Day 122: Moorea to Hauhine – 07/05/10

The overnight sail goes well.  We have two reefs in the main and most of the genoa rolled away and we still manage an average of 6 knots for most of the night.  Apart from one heavy downpour at around 6 am, the weather is fine, although the relatively thick cloud blocks the moon for most of the night.

We arrive into the bay at the town of Fare on Hauhine at around 7.30 am and put the anchor down although it takes a couple of goes to get it to set.  Carole makes pancakes for breakfast – good old Betty Crocker!

I am back on my bed using the internet when Mike comes down having dived over the anchor.  He thought it hadn’t felt right, and when he checked it he discovered that his feeling was correct, so up comes the bloody thing once more, we re-position, and put it down again.  This time it holds properly.

We spend the day lazing around.  The bay doesn’t look very inspiring from the boat and we are in no real rush to go ashore, although Carole and John go snorkelling.  At about 1 pm I remember that I had promised to put a loaf of bread on and as I go ahead and do it at that point, it’s really late when we sit down for lunch.  Still, better late than never.  Stinking of garlic, we decide we need some provisions and a mooch around, get the dinghy down and head over to Fare to see what’s what.

  Photo:  Fare dinghy dock

At the dinghy dock there is a lovely welcome shelter, a beautifully arched and thatched structure with boards inside giving helpful information on the island.  One particularly interesting piece shows, rather graphically I thought, what can happen to you if you are male and get bitten by a particular little flying nastie – balls the size of a grapefruit.  Good job Mike applies plenty of repellent!

 

Photo:  Walking along main street, Huahine

The town seems to have everything that you would need.  In fact stepping into the local supermarket is like stepping into Dr Who’s tardis – it goes on and on for miles, round lots of corners and is as well stocked as anything I have seen on such a small island.  It’s very popular with flies too, and around the fresh fruit and veg section there are practically swarms of the little buggers.

We buy ice creams (funny, that’s a recurring activity since Carole and John have been on board) and wander around, spotting an Avis rental shop and decide to get a car tomorrow.  As there is no tariff card in the window, John uses his binoculars to check out the pricing on the board at the back of the office.

Photo:  John finds a new use for his binoculars

Walking back along the front, we watch a large supplies ship arrive, dump its cargo quickly on the quay and depart just as quickly.  They must do a round trip to all the islands every few days.

Photo:  The supermarket gets re-stocked

Back at the dinghy dock, Carole and I duck into a tacky tourist shop but find some lovely boxes made from whole shells.  Wanting one each, we ask for a better price and are quite surprised when we get it.  Now I have a lovely shell box to put my pearls in.

Going back to the boat in the dinghy in the dark, we are followed by a young boy in a Polynesian canoe.  At first we think he is just enjoying being in our wake then we realise that he is actually trying to race us!  When he finally (and amazingly) manages to pull alongside, he stops, triumphant, and we all cheer and clap.

Photo:  Go, boy, go! 

Having eaten lunch so late, nobody is particularly hungry in the evening, but as we watch a film, the munchies set in and the popcorn and biscuits come out.  This is terrible.  Mike and I never have such stuff on board when it’s just us, because I would eat it all and be the size of a house in no time at all.  I make a mental note to eat nothing but rabbit food for a few weeks after they have gone!

 

Our position is:  16 deg 42 min S, 151 deg 02 min W

Distance so far:  6696 nautical miles

Day 120: Moorea – 05/05/10

I spend most of the morning lazing around in bed catching up with the blog and using Skype.  The others, however, are much more active.  John scrubs one of the hulls above the water line while Mike goes below with his Hooka (!) to scrub the propellers.  That’s his story anyway.  Carole isn’t particularly active, just more so than me.  She gets in the water with a noodle and just floats around hanging onto the ladder to stop her zooming backwards at breakneck speed – there’s quite a current here today.

In the afternoon, the wind picks up and a whole system of squalls closes in.  We were going to head out for an overnight sail to Huahine, a distance of about 100 miles, but looking at both the weather forecast and the sky, Mike decides against it, and heads off for an afternoon kip.  I must admit I’m glad we are not going today as I still feel a bit rough, although much better than yesterday.

