9 September 2024 – Tahiti to Bora Bora
The 9.00pm to 12.00 midnight watch was relatively quiet and I wrote the blog and looked at the weather and spent some time working out what we could do regarding our course. I thought that the best option was to do the best course we could and set a waypoint about 28nm East of Bora Bora. When we got there we should be able to set a good course for the Northeast corner of Bora Bora and then move on to the passe.
Keith took over at midnight and it was essentially to stay on course until I took over again at 3.00am. Whilst I tried to sleep it was quite rocky and I think I just rested. The hours of 3 and 4am were hard as I was now tired and had to keep myself awake but we were making reasonable progress to the waypoint. The light began to be evident in the Eastern sky from about 5.15am and then it gradually got lighter over the next hour.
Bora Bora island group is in the Leeward Islands in the South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. Bora Bora has a total land area of 30.55 km2 (12 sq mi). The main island, located about 230 kilometres (125 nautical miles) northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano, rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu; the highest point is at 727 m (2,385 ft). Bora Bora is part of the Commune of Bora-Bora, which also includes the atoll of Tūpai. The main languages spoken in Bora Bora are Tahitian and French. However, due to the high tourist population, many natives of Bora Bora have learned to speak English.
Bora Bora is a major international tourist destination, famous for its seaside (and even offshore) luxury resorts. Its major settlement, Vaitape, is on the western side of the main island, opposite the main channel leading into the lagoon. Produce of the island is mostly limited to what can be obtained from the sea and from the plentiful coconut trees, which were historically of economic importance for the production of copra.
Bora Bora has apparently a nickname as The South Seas Pearl and has been described as one of the most beautiful islands in the world. It had former names of Vavue and Pora Pora. It has spectacular volcanic peaks surrounded by an extensive lagoon of varied hues of blue. The guidebook states that to call Bora Bora photogenic would be a glaring understatement. It was formed by a volcano some 7 million years ago and has stunning basaltic peaks which soar above lush lowland rain forest. Ancient Polynesians had the place to themselves from the 3rd century until about the 1800’s when protestant missionaries converted them. In 1888 it became a French Protectorate.
US troops in the second world war set up a base here in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbour and there were 6,000 based here. The current runway for the island came from that air base and there are a number of US naval canons still here.
James Cook on the Endeavour first came here in 1769 on his Venus spotting trip. It is a famous place for honeymoon couples to come and tourism is big business here. Tourists have the benefit of unparalleled beauty with sun and sand, diving, snorkelling, hiking and lagoons tours together with some nightlife such as Polynesian shows.
The above was the description we were looking forward to. We gybed about a mile from the waypoint and were then on a beam reach (where the wind comes on to the side of the boat) and Stormbird took off. The roll had gone and we were sailing along about 8.5-9.5kts with 3 reefs in the main and a heavily reefed genoa and the wind was only about 15 kts. We had 28nm miles to go and we eat up those miles quickly. We were cruising. We saw the outline of Tahaa and Raiatea first and then out of the gloom came the small high outline of Bora Bora’s peaks. It was grey cloudy morning as we sailed up and we had hoped for a sunny blue-sky day. As we got to within 10nm of Bora Bora a series of dark rain clouds came from the East with the wind and hit Tahha and Raiatea first and then went on to Bora Bora. Today’s picture is of Stormbird sailing toward Bora Bora and a base of a rainbow. We therefore slowed down and did not want to have come through the passe of Bora Bora in a rainstorm as we would not have been able to see how to come through the passe.
We had to bide our time and eventually we were all clear and approached the passe which is to the Northwestern side and is marked by buoys. We headed down the transit line and entered the famous lagoon whilst still in our raincoats!!! . Even though it was gloomy and not the best day to do this you could still see the lovely hues of blue and the peaks and green lush hills with rainforest and houses and hotels dotted around.
Once through the passe we headed for the famous Bora Bora Yacht Club which had moorings and where you could apparently anchor. We approached the area and it was full of mooring buoys none of which are likely to be heavy enough for Stormbird. There was now no space to anchor. We therefore having consulted the books again headed for the town of Vaiatape where you could anchor off the concrete wharf but this was not recommended when a cruise ship was in and there was one in the bay. The problem was the depth- -you had to anchor in 26 meters of water. Whilst we carry 100 meters of chain we could probably have done it but with having to out 4 x the depth we did not quite have enough. However, it did not look great.
We therefore headed down to the bay where the famous Bloody Mary’s restaurant is based. The great and famous have dined here and it had a good reputation albeit expensive. We did, however, find ourselves an anchorage spot and looked forward to trying the restaurant. There were buoys which are free if you dine there but again they were not for Stormbird.
We then looked up Bloody Mary’s and it was closed as they were building a hotel and we could hear building works going on. We have come all this way and ….
I therefore searched online and found that French Polynesia has recently introduced new controls on certain islands and anchoring is banned unless approved and mooring buoys are to be taken instead. For larger boats like Stormbird if you register and request you may be given an approved spot. To cut a log story short I spoke to the Head of Administration a lovely lady called Claire who explained the system to me and spoke good English. I therefore was asked to register and tried to find my Nationality but it was not there. Was this a French joke following Brexit – they called it Royaume Uni – call me ignorant but never heard of it. Apparently it is the United Kingdom – you learn something every day!!.
Once we sorted all this out which took most of the day we wanted to be nearer the Bora Bora Yacht Club which is famous and has a great restaurant and a great lounge to watch the sunset. After talking to Claire there is a free anchorage nearby and so we headed up there and there were no other boats there apart from one Catamaran which entered before us. We therefore took our spot which looks up at the peaks in front of us. I emailed Claire telling her this and she replied saying she will let the police know. Hopefully we are now sorted but none of the books or those I had spoken to mentioned this.
We had had a good passage the two of us and in 24 hours had covered 180nm in some testing conditions and we were here in one piece. Stormbird as usual looked after us. After a frustrating day we hope to enjoy this Perl of an Island over the next few days.
We had thought of going out but that would have been daft as we had not really had any sleep for two days. We therefore settled for Cassoulet and broccoli whilst listening to a melodical CD of French Polynesian music which we have come to like as it is in the background everywhere and on the radio. It personifies this beautiful part of the world. I am now going to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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