Boring in Bora Bora? Not!

The pinnacle of any sailing trip to French Polynesia is the island of Bora Bora. In the native tongue it means "First Born".  Most people when they arrive at sunrise just call it the island of WOW! Jutting upward from the center is a massive crater left from a long dead volcano. Surrounding this is a pearl neckless of green islets called  Motus.  Our journey had taken us from the island of Tahaa to the East across thirty miles of open ocean to the other shore of Bora Bora. It is here that the only navigable entrance lies, a blue river of deep water that part the coral reefs. The surf pounded heavily on the reef as we sailed by it. Coming into the lagoon we sighted many sailboats, most of them catamarans. There were small groups of boats anchored at the base of the volcano and scattered around the many Motus. The water was deep blue in the channel, aquamarine as you looked toward shore and sky blue in the shallows. All of it looked clear as a swimming pool and excitement ran high that we would find good places to do some scuba diving here. 

Having made the passage early we decided to opt for one of the many moorings in front of the Yacht Club. Jean would sleep better if we were on the mooring and not the anchor. We cleaned the boat as our routine demanded, putting away lines and gear. Ben and Juli did the actual picking up of the mooring pennant and tying the bridal to it. They are a crack pair on that foredeck. Steve was busy below putting small items away so that left Jean and I to lower the dinghy. This task is blessedly easy now thanks to the Stainless steel arch we put on the boat. After untying some safety straps we simply lower the Bandit as we call our zodiac down into the water boat, motor and all. 

Having spent the last two months in French waters we are quite addicted to baguettes. And, unfortunately we had none on board at the moment so Jean and I thought we would go in and see the village. Somehow that translated into Ben and Jean going in to find bread and me staying aboard to take care of some boat repairs. That's ok I would have rather done the repairs sooner than taken the walk and then had to do them. 

The sail between Huahine and Tahaa had put quite a strain on our rudder. The bushing that holds it in was rocking side to side eating into the fiberglass tube the rudder stock rides inside. It is a known design flaw with big Beneteaus  that after talking with another couple who have a newer 50 footer told us that the company still has not addressed the problem properly. Oh well it's just another chance to use my engineering skills to design and build a solution. But that is the stuff of another day. Back to Bora Bora.

We welcomed our crew back aboard with their groceries and made a fine dinner of roast beef, potatoes and carrots. I don't know why but the carrots are amazingly tasty here. But I digress yet again. As we cleaned up from dinner Jean and I made our way topside with some of the cockpit cushions and watched the sun set from the bow of the boat. There was a gentle breeze blowing and to tell the truth it was a bit cold, that's right cold, there was a  nip in the air. Well it is winter here, even if it gets to 80 degrees during the day. 

Our plans for the next day were somewhat loose ended. We needed some water. We all wanted to go swimming. I wanted to run over in the dinghy to Bloody Mary's restaurant and see it. The dawn came early. After coffee and biscuits we rang the school bell and started the kids on their studies. Then we tackled the tour of the harbor, walked into Bloody Mary's but being sunday they were closed so we went for a walk around the village instead. A swim was had after lunch and following another great dinner , another amazing sunset.

While we were at the dock that morning we ran across a couple on a 50 foot beneteau like ours but newer named Toodles. We had seen their boat a dozen times since Panama but had never met them. They are from Aukland, NZ. Gary and Kate told us all about the Bora Bora scene and where to go so we were excited to get up early the following morning and sail over to the other side of the lagoon. There we found the Lagoonarium. The kids are putting a blog together about this amazing place so I won't spoil it for them. But suffice it to say we were up close to some pretty big sharks. Then we went South to Eden beach. Anchored overnight there. We were looking for the place where the famous hammock hangs between the two palm trees with the volcano in the background. Well this is it but the hammock blew away in the 2010 typhoon that hit the island. We did some great swimming. Took loads of pictures before we headed back to the yacht club for the biggest surprise of all- the Welcome Ceremony dancing and drumming Polynesian style. The festival is a public even that pits island against island with the bragging rights as to who is the finest dance/drum group. We gathered with Toodles after a meal of local cooking from a food cart at the dance grounds. The field had been covered with fresh beach sand. A series of woven grass buildings complete with thatched roofs lined one side, the sounds were loud, the singing angelic almost childlike in pitch though the singers were adult. Teams of hundreds took to the field. The drummers some 50 on the first team shook the audience with percussive skill. Dancers men and women in grass skirts paraded in pairs across the sand. Then the dance began. The men using karate blows and spear thrusts with their hands and arms while the women? Well lets just say that if the grass skirt was a vehicle there would have been some serious speeding tickets handed out. Steve when he got home said to me "Dad, I think I am changing my mind about girls". No kidding. He had been very bored with the opening ceremonies. Buts as soon as the dancing began the girls had his attention.  Look out world here comes Steve.

About 10pm the kids began to fade so we made our way back through the village to the dinghy. Saying our goodbyes to Toodles and promising to look each other up in Tonga our next stop, we motored home and turned on the anchor light.  This is our favorite island so far. I told Jean I am coning back someday.