As the rain pours down with each squall that passes, I prepare tonight’s dinner and watch a film with Carole and John.  What an exciting life we lead some days as can be seen from the photo!

Photo:  Another crazy party day aboard Jeannius!

The sunset is more exciting, but some days have to be spent just slobbing.

Photo:  Sunset through the rain clouds

Day 121: Moorea to Huahine – 06/05/10

There are quite a few showers in the night and once again I wake early, coughing myself awake, and am unable to get back to sleep for ages, although perversely, have just nodded off when Mike brings me a cup of tea.

The weather reports get down loaded and Mike decides that we should be OK to leave for Huahine today, and over the VHF we discover that Ronja and Tucanon are also heading that way too.

Carole and John take the dinghy and go foraging for bread or other goodies and Mike tells me that today’s little gem of a job for me is to attack the source of the rather noxious smell that is coming from somewhere in our cabin (even when Mike’s not in there).  The problem is, we are not quite sure where the smell is emanating from.  About a year ago, Mike’s wardrobe in the companionway stank.  Now it’s as fresh as a daisy if you please, and the smell has transferred itself to my wardrobe in our cabin and to the drawers under our bed.  It is very definitely a toilety smell.  Mike removes the drawers and buggers off.  Smells are not his area of expertise although I don’t quite know whey they have become mine!

I wash the area out with nice pine smelling cleaner then sling lavender infused (French of course) bleach liberally around the pipework.  Mike reappears to pour more bleach down the bilges, then leaves me to clean the next cupboard along in the companionway.  What a sight I am, naked, on my knees, stinking of bleach and muttering about a first mate’s lot.  The problem is probably with the pipework which, although not leaking, becomes porous over the years allowing smells to escape.  Lovely.

I emerge from my sweat pit to find Mike lounging in the cockpit reading a book.  I am not overly polite!

I clean our bathroom, put a load of washing on and ponder over my glamorous life of a skivvy.  I’ve said it before, housework is housework, regardless of how beautiful the location.  Still, it could be worse – I could be in the UK listening to election campaigns – ugh!

Carole and John return clutching a bag of croissants.  Carole can’t hide the evidence of having eaten a chocolate ice cream as she has managed to dribble it down the front of her t-shirt!

Photo:  Polynesian sailing boat passes close by

I prepare tonight’s dinner in readiness for the overnight passage and Carole makes lunch, then after a moment when I thought the bloody anchor wasn’t going to shift, it’s up and we motor out through the reef, Tucanon and Ronja just ahead of us.  Once we are out of the shelter of the island I try to call Judith on Brown Eyed Girl but again get no response.

It’s a nice calm passage, quiet enough for me to slip below and catch up on a few hours’ sleep in readiness for my watch tonight.  I emerge to a cup of tea and a sunset.

Photo:  Sunset and a cuddle

I do the 10 pm to 1 am watch.  Although Tucanon disappears quite early on, Ronja stays with us all night.  It is calm during my watch and I am able to catch up with the blog and watch TV.  Luckily for me, the rain stays away until I am tucked up in bed.

 

Our position is:  17 deg 04 min S, 150 deg 36 min W

Distance so far:  6687 nautical miles

Day 119: Tahiti to Moorea – 04/05/10

I have a really bad night’s sleep.  The constant tickling in my eyes and nose signals that my feeling of grottiness is due to a cold.  Nothing more but irritating just the same as I don’t often get a cold and don’t know where this one came from.  I wake about 4.30 am and that’s it for the night.  Great.

Luckily Mike is awake by 5.45 am (must have been all that wriggling) and he gets up and makes a cup of tea.  We have pain chocolat for breakfast then it’s back to the supermarket.

As we walk once again past the row of super yachts, in the bright morning sunshine, we see the stark reality of the difference between Jeannius and her neighbours.  However, Jeannius has probably seen more open ocean than any of these giants.

Photos:  Jeannius dwarfed by her neighbours

We re-trace our steps to the supermarket and spend a similar amount to yesterday.  We should only need to buy fresh stuff now on a regular basis, ‘should’ being the operative word.

