to Rock and Roll and plenty of Hula). Perhaps the two biggest events are the canoe races and the Autonomy Day Parade. We were very impressed by the canoe racing. Just past the end of the quay there is a beach about 1 kilometer long virtually covered with 6, 8, and 16 person canoes all stacked upside down on big racks, with the singles on smaller stands nearby. They are built of modern high technology materials (fiberglass & epoxy or epoxy saturated wood) and of course painted all sorts of bright colors. On race days the beach is loaded with competitors, and spectators alike. The families bring beach blankets, boom boxes, and picnic lunches and chat happily while the racers wait nervously for their starts. The races go right past all the moored cruising boats and out of the harbor. A little while later they come stroking back to finish just in front of you.
Afterwards you will see the competitors recapping the day’s race with their friends with lots of hand motions and enthusiastic descriptions. As a souvenir you might go to one of the shops and buy one of their racing paddles. They are light, big, and nicely done with hand carved varnished wood, but they are obviously meant for serious canoeing.

We lived right in the center of Papeete for a few weeks, shopping, visiting cruising friends, and trying to save money in French Polynesia, an expensive place. To make some extra money I worked on sails for other cruisers and we figured out how to keep our expenses down. Fresh french bread, cheese, and the local Hinao beer were all quite reasonable, as were the fruits and veggies we picked up in the local markets.

Click Market Produce to see what we bought in the market in Papeete.

To eat out cheaply we favored, as did all of the cruisers, Le Truck. Each evening a number of vans and minibuses would roll up to the quay and set up shop as restraunts. Panels opened up to form canopies, benches were pulled out, lights turned on, and inside French and Polynesian chefs cooked a variety of meals, for a good, low, price.

One night we found the club district, where hard drinking and rowdy crowds were common, and where the polynesian gay community hung out. We heard of some tourists who were beat up by drunk locals so we stayed away from this part of town.

On Autonomy Day, July 14, there is a big parade down the main street by the quay. You might think that you would get a perfect viewing spot from your boat, but the crowds that attend this parade pack the sidewalks and crowd out onto the avenue itself. It pays to go there early with a folding chair. Nearly all the dancing groups, canoe teams, bands, sports teams and just about anyone who wants to march are in this parade and it is very colorful.

Warriors

Parade Red

Farm Goods on Parade

Girl Finds a Good Vantage Point

The tropical shade trees lining the avenue and the back drop of all the cruisers with their ships dressed for the day really add to the atmosphere. Not to be missed.
We could have stayed in Papeete longer than the month we allowed, but we had to move on. As long as we cruise though we’ll remember Fete in Papette

Parade Queen

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Papeete

May 25, 1998-Tuomotus

White Hot Sunshine in The Tuomotus











Written While At Sea:

Tonight it's blacker than the inside of a cow. It's blacker than a dog's gut. It's blacker than the bottom of a coal mine. There is no moon, no stars, and no shore lights visible, (hopefully, no shore), and we are blasting through the Tuomotus (or Dangerous Isles) like a runaway freight train with 24 knots of wind and full sail set. I can't see anything past the bow except an occasional whitecap illuminated by the running light and nothing past the stern except the stainless steel and white plastic tower of the windvane standing like some modern sculpture, the white foam of our wake speeding past, and frequent wisps of spray which look like smoke as they blow through the circle of light from stern lamp. We are truly smoking through the darkness, like Ahab after Moby Dick.

Earlier we had resigned ourselves to two more nights out here on the way to Rangiroa but shortly after nightfall tonight the wind filled in and now we think that we may have gained enough miles to make it to the pass through the reef and into Rangiroa's lagoon by late afternoon tomorrow, avoiding the second night at sea. But to do so we have to make the time when we can, like right now, so we keep pushing on. Our speeds are mid to high eights but WINGS is standing up quite well to the wind and waves and seems quite happy with the conditions. However I think I can safely say that this situation has me on maximum alert. One of our friends has already gone on the reef here this year, and I don't know his circumstances at the time but it could easily happen to anyone speeding through in total blindness. Radar would help, but we don't have it. What we do have is GPS, good charts, excellent depth finding equipment and both of our’s attention to the problem. Judy is off watch this hour, but when the wind came up she got up and got dressed to be quickly available if she is needed. Now we double check each other's navigation, position plots, and headings. We keep a good lookout too, which includes a good ear, because sometimes the first warning you have of danger is the sound of the surf.

Now the atols of Ahi, and Manihi are past, the way is clear to Tiputu Pass 60 miles ahead on the north side of Rangiroa Atol. The wind eases a little and frees. We relax a little, I make an adjustment to the windvane and Judy goes back to sleep.

Wings charges onward.

