We left Huahine, on a beautiful sunny day, with H at the helm, who did an excellent job of driving us out through the pass. We spent the next 5 hours in a bit of a rolly sea, with S being the one who was sick, no more reading for her on passage! H,J E and I sat up at the helm for the whole sail, I've found this is the place, where no one gets sick. I think its due to the fact that you are up high, with a clear view of the horizon. I have been pleasantly relieved to have barely felt any seasickness so far, given my lack of ocean sailing experience and weak stomach!
Onto brighter topics, we sailed through our first unmarked pass with about 10 metres each side of the boat and about 5 metres under our keels. We then motored along Motu Nao Nao and anchored in about 3 metres of crystal clear water. We spent 3 nights in this picturesque anchorage.
There was a fantastic coral garden off the stern of the boat, with some dark red anemones housing several clownfish (AKA Nemo), angel fish, puffer fish, butterfly fish, thread fin coral fish, and groper to name a few. So our days here were spent swimming, snorkelling and just enjoying life.
Even found time for some washing - J was pretty fast with the photo bomb!
On our last night, the crew from Sangvind came over for a beer and to watch the sunset, which turned into the kids watching 2 movies in the saloon while us adults chatted away in the rear cockpit till 11pm, which is a really late night for us these days. Also hung out with an IT brainiac, a professional ice hockey player and an aeronautical engineer that works with F1 teams. Very enjoyable conversations (well at least for G ; )
The following day we moved along the east coast, stopping in Baie Opoa for a couple of hours. We stopped here to go ashore and see Marae Taputapuatea, the most significant Marae in all of Polynesia. It was where the Chiefs from all the islands gathered for social and political purposes, as Raiatea was the most prominent island in the Society Islands back around the1500’s.
We returned to the boat and went further along to Baie Faaroa, where we picked up a mooring at the end of the bay. The next day we were approached by a couple of men in a dinghy, asking us if we’d mind our boat being a mark for competitors to go around in a boat race that was about to start. We had no problem with that at all, and eagerly waited to see the Va’a hoe canoes that would soon pass us. We saw about 15 boats come past us, each competitor with a very serious look on their faces, as they kept checking over their shoulders to see where their opposition rowers were, while trying to stay in front. Racing canoes, of which there are many types, is a national sport here, with much of the population partaking, either for sport or pleasure.
After the boat race was over, we hopped into the dinghy and ventured up the river. We meandered along with S and J sitting in the kayak while we towed them behind us, until the growth was too thick to go any further.
On the way back, we came across a man named James, who lives on a property by the river. He is somewhat well known, as other cruisers, have written about him throughout their travels. We got to talking with James, and he asked if we’d like some papaya and coconut, to which we eagerly replied “yes please”! He then took his machete and expertly carved open 4 coconuts for us to drink out of. Nothing like coconut water straight from the coconut. He then got us to follow him in his boat back to his plantation further up the river. H was in the kayak, paddling this time, with a piece of bamboo, which turned out to be a very effective paddle!
On reaching James’ plantation, he took us on a tour, showing us the local plants, demonstrating the native uses of many different plants. He gave us some oranges straight off the tree, and as the cool rain poured down on us, James also gave us several branches with lychees on them. So, loaded up with bananas, lychees, oranges and coconuts, we made our way back to the boat.
Kids on a 6am baguette run. Have to be early if you want to live like the French. Shop only open 6-8am on a Sunday. They all set their alarms so they wouldn't be late - they are loving their baguette with everything.
The next day we headed to the main village of Uturoa, anchoring close to the channel. H, J and I took the dinghy across to the supermarket, and when we were about 10 metres away from the dock, the engine stopped, and I couldn't get it going. What to do? We had no oars, no radio, so I said to the boys, “ one of you will have to jump in and swim us to the dock, who’s up for it?”. H, the champion, jumped into the water and towed us over to the dock. Then, another boat approached us, and a lovely man offered to tow us back, but instead he got the engine going for me, so we could still get some baguette, and get back to the boat!
Check out H cooking dinner with his onion protection glasses on! (red eyes show how well they are working)
The next day, we went across the lagoon to Tahaa, and grabbed a pearl farm mooring buoy. We called up and booked to do a tour the next morning. The pearl farm tour was a good way to consolidate the information we gathered from visiting the Pearl Museum in Tahiti. We got to see the divers cleaning the oysters with a high pressure washer, and saw the inside of the oyster where the nucleus is implanted into the pearl sac. They then monitor the oysters closely to ensure successful grafting, as some can be rejected in the first 2 months. After this we went inside to see how they classify the pearls, according to size, shape, imperfections and lustre. Once we had purchased a couple of souvenirs (bought with P's never ending supply of 'birthday money'..... -Ed), we returned to the boat and headed to our next destination.