When we get back to the boat, Laurent, the agent is waiting for us to give us our paperwork and return our passports.  We attempt to put all the shopping away but some of it has to be left in bags for now.  We start to untie the boat from the quay, looked on by the same nervous crew on the boat next door.  Get a life, guys!

As we pull away from the dock, Brown Eyed Girl is hovering to take our space.  I try to call Judith on the VHF as I haven’t seen her for a few days but there’s no answer.

We motor out of the marina, and follow the marked channel through the reef.  Inside the reef the sea is flat calm.

Photo:  Floating bar just inside the reef

Photo:  Lumps of evil looking reef poking out of the water

Photo:  Flat calm sea inside the reef

At the edge of the reef, however, waves are rolling and breaking in.  Yet again, people are in the water with surf boards.

Photos:  Breakers on the reef – the little black dot is a surfer!

Carole prepares lunch and we motor through the smooth water back towards Moorea – Groundhog Day, no less.  We are all just sitting in the cockpit when Mike accidently switches on the salt water pump and sea water gushes out all over the cockpit floor.  While I sit there calmly, Carole practically jumps up on the seat thinking we’ve suddenly sprung a huge leak and are sinking, then feels very foolish when she realises what it is.  Mind you, the same incident gives Mike a terrifying moment – when he switched on the salt water pump, he actually thought he had switched on the holding tanks pump (holding tanks are where the contents of the toilets go when you are in port) and when he hears the gushing, gurgling, splashing noises, he thinks there is raw sewage shooting out somewhere inside the boat!

I go down for a sleep but only manage to drift off for a few moments as it is so hot in the cabin.  Eventually I give up and squish myself into a bit of shade in the cockpit instead.  As we round the headland the wind picks up – we are still motoring so the boat pitches around a bit although the large waves are well spaced so as not to make it uncomfortable.  Another test for Carole – she manages to read a book in the cockpit without puking over the side!

We arrive inside the reef just outside Opunohu Bay in the mid afternoon in the shadow of Bali Hai, the high mountain behind us.  This is supposedly where the film ‘South Pacific’ was shot (although a few places claim this).  The anchor seems to set but half an hour later, when Carole and John are off swimming, we start to drift backwards at an alarming rate and have to quickly pull the anchor up and reset it.  We do this another three times before it eventually digs in properly and John dives over the anchor just to make sure.

Photo:  Opunohu Bay, Moorea

The scenery is quite like Cook’s Bay – dramatic and rocky and makes a nice backdrop for the boat.  Ronja and Liza are already moored here, but Liza leaves for an overnight to Huahine just as Wild Tigris arrives.  We eat the fabulous white tuna for dinner and I retire early, tired and feeling sorry for myself.  Where did this bug come from?

 

Our position is:  17 deg 29 min S, 149 deg 51 min W

Distance so far:  6660 nautical miles

Day 118: Moorea to Tahiti – 03/05/10

No, I am not going mad, we do go back to Tahiti because we need to provision and re-fuel.  When we left Tahiti on Saturday, it was May Day and everything was shut.  But I digress.

I wake up feeling distinctly unwell but amazingly it isn’t a hangover – I seem to have managed to avoid one of those by the skin of my teeth – no, the glands in my neck are swollen and I just feel grotty.

We get under way and Carole decides to cook kedgeree.  This is the beginning of her test to see how well she can cope with sailing on a catamaran.  She manages to stay in the galley long enough to prepare and half cook the meal, but not wanting to push her luck, she gets John to take over.  Slowly, slowly catchee monkey, as they say.  Although the crap Ecuadorian rice threatens to ruin the meal, the flavour makes up for it.  Merci beaucoup.

As we sail (read motor sail for that as there is again virtually no bloody wind) back to Tahiti, I start to feel worse and eventually retire to sleep in my cabin, only being roused when we get to the fuel dock at Marina Taina by the promise of an ice cream.

Mike comes down and tells me that Rosemary and Bill are here but I just presume that he means their boat, Crazy Horse, is here in the marina.  What he doesn’t make clear is that they have come down to the dock to say hello, so I miss them, which I am sad about as I haven’t seen Rosemary for ages.  Why do men only ever give you half the picture when they communicate?

