Paradise Passes Quickly
This is one of those months that just flys by. We are enjoying French Polynesia and for 10 days we have the benefit of a French speaking boat visitor join us, P’s sister Deb, which makes it even more enjoyable.
But first back to the beginning of the month - at Rangiroa Atoll from which we depart for the simple 15 hour trade winds sail southwest to the big island of Tahiti Nui and the capital Papeete. The forecast was for bad weather setting in for the next few days so we were keen to get to Papeete to make sure we could met Deb on time. The trip was uneventful, even slow, with less wind than we wished for, even to the point of having to motor – until that is, the final 3 hours when a southerly blast accelerated by the high island peaks comes in. It was a little snotter, 25 knots gusting over 30 knots at times, which saw us surfing down waves at 10 knots in the dark (of course) until we got well into the lee of Tahiti-Nui when the wind crimped out again. We were relieved to get in to the shelter of the lagoon guided by the leading lights for Port Papeete, just after midnight.
We made the compulsory call to the Harbourmaster and requested permission to anchor in the usual spot off the Church only to be told all anchoring was prohibited in the harbor area and we should tie up at the yacht pontoons. In the dark we assumed that the Med moored yachts had dropped their anchors and so dropped ours and backed in only to find in the morning that there were pickup lines (but not on the bit of pontoon we just happened to choose) and that our anchor was firmly stuck in a mooring chain.
Ken, the very nice port captaine in charge of the pontoons and responsible for clearing us in and out, sadly informed us that the Port divers were angry that so many yachts kept tangling up and breaking the mooring lines (hence the absence of them at our position on the pontoon) and were refusing to repair them and refusing to untangle any anchors, until the end of the season. We were a little stuck!
However as we had a few jobs to do and as we were waiting for Deb, we stayed put and keep up a continuous but friendly dialogue and email traffic with Ken and his boss to facilitate the attendance of the divers to release us. Fortunately they turned up at 0830 on the Friday morning that Deb arrived.
For us the vibrant city of Papeete turned out to be a very pleasant stopover, ironically due largely to the “decision” to pay to moor at the yacht pontoons which are located right in the city center adjacent to the OPT (Post Office). Everything was close to hand within walking distance….the central marketplace, officialdom in the form of the port captaine, supermarkets, boulangerie, marine services and suppliers. Access to fresh fruit, veg and the excellent selection of NZ meats, Anchor Tasty Cheddar and Tip Top Ice Cream plus the best of France really made it for us.
We’re all going West
A gaggle of other cruising yachts came and went from the Papeete pontoon during our weeks stay so we had a bit of socialization which was good. Most were like us sailing west with 50% going to NZ and 50% either direct to Australia or finding a Pacific hideaway haven for the cyclone season. We noted with concern that 1994 Queens Birthday Storm still influences many cruisers decision on not including NZ on their circumnavigation. With the improvement in forecasting and accessibility to reliable onboard weather information it seems incredible that this situation persists. Although we are biased, a NZ layover from November to April really does offer cruisers a great experience with the added bonus of access to excellent marine services. We were impressed to see copies of excellent individual publications promoting cruiser services for Opua , Whangarei and Tauranga but we only noticed them by chance in the Papeete Port Captains office so it is questionable how many cruisers they ultimately get to.
Deb to the Rescue
Deb joined us in Papeete flying in with essential supplies…….Vogels Bread, Vegemite, Easy-Yo Yogurt mixes (which we later found in the supermarkets), Newspapers , Magazines and other Kiwiana treats. Most importantly she carried the replacement rigging parts to replace the fractured lower D1 toggle.
Literally at the last moment we also lumbered her with an extra 8kg of hand baggage in the form of a new 95amp Bosch Marine Alternator that EAL (Electrics Afloat Ltd) in Auckland, at very short notice, supplied, adapted to suit and drove out to Auckland International Airport to hand deliver to her. Trouble was she had already checked in and was though customs casually browsing the duty free shops when she received a call from EAL that a man was on the way with the alternator necessitating Deb come back out through customs escorted by a customs officer and then be escorted back through with said alternator. Deb obviously had to do some smooth talking to carry this off and we are indebted to her and Keith of EAL for making it all happen. (Our existing alternator was only discovered to be kaput 5 hours earlier and a local supplier was indicating a week to supply if we were lucky).