We navigated our way into Haamene Baie, G at the helm and the rest of us inside, as the rain was pouring down. Rain in the tropics is amazing, it filled up one of our 10 litre buckets in about 5 minutes, and then you can usually get at least another 2 buckets in the same downpour.
Check J out, photo bombing again!
The rain lasted for 3 days straight, gave us a chance to catch up with some boat and schooling stuff. Kids practiced their sewing. Here they are making pencil cases, complete with full scale patterns. (Thanks Mum for the lessons many years ago, knitting will be next ; ) - Ed)
They also explained to Mum and Dad that the best way to learn math was with marshmallows. Still not to sure about that one..
J at more formal, turtle shell school (check out the completed pencil case!)
Between showers we went for a walk up the mountains to check out the view, exploring the small village and stopping for lunch at a local snack place. The legs haven't had much work since we arrived in Polynesia (apart from swimming), so the walk up the hill had us all breathing heavily, except for H, he decided that he would run up. Grrrr
We then moved closer to the opening of the bay and picked up a mooring buoy in front of the Hibiscus restaurant. We went ashore and booked in for dinner that night, then went for another walk to the top of a nearby hill for a nice view of the next bay along the coast.
The following day we did a tour of the island, in the back of a Ford ute (sure beat walking!), adapted with bench seats along the sides, and a canopy over the top. This canopy came in handy, as we had a couple of heavy rain showers, though it still managed to get most of us wet, as it came in from the sides!
More lychees please!
On our tour we visited a vanilla farm and were very fortunate to meet a gentleman who introduced himself as "Vanilla Dundee!" He taught us how they grow and process vanilla. Much of the worlds vanilla is grown and harvested here in Tahaa. It is a very labour intensive job and the conditions have to be perfect to get a good crop of vanilla beans. Once they're picked they are sorted into lengths, wrapped in cloth and placed into wooden boxes to dry them out. They are then taken out each day and placed into the sun to dry out further (weather permitting) then each individual bean is massaged to enhance the flavour. Check out the small stick in Dundee's hand - "Thats not a knife....." - he uses it to pollinate the vanilla
The coconut husks are used to fertilise the vanilla vines
Back in the ute we drove around the north end of the island stopping for another pearl farm tour which showed us different aspects of the farming, then we stopped at the Rhum distillery. The gentleman showed us how they process the sugarcane, then add yeast, then transfer it to the still, where it is heated and works it way through from liquid to produce the final product. They then put it into vats for 4-6 months and bottle it for white rum, or put into wooden kegs for further fermenting to produce brown rum. They also have a side business of making Tamanu oil products which is used for various health benefits. It is used for skin conditions like eczema, prevention and treatment of mozzie bites, rubbing into sore/strained muscles and can even be used as a sunscreen. At the distillery, they also manufactured coconut products; oil for cooking, and beauty products such as soap. (G didn't enjoy the distillery at all.. just like how the girls didn't enjoy the pearls..)
We hopped back in our chariot (G wasn't driving ; ) and drove the rest of the way around the island, giggling and getting a bit damp, as the rain sporadically drenched us, well, mostly me!
After our stay in Haamene Baie, we went out to the reef and anchored in about 1.8m of water (our boat draws ~1.5m), where our depth gauge was reading 0.1-0.0 metres! Just to be sure we were ok, we donned our masks and jumped in to check. There was about 30-40cm of water under the keels, so we now know that there is about a 30cm buffer in our depth gauge.
Hair wash day! J pretty impressed with his mohawk
We moved to Marina Apooiti the following day to get our engines serviced before we leave French Polynesia. We also took advantage of the unlimited water, and spent about 8 hours scrubbing the whole boat from top to bottom (including the engine bays, yuk), and bow to stern. Needless to say, we both had aching bodies at the end of the day, and bleeding knuckles, from scrubbing almost all the boat with a kitchen scourer!
Oh nearly forgot, meet Gordon our new pet and chief ant catcher! We found him sampling the rum that G bought from the distillery. May be an expensive pet..
Part 2 coming up!
