25 August 2024 – Moorea- Society Islands

The night was windy and blowing about 20-25 kts and we swung around a bit. It was still blowing hard when we woke and it was quite grey and there were little wavelets. A cruise ship has snuck into the bay in the night.

We had breakfast ( bacon and eggs) and initially relaxed. However, the wind was likely to continue so we thought it may be more sheltered if we went more into and to the end of the bay. We therefore upped anchor in about 20-26 kts of wind and headed into the bay. As we continued the waves and white horses declined and we found a good anchoring point deep into the bay. This was less windy and had little swell/wavelets and we looked up at the peaks of the steep hills around us.

The anchor area was filthy and covered in mud from the anchor in Cook’s Bay and I thought I ought to clear it up. This meant sweeping up all the dried mud and then getting out the fire hose and cleaning all with a brush. I then saw that the anchor locker was full of mud so I emptied it and got in and got rid of crud and muck at the bottom. I needed to ensure that the drain hole was not blocked as it drains any water from the anchor locker out of the hull. Once done I put everything back and felt that was a job well done. The decks also needed a clean down as the mud had gone down the side decks.

Mark whipped the end of the painter on the dinghy and I also tidied things up. We read and did admin (in my case still sorting things out in New Zealand for when Stormbird arrives which is taking some logistics to organise) and I always have to think and prepare ahead.

We had lunch and decided to go ashore and see if we could visit the botanical gardens which Maps Me (a map app on my phone) said was nearby. There was a little marina on the eastern shore and we thought we would see if we could leave the dinghy there. We were allowed to and walked to where it said the tropical garden was but it was no longer open and is now a private house. Despite this we continued to walk on to the end of the bay and came across a prawn farm and also saw lots of crabs disappearing down holes as we walked. They live in them here. We felt like a drink but there was nowhere to get one.

We walked back to the marina and then back to Stormbird. A man came over to say hello on the adjacent boat called Aspro. They were from Belgium and knew my cousin Ben and had met him on Vigo in Galicia Spain. He had told them about us and vice versa and we had not yet bumped into each other. We had a good chat and we may bump into them again as they are also going to New Zealand for the end of the year.

We needed some more bread so I made a loaf which turned out well. We enjoyed a Sundowner on the rear deck as the sun faded. Shinkai the super yacht we had seen in the Tuamotus came into the bay and had been in Marina Taina when we were there. They seem to be following us around.

Mark cooked a swordfish supper with spicy tomato chickpeas which was very good. It had been a quiet day but enjoyable and we had chilled and done some stuff.  We want to go snorkelling tomorrow again.

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com