11 September 2024 – The Bora Bora Tour

It rained quite hard in the night at some point and I had to close my hatches. I have read somewhere that it rains here every day – and I can believe it. There is often quite a bit of cloud in addition to the sun and the peaks probably create their own microclimate. We did, however, wake to a good day and it was warm and sunny but there is always a bit of cloud drifting past.

We had breakfast and headed ashore to Vaitape as we were picking up a car for a few hours to explore the central island. We moored the dinghy in the little harbour again and picked up our car. Apparently it only takes about 45 -60 minutes to go round the island. We set off with good intentions to view the island. The guidebook gave us a good route to follow.

We headed out of Vaitape heading North and soon came to our bay where Stormbird was anchored and then we came round the bay and were looking for a Morea (ancient meeting/religious site). However, we could not find it and it seems as we drove round that where there were the large stones of Morea’s they seem just to have been built on and not retained or kept as Morea. The next stop was the Naval Museum which has a number of models of boats including one of HMS Bounty. We missed it the first time and found it the second time but it was closed and looked like it had been for some time.

The next stop was a track to some American Canons which had been left here from WW2 but we could not find the track or the signpost. Despite all this we carried on round and experienced magnificent views of the lagoon and motus. The water is a fantastic blue and with different shades depending on depth. We came to the great beach of Matira which is a golden sand beach with clear blue water and decided to have a swim which was nice. It was shallow water and there was little coral so not a snorkelling spot.

After our swim we drive round and came back to Vaitape and decided to go round again which is where we tried to find the Morea (we did not find) the museum which we did find but was closed and we did not find the canons. We carried on round and ate at Lucky House at Matira beach which we had recommended to us which was nice. We then returned to Vaitape and returned the car.

This is a very beautiful island in terms of nature; the scenery, the rain forests, the peaks, the gardens and flowering plants  and of course the lagoon and its magnificent blue water. However, man is not so beautiful and lets the side down. As we drove round we came across some nice houses and shacks but also many in a bad state and lots of cars, buses, lorries and construction vehicles just left abandoned and rusting away. If I was in charge here I would sort all this out as it is a great shame and eventually may lead people to not come. I appreciate there are the haves and have nots but even so have some pride for your beautiful island and protect it as you are there to help pass it on to future generations. Rant over – but I felt like expressing this.

We returned the Stormbird via the Bora Bora Yacht Club as Keith wanted to buy a shirt. There were some interesting boards on the wall about Operation Bobcat. After Pearl Harbour the US were looking for a base in French Polynesia to refuel ships etc. Bora Bora was an option and USS Sumner came here to survey the passe and harbour to see if suitable. This survey took 15 days (and negotiations took place with the French to get their consent) and the passe was blasted and from 22 January 1942 the island became part of the second world war.  The US strategy was to set up a supply base and they decided to set up a seaplane base here and a heavy fuel depot.

4,000 US service men disembarked from the first convoy and the US continued to occupy Bora Bora until 2 June 1946. They set up a fuel depot here with a maximum capacity of 5 million lts. Their challenge was that there was nothing here when they arrived and they had to build roads, water supply etc and infrastructure. In the end about 180 plus ships came to be refuelled or provided with water here. It is difficult to imagine 4,000 troops here and a bay full of ships.

We enjoyed a sunset on the aft looking toward the reef and then Keith cooked tuna steaks with carrots and peas. Delicious.

It had been a great day and we have booked an all-day lagoon tour tomorrow which will mean we will have explored by land and sea.    

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