17S 150W August 2005

Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, and Bora-Bora are in The Society Islands spread across 200 miles of Pacific Ocean: The material of South Sea romances, and the location of film sets. They really are magnificent. Each island has sharp volcanic peaks covered in thick woods, falling to an apron of foreshore then 100 metres to 2km of shallow crystal blue lagoon before the yellow rim of the outer reef and a sheer drop into dark blue water. Each island has at least one, and sometimes several deep passes through the outer reef. Otherwise, the reefs are unbroken lines of coral just low enough for the swell to break over the top but usually high enough to hold the water inside the lagoon. The result is that a constant current runs out of the passes, which gets strong when the seas are rough. 5 to 10 thousand people live on each island except for Tahiti, the capital where there are 150,000. Each village is neatly kept with plentiful schools and clinics for the small populations. Polynesians are house-proud and the houses & gardens look simple but beautiful. The lower slopes have coconut, banana, papaya, bread fruit, mango and many other trees bearing rich crops of fruit.

We saw cruise ships come and go, anchoring with berths for 2 or 3,000 passengers, but just saw a few, normally packed, vehicles for their packaged afternoon trips. The local people are as friendly & welcoming as in the rest of French Polynesia, but the added tourism and better transport make the Societies more cosmopolitan. We walked, cycled, and swam in the lagoons. We resupplied the boat, and of course kept up boat maintenance. Most islands have a good bus service called "Le Truck" which is a type of bus with open wooden seating at the back.

Tahiti is the capital of French Polynesia and the supply base for the 100 plus small islands spread across more than 1,000,000 sq miles of ocean. We checked in so that we were finally legally in the country after 2 months of island-hopping; we shopped in western-style supermarkets; bought boat parts in chandeleries; we said goodbye to our friends, David & Mary, who left their boat and flew back to Canada. We walked up the nearest mountain and got lost, finding instead the local motor cross circuit. Each evening we would watch the fit young Tahitians taking their evening exercise by paddling their sporty fibreglass outrigger canoes through the anchorages. We could just sit watching the silhouette of Moorea across the strait.

We sailed the 20 miles from Tahiti across to Moorea, and anchored off the tiny village by Baie Opunohu where Captain Cook had been over 200 years earlier. I swam to the dock where 2 young girls were playing and calling and wanted to dive to the bottom with me. Next day we took our bicycles ashore and rode up to the famous view point. It was well worth the ride & the walk to the pass behind. However on returning, we heard that the village kids had used our boat as a diving platform. Nothing missing or damaged but enough to make us decide to move after a day on board for boat jobs. We tried the next pass west which is a tiny passage off a row of hotels. Tour operators feed the sting rays here so that you can stand in a few feet of water half a mile offshore with 6ft stingrays swimming round and brushing up against you looking for food. Next day it was back to the east of Opunohu. Jan cycled round most of Moorea with a Norwegian girl from another boat who was trying out the folding bicycle which she bought in Panama (it folded too often and she went flying twice). David did carpentry on the stern deck hatch, then climbed the steep, muddy ridge to the "Pierced Mountain" which has a hole right through it just below the peak. In the rain he needed the 12 or so fixed ropes to avoid slithering off down the ridge.

Huahine is another day's sail west, and is known for fruit and vegetable growing, but it is still steep and has some lovely silhouettes. We anchored off the village of Haapu for a week and mostly had the bay to ourselves. There are junior schools in Haapu, but the older children take the 1 hour ride each morning at 6.00am on "Le Truck" to the main town. It is a good life for people here, although, as in so many places, many younger people migrate to Papaete for better jobs and leave the small islands. Banana & papaya plantations are overgrown with climbing weeds.

One evening there were other boats and we all had a pot luck supper together. An Australian boat, a New Zealand, and a Turkish catamaran which had wintered in the same marina as us in Turkey 4 years ago. Over 3 or 4 days, Jan refinished most of the outside wood. We cycled round both halves of the island, collecting the new chain wheel from the airport on the way. The southern end of the lagoon is very wide and spectacularly blue, and a little pass, too shallow for us, is famous for surfers who can find both left & right hand waves there.

We sailed past Raiatea and Tahaa to Bora-Bora - the classic tourist spot with the most impressive sky-line and biggest lagoon of all. Almost all the local people are involved in tourism, but it still has a friendly feel. We did not have the bicycles ashore in Bora-Bora, but there are some spectacular walks up the 3 mountains. We anchored Harmonica in about 40ft of water, but many of the anchorages are 80ft or more deep, and we were glad to have bought the extra 100 ft of anchor chain in Panama last year.

Harmonica is now making passage from Rarotonga to Niue. We shall not be studying foreign languages for a while since most countries ahead speak either English or a language we have no ambitions to learn. Anyway, our learning success was shown to have limitations when we opened a tin of pineapple for desert last night and put condensed milk on it. After tasting, a closer examination showed that it was a Brazilian tin of "batata" or potato chunks.

Best wishes to you all

Jan, Dave & Harmonica.