Brick Bat
If the alternator story is all good the availability of new fan belts to fit the new alternator took a day to track down in Papeete and that was with Debs French language assistance. But the real disappointment was the Rigging Toggles supplied by KZ Marine were not to specification with the clevis pins holes being only 19mm diameter when we ordered 22mm so this required a reputable local engineer a day to drill out, at a not insignificant cost as most everything in French Polynesia is expensive to say the least. We checked our instructions to KZ Marine and can only conclude our emails were not read. We were not impressed. As riggers they know all rigging part measurements are critical. This was disappointingly sloppy service and a glaring contrast to the superb effort put in by Electrics Afloat.
We spent a day driving around Tahiti-Nui, a small circuit in sun and rain showers.
Photos of Tahiti Nui – a quiet lagoon, P&D, Point Venus Light where
Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus, canoeists, inside the passé in
Tahiti-Nui with Moorea in the background
The following day we sail for Moorea and spend a few days in idyllic anchorages inside the lagoon and walking ashore. The highlight was approaching the lagoon entrance and coming across pods of large whales noodling around in the seaward shallows off the fringing reef beyond Baie de Cook. It was up close and personal whale viewing and stunning to watch these creatures of the deep swimming around and inquisitively right under Musketelle. This is another wildlife highlight of our travels up there with the Manta Rays of the Maldives, Dolphin Reef of the Red Sea and the Orangutuans and Komodo Dragons of Indonesia.
Whale spotting up close and personal is very exciting
Moorea –approaching Bay du Cook, at anchor, Deb, Moorea countryside, WiFi was there
Hua Hine and Raiatea
Next stop for a day is Hua Hine before pending inclement weather suggests a quick passage to better shelter behind the reef on nearby Raiatea. The weather packs up on queue and stays showery for four days. B has to take a quick trip back to Papeete on the ferry to recover our Ships papers that the Skipper left behind when completing the duty free paperwork at the fuel station. The blood pressure went up when these were discovered to be missing as it is similar to losing one’s passport. However Deb’s French did the trick again as we used Skype to call the fuel station and ascertain that they definitely had the papers. Before long it was time for Deb to return to NZ, regrettably without a tan thanks to time spent in engineers’ shops in Papeete and unexpected cloudy days.
Tahaa - Vegetation and History
Tahaa is the island immediately to the north of Raiatea and within the same lagoon. It can be circled by yacht within the lagoon. The topography of these islands is high and rugged with prolific tropical vegetation particularly on Tahaa. We take a tropical plant tour with a French yachtie who dropped anchor here 27 years ago, building a traditional home and developing a vanilla plantation. His ‘Vanilla Tours’ using his open deck Land Rover saw us trundling around this tropical paradise learning the origin and uses of a multitude of plants, fruits, fauna, flowers and their use in everything from food, medications to customary potions, clothing and traditional house construction. The fact that the majority of plant life in French Polynesia has been introduced either by the wind, the sea but mostly by humans is most notable.
Of particular interest is that the canoes that departed for New Zealand around 1250AD left from Raiatea and most probably would have transited inside the reefs to exit from the Tahaa pass to then island hop west via the then known islands before embarking on the star path to Aotearoa.
It is clear everyone in Pacific Oceania is an immigrant from the bordering continents, including Taiwan, at some time in history but with no written history and the erosion of physical evidence in the harsh tropical environment the Polynesian story is limited to a small number of stone artifacts supplemented by the telling of the tales and passing down of carving and tattoo imagery.
Tahaa Photos – at anchor, vanilla flower and pods, on tour, rain at anchor
Bora Bora
Claimed to be the world’s most picturesque tropical island, it‘s peaks were shrouded in mist as we sailed towards it. We arrive in the dark and initially take a mooring off the Bora Bora Yacht Club but move around to find an anchoring spot off the town of Viatape next morning so we can check-in with the local gendarmerie, only to be informed checking in is not necessary and they only want to see us on checkout.