From the fuel dock, we literally back Jeannius around the corner to moor side-to on the dock.  On the super yacht dock no less!  Oh yes, in with the big boys.  As Mike backs Jeannius into her parking spot, an anxious crew member on S/V Perseus whistles out to warn us that their boat is behind us.  I look up in all innocence at this 120 foot monster, all polished hull and gleaming stainless steel, lean over the guard rail, smile sweetly and shout “Oh God, I’m sorry.  We didn’t see you there!”  He has the good grace to smile sheepishly as he looks down my cleavage.  I could put my make-up on in the mirror-like shine of the blue hull.

We wait for the weather to cool down a bit then emerge to go to the supermarket.  We have to walk past the super/mega yachts – only one is the usual gigantic gin palace – you know, the motor boats that never go anywhere – the rest are proper posh things with sails – and they are beautiful.  Mind you, with a full crew rubbing down and polishing every surface every minute of the day, you’d expect them to be.  Poor Jeannius looks like she is cowering in a corner.

Photo:  Jeannius and Perseus

Photo:  Sunset over Moorea

We trudge along the road to the supermarket.  After nearly three months of really bad food shopping facilities, you cannot begin to understand how it feels to be faced with a huge French branch of Carrefour.  Talk about kids in a sweetie shop.  We get most of the essentials and I wander along the shelves of pates, foie gras, truffles, oils, charcuterie, cheese and chocolate, salivating as I go.  Most of it we just have to walk past as it is just so expensive.  We aim to provision our store cupboard items practically to Australia.  We fill up our trolley, knowing that we will have to come back tomorrow for another load. 

Mike manages to find one red wine box that isn’t extortionate but I balk at the price of the white wine and just decide I will drink the odd gin and tonic instead.  Carole and John, who are buying for the four of us for the next couple of weeks are not as lucky.  They get to the checkout, and the sumo wrestler behind the till refuses to let them have the wine and beer because it is one minute after 7 pm.  Given the way she heaves the case of beer off the conveyor belt and out of the way with one hand, it’s probably a good job that John doesn’t argue!

Walking back with the supermarket trolleys is not particularly easy as the pavements are pitted, but at least there are pavements.  This has to be one of the least glamorous aspects of yachting – that and the laundry.

Photo:  £400 spent, and just one wine box between us!

Back on the boat we unload and attempt to pack away the goods, then revel in a simple but lovely supper of dry cured ham, olives, smelly cheese, bread and wine.

 

Our position is:  17 deg 30 min S, 149 deg 49 min W

Distance so far:  6656 nautical miles

Day 117: Moorea – 02/05/10

We decide go to the Blue Pineapple snack bar for a late breakfast, and pile in the dinghy.  It is a pretty waterside location and the view across the calm bay is beautiful from our table.

Photo:  View from the Blue Pineapple over Cook’s Bay

We order fresh juice, eggs, bacon and pancakes and when the huge plate arrives, we realise that we are eating breakfast and lunch!  There are chickens wandering around the restaurant, a rather incongruous sight, but they are very pretty ones.

I walk through the grounds of the resort afterwards.  It’s a bit tatty around the edges and needs a bit of TLC but the surrounding views are fantastic.

Photos:  Views of the Bali Hi Resort, Cook’s Bay

We go in search of the supermarket, which we are assured is open on Sunday mornings but when we find it, it’s closed.  We sit for a while to admire the views, then head back.

Photo:  Boat cradle, Cooks Bay

We meet Ana and Jim from Ocean Jasper as we walk along the road and invite them over for a drink tonight, then carry on walking in the hope that the Mobil petrol station in the distance continues with the normal convention of having a convenience shop where we can buy a couple of things like juice and bread.  It does, although no bread today, so we buy Magnums instead and gobble them down quickly before they melt in the 34 degrees of heat.  The two cartons of juice, one bottle of lemonade, two bags of crisps, one bottle of mosquito repellent and four magnums (yes, healthy shopping, huh?) comes to nearly £50!

On the way back to Jeannius, Casey from Wild Tigris waves us over and then invites us for cocktails tonight.  As we have already invited Ocean Jasper, we invite him and his crew over to us instead, but we hop aboard for a look around.  Wild Tigris is 30 years old and the biggest boat taking part in the rally.  As we sit in the spacious saloon we realise that Casey has a cunning plan inviting us over – as Mike is appropriated in an attempt to fix their computer problems.