Tuomotu Horizon


At Anchor


Finally! A coral reef atol with white sand and palm trees. This is what the South Pacific was supposed to be. The water is clear with a aqua tint, the coconut palms sway in the trade winds which sweep over the island and it's lagoon and keep us cool, and we can smell the Frangipangi blossoms. Of course, when we went ashore we found real estate subdivisions, electrical meters and phone line boxes at the side of the road, and a hotel with gift shop, car rental, and a nice bar. We drank Meyer's rum there at reasonable prices and watched fish swim underneath the glass floor. We went snorkeling and were totally surrounded with colorful fish, often so many and so close to our masks that they blocked our view. We saw every color, even every day glow color and every metallic color and every luminescent color and all combinations. We also saw a shark and we got out of the water, but he was only a 5 footer, probably not interested in us.





Paddler



So the Tuomotus are one of the neatest places we've seen so far, but after a couple of days we are back on the road again, riding the trade winds towards Tahiti. Maybe we can get there tomorrow before dark if we keep the pedal to the medal again like we did on the trip here.

Fred & Judy

PS. Wonder of wonders, we saw two Mexican Pangas here in use as work boats. I wonder if a couple of Mexicans drove them over?

PPS; we are sending this from Papeete. We crossed from the Tuomotus in a nice 29 hour sail, arriving here at 12:30 on Sunday May 31. So far we think Papeete is wonderful, but then we do like cities. We’ll write more later.
Fred & Judy, SV WINGS, Papeete, Tahiti

May 15, 1998-The Marquesas

Teenagers

Maybe we expected a grass hut village on the sand next to the beach, with dirt paths and luau's under coconut palms, but that is not the Marquises. Instead we found high mountains covered with lush green foliage, paved roads, and wood or concrete western style houses with metal or composition roofs, street lights, telephones, cable TV, and scads of 4X4 vehicles. The Marquisians live in nice houses and drive Toyotas, Land Rovers, and motor scooters. It seems like some kind of affluence has hit these islands, even if I don't know what it is.



Atuona Harbor

For one thing, few people seem to be working. Oh, some do, but many are just hanging out, in their nice vehicles. They are beautiful people, the women wearing flowers in their hair and the men with their shoulders tattooed in Polynesian art, and they in no way look primitive. To me they look alert, intelligent, educated, and comfortable with their place in the world.




Atuona City Center


In the afternoon after school the kids crowd the supermarket to buy candy, and to giggle at the foreigners (us).

Canoe Racers

Then the youths signed up for the canoe racing team practice in the harbor with their parents watching from shore next to the parked sport utility vehicles. The coach races around in a whaler shouting instructions.


In lieu of Pangas, the Marquesians have speedboats which look like small "cigarette" racers, with big outboard motors. The day before the holiday at least 24 of these boats showed up at the harbor, dad driving in his baggy shorts, Tee-shirt, and baseball cap, loaded on about 10-12 kids and then headed out to another island harbor. Mom took granny and the babies in the 4X4 to meet them there.

Other than giving us rides in the back of their Toyotas, they pretty much ignore us gringos as we shower under the faucet at the wharf, walk the streets in town, or pack our groceries back to our dingies. But if you say "Bonjour", and smile, they always say "Bonjour" back to you, and they always smile. Actually, when it comes to primitive, the cruisers have the Marquesians beat 10 ways to Sunday.

Gauguin's Grave

Polynesian Kids

Seattle Star

The islands themselves are stunning, with high volcanic peaks, steep sided valleys with rivers and waterfalls cascading down to the sea, and the whole place continually enshrouded in rain clouds. It is humid and wet here, at least during our stay, but nice, very beautiful. We have visited four harbors and they were all beautiful. The last one, called Daniel's Bay, for the Marguesian who lives there with his wife Antoinette, is the most beautiful we saw. It is a narrow inlet with high jagged cliffs on three sides and a storybook valley on the third, where Daniel lives. It reminded us of Princes Louisa Inlet in BC. We went ashore and met Daniel and his wife, and to ask if we could fill our water tanks from his faucet. He agreed and we took three dingy loads back to the boat in jerry jugs. On one of our return trips we o took some Ibuprofen which Daniel requested for Antoinette, and we filled in a page in Daniel's guest log. I asked him if he had a 4X4 and he said, "No, a horse only.". I asked him if he often rode it to town and he said, "No, the boat comes often with supplies I order. Once a week a tour boat comes from the Club Med and I take people around on a visit." He was nice, and gave us a bunch of fruit when we left.

Daniel's Bay


So, once again, we have a new experience to savor, and new places to get to know and to love. Now we are off to the Tuomotu Islands, on our way to Tahiti where we will send this.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, The Marquesas

Atuona, The Marquesas

The Marquesas, after 25 days at sea.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold