We wake up to a miserable grey day. There seems little point hanging around in the middle of the sea so we decide to go to the ‘most beautiful island in the world’ (according to the guide books) instead. The water is crystal clear and a complete lack of wind makes the surface of the water dead calm so we can easily see the anchor and chain lying on the sea bed which makes getting it back up easy for a change (out here anyway). It is eerily quiet as we gently motor towards the pass in the reef, and there are storm clouds all around us. It won’t be long until they start to get us!
Photo: Dead calm as we head out to the pass in the reef
The sea begins to change as we near the pass as there’s a bit of a rip tide and you can see the disturbance in the water. Outside the reef the sea is a bit more choppy but still pretty comfortable. The cockpit cushions are soggy and there’s nowhere dry to sit so after having breakfast I head back to my bed and manage to get a couple of hours’ sleep to make up for the bad night’s sleep last night.
When I reappear, the squalls have caught up with us so now it’s not just grey but wet too - it really would give the coast of Cumbria a run for its money today. Although it’s not actually as hot, it’s steamy as the rain curtains keep the heat inside the cockpit even though we open up the windscreen every time it deems to actually stop pouring. At one point it is so dismal that we can hardly see in front of us and Mike has to check the charts and the radar every few minutes as we get closer and closer to the reef which surrounds Bora Bora. The radar is quite difficult to make out as the heavy rain clouds show up on it as big yellow blobs which look the same as the yellow blogs which indicate land.
Approaching Bora Bora in the pouring rain, it looks like a big grey rock – nothing like the lush tropical paradise that you see in all the travel brochures.
Photo: Bora Bora
Luckily as we approach the pass in the reef and have to start looking for the channel markers, the rain stops, and although it stays cloudy the visibility improves enough for us to identify them. Once through the pass we head south, past the main town of Vaitape and towards Motu Toopua. The channel is very narrow in places and you can easily make out the nasty looking, boat wrecking coral. This stuff might be wonderful to snorkel around but is yacht hell when sailing!
Photo: Red and green markers help you through the reef
We arrive at our chosen anchorage at around 4.30 pm. In just a few miles, it is the third over-the-water hut type resort that we have seen. An idea done to death or what? We anchor and watch a huge digger on the beach rearrange the pristine white sand, unsure whether a new beach is being built or whether it is being moved elsewhere.
Photo: Beach building?
At 6.20 pm as the sun goes down, the clouds part slightly and we see more sun than we have seen all day.
Photo: Sun at last!
As everyone was too full to eat the caramelised bananas I was going to make last night, I make them early in the evening. As we have run out of rum, I add butterscotch liquor instead which seems to go down well. Another evening is spent in front of the TV eating. Deserted anchorages may look beautiful but they do curtail the evening’s activities!!
Our position is: 16 deg 31 min S, 151 deg 46 min W
Distance so far: 6847 nautical miles
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