Photo:  That speck at the front of Wild Tigris is me ……

Photo:  …… And just to prove it, a close up!

We give Jeannius a quick once over as we are expecting guests and around 4 pm Mike suggests I bake a cake.  I in turn, suggest that since it’s his idea, he can bake a cake, so he does, and it turns out pretty good.  It’s another banana one done in the bread maker. 

Just a few people for sundowners turns into quite a little party in the end.

Photo:  Ana and Jim from Ocean Jasper

Photo:  Bob, Tom and Carole

Photo:  Myself, Mike, Jutta, John, Maggie and Jochem

Photo:  Maggie and Bob pose with Gerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead aka Jochem

Photo:  Bob, Suzanna, Maggie and Jochem

Photo:  Sophia, Ana and Paul

Photo:  Casey and Tom posing

Photo:  I always have to have my cuddle with Paul

Photo:  Sophia and Sean

Our cupboards, which start out pretty bare as far as alcohol is concerned, soon get depleted, despite the additions which are brought onto the boat by our guests.

Towards the end of the evening, John passes the table and picks up his can of beer, taking a large swig of it.  Unfortunately, he fails to notice that his can has gone and the one he has picked up is the one which has been used by Jutta all evening as an ash tray.  He barely makes it to the edge of the boat before heaving its contents back over the side.  Poor boy.  How we all laughed.  He’ll sniff every can he ever drinks from in future.

Day 116: Tahiti to Moorea – 01/05/10

Feeling only very slightly hung over (much to my surprise), I set Skype up and call Johanne to let her know how much money I have spent on her pearls.  I put the web cam on and model them for her although this doesn’t really show the colour.

Photo:  Johanne’s new necklace

We get the boat ready for sailing.  John makes a really good job of cleaning the decks and Carole makes pancakes for breakfast.  I finish off the last bit of washing, we stow the washing machine away, fill up the water tank and eventually by mid morning we are ready to leave.

It is a really pleasant sail over to Moorea, only 16 miles away, very gentle for Carole’s first introduction to a catamaran.  She can’t believe that she can make tea and put the pot and cups on the cockpit table without them going everywhere!  We have a maximum of 12 knots on the way over and average about 6 knots.

Photo:  Moorea

We sail along the north coast of the island, heading for the opening in the reef at Cooks Bay.  Like Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas, the scenery here is dramatic and beautiful.  The ocean crashes with only small rollers onto the reef, although there are still lots of surfers hanging around in the water waiting for the larger ones.

The sheer, craggy cliffs come right down to the water, palm trees and other vegetation clinging precariously to them.

Photo:  Waiting for a roller, a surfer lurks in the water

Photo:  Anchorage at Cooks Bay

Some of the WARC boats are already in and we circle around looking for a good spot.  Mike finally chooses one and I put the anchor down.  We wait anxiously but there is no nasty grounching noise to give us a hint that we have hit coral.  Then we wait to see if the anchor settles.  Although there is no vibration in the anchor chain, immediately Mike puts one of the engines into reverse, we go backwards, so up comes the anchor, this time with tons of soft gloopy mud attached to the chain.  Ah, that’s the problem – from one extreme to the other, bloody coral to soft mud.  I take the chain up again and we move, then put it all back down.  This time it holds firm and I quickly scuttle back into the shade as it is really hot.  John hoses the chain down with the salt water hose – it really is a disgusting mess.

Photo:  Job done, I get back into the shade

We have a late lunch but I overcook and we are all totally stuffed!  This of course means that we have a nap afterwards.  None of us are hungry when it comes to dinner time and we sit and compare videos and pictures of the trip so far.  It’s so funny seeing John’s pictures of almost exactly the same things.  By 9 pm we are all peckish though so I knock up a quick salad.  By 10 pm everyone except me is tucked up in bed.  I am still writing the blog and don’t finish until 11.30 pm when Mike gets up and practically drags me to bed – and I still haven’t finished.

 

Our position is:  17 deg 30 min S, 149 deg 49 min W

Distance so far:  6642 nautical miles