Bora Bora Рreef waves crash near the pass̩, B at the Bora Bora Yacht Club,
P and B at Vaitape town dock
The Bora Bora lagoon is surprisingly deep with very few shallow anchoring opportunities so having 100m of chain and large 40kg anchor is sort of essential for deep water anchoring, so bolstered by finding a spot so easily off the town we headed for some reef anchoring and snorkeling.
Snorkeling around the underwater world is not unlike a submerged Sahara. The prolific stingrays were easily spotted over the white sand shallows as were the colourful tropical fish. The only let down is the lack of colourful coral.
Lagoon colour
Tourism Blues
Tourism in French Polynesia is under huge pressure and is being savaged due to the global downturn and we have seen headlines of major hotel staff layoffs and the prospect of Air France reducing daily flights from Paris to maybe just two per week. Some of the tourism infrastructure is not being maintained and major hotels have been simply shut and mothballed. In Bora Bora it’s even more evident as a number of highly visible waterfront hotels in classic picture postcard settings with bungalows built over the water are abandoned and not only self destructing but being assisted by locals for building materials. The sight of the once famous Hotel Bora Bora on a prominent peninsula crumbling away is not good and one would expect the government to be stepping in to have such sites quickly demolished and replaced by fauna rather than eyesores that send the completely wrong signal to the tourists that are still coming.
The cruise business as everywhere seems to be about the only sector carrying the numbers but the all inclusive nature of this sector only delivers ‘day look and depart’ visitors many of whom trundle back and forth on the ships ferry boats for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea aboard the mother ship without shelling a shilling to the local economy. French Polynesia may have to give up on those traditional European and US tourist markets and sharpen the pencil for other new markets and work hard to dispel the high cost image because it’s a stunning year round destination that delivers the iconic tropical getaway with French flair.
Auto Pilot Saga continues…..
Our autopilot has continued to malfunction intermittently but particularly in strong winds and seas when the wind is on the Port side but not when on the Starboard side. We clearly had a problem with the hydraulic fluid which was rectified back in Panama so the ongoing problem sailing on Port is obviously of concern. Given we have replaced all components except for the Hydraulic Ram we initially saw this as the only possible cause. However without any Raymarine representation in French Poly it is left to team P&B to continue looking at all angles to find a resolution. And guess what !, we think we finally cracked it last week while we were sitting out the inclement weather in Raiatea. We had both noticed the steering had become stiffer and on checking at anchor it was noticeably stiffer when manually turning to Port compared with Starboard. To double check P disengaged the wire steering cables from the steering quadrant and confirmed the quadrant with the steering mechanism disengaged was definitely stiffer turning to port. Next he removed the bearing collar and the Teflon impregnated bearing seal packing and the quadrant flowed from side to side freely. Turns out the packing was binding the 130mm diameter stainless steel rudder boss, but only to port. So after a thorough clean and grease the steering at the cockpit wheel is now like having power steering. We await the big test on passage but the gut feel is we have cracked the nut.
Another Month Passes
As September comes to an end we are prepping for the passage out of French Polynesia but first we had to visit the bank to whom we paid our $3300 bond. This bond was paid when we arrived in French Polynesia back in Hiva Oa on 15 August to ensure that we would actually depart . Armed with our exit document from the Bora Bora Gendarmes we went to the Bank expecting our bond to refunded directly to our credit card. No, read the fine print, they only refund in cash and only in Pacific Francs. Guys we are leaving, we can’t spend all that! OK so we have to change it to NZD at the going rate – the Bank wins again….
So, very soon we will be heading west to the island of Niue, then Vavau in Tonga where we will cross Musketelle’s wake line of June 2007 thereby completing our 360 !!
Musketelle from atop at mooring off the Bora Bora YC whilst P does a pre-departure check
Bring it on….see you in October.
