Day 4/5 - Society Islands, Moorea

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Latitude: 17 29.481 S

Longitude 149 51 117 W

Day 4  was a lazy day.  After  renting a car and touring the island the day before, we woke up with no scheduled to do anything.  Very nice indeed.  We read, downloaded and organized digital photos, listened to music, and enjoyed sitting on the lido deck soaking in the views.  Garyn and Jess went on shore for some land time around noon and didn’t return until late afternoon. 

Russ had done some dumpster diving the day before and found an old pair of broken flipflops which he cut up to make pads for the bottom part of the davits where there is ongoing dinghy rub.  He also worked a bit on  cleaning barnacles off of Hydie’s rudder.  About six we all returned to shore for pizza and salads.  There is a little pizza shack with wood oven.  We sat at the bar and were incredibly entertained watching a French woman and young man turning out pizzas. 

It was a small kitchen and the two of them did a choreographed dance with just two long-handled pizza pallets.  Each had his/her pallets.  The thin crust pizza’s only took about two minutes to cook (1 minute in the outer part of the oven and 1 minute on the inner part of the oven.  The oven looked like it could accommodate 3-4 pizzas at any one time.  So every minute., one- two pizzas came out, one to two pizzas were moved forward, and one–two  pizza’s were put on  the outside edge.

During the 1 minute intervals, the young man answered the phone, took orders, collected money from customers, and put balls of dough into a  press of sorts that made instant rounds which he then trimmed, floured, and staggered layers, sprinkled with flour onto a metal work surface.

The woman would flour one of the long handled pallets, lay on a round of pizza dough, sprinkle on the requested ingredients,  All of the ingredients had been prepared in advance and were ready to sprinkle.  The man would then take the his pizza pallet, remove the inside pizzas, shift the outside pizzas to the inside.  The woman would then put her pizza into the outside oven and immediately return it the work bench to flour and make another.  She could make two pizzas in   minute.

The timing was amazing to watch.  They worked steadily in this manner for the hour we were there eating dinner….great pizza’s too.  One of their specialties was the banana pizza.  The dough was covered with a thick whipping cream, piled with squished and sliced bananas and brown sugar.  It was one of the few pizzas that didn’t require the full two minutes.  After one minute in the outside oven, the young man would scoop it up on his pallet and hold up to the hot roof of the oven to bring the bananas and sugar to a golden brown.  When it came out of the oven and was cut and boxed, dark chocolate was dribbled in concentric circles all of the the the top!

We were exhausted watching the pizza dancers, so we came back to the boat, lay in  the hammock, listened to music and tried to count the stars before falling asleep.

Day 5 – Russ awoke early and began to service the engine, changing filters etcs.  He checked the fuel tanks and discovered the starboard tank had some water in the bottom.  He bled off the bottom of the water. After everything was in good order, we pulled anchor and motored  to the next bay over, Opunohu.   This bay does not have any commercial establishments….stores, banks, restaurants, etc.  Snorkeling and diving, and gazing at the uspoiled beauty are the primary activities.  

The water behind the reef where we are anchored is a gorgeous turquoise.  Our anchor which we can see is in about 30 feet of water dug into white sand.  We can see the bottom and have already spotted a couple of rays.  Before lunch we all went snorkeling.  Garyn and Jess went out toward the western reef where they were followed by a curious puffer fish.  Russ and I went toward the shore where there is a huge variety of reef fish living in the coral heads.  I counted at least 10 sea cucumbers.  The shore which is less than 100 yards from the boat is a public beach which has been filled all day with Polynesian families laughing playing in the water.

As I write this blog, Garyn and Jess are snorkeling, and Russ has gone off with Brian from Furthur on a dinghy ride, and I’m sitting in my office on the lido deck, but it’s time to get ready for island happy hour.  The sun is dipping lower in the sky.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 2/3- Society Islands

Day 2/3 - Moorea

Day 2 - After a great night's sleep, we lounged about the boat in the morning, eating buttermilk pancakes, calling our bank, and checking our email. We spent the afternoon, visiting local shops. Garyn and Jess walked the farthest and finally got their ATM to work. We came back to the boat at dusk and made a cold fruit salad. During the day, we had a visit from Brian on Furthur. We handed off his perfume package that we carried across the Pacific and met two (of 3) crew members from Slovania, both lovely young women.

Day 3 - We rented a car today and made a circle tour of the island. We stopped and had a wonderful lunch at a beach restaurant next to the old Club Med property.

This is where spent our 25th wedding anniversary, 16 years ago. We had heard that Club Med Moorea had closed, but it was so sad to see weeds growing through cracks in the tennis courts. We could see the tennis courts from the road. The rest of the property was was fenced with barbed wired. Part of our dream was to come back to Club Med, but I guess nothing ever stays the same. We could see the Motu's off of Club Med from the beach restaurant. We will have to figure a way to get to the Motus off of Club Med for some snorkeling. We remember this as being a pretty terrific place for snorkeling.

After a full day of touring (pineapple farms, beautiful vistas, jungle trails, and ancient ruins) we came back to the boat.  

While Garyn and Jess went for a sunset dinghy ride, we discovered as we were fixing some cocktails, that a beer can had leaked in the forward hold. What a mess. We smelled like a brew pub as we soaked up the beer and cleaned out the hold. Garyn and Jess fixed a nice pasta and salad for dinner this evening.


Russ and I set up the hammock on the foredeck and watched the stars come up over the jagged mountains. A gentle breeze is blowing. It is a warm caress. Tomorrow???? Don't worry. Be happy.
All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 3/1 - Society Islands Arrived

Day 2/3 - Land Ho Moorea! The Dream is Realized!

UTC/Local Time: 0712/2112

Latitude: 17.30.266 S
Longitude: 149 49.221 W

Update:

Tuesday, June 1:
The wind decreased to 7 knots towards late afternoon of day 2 and our forward progress was pitiful. We were under 1 knot of speed in the 2 meter swells. Our estimated travel time of 2 days was now estimating a July through September arrival. Given our experience and resolve not to run with the whisker pole or genny at night,it was time to turn on Lehman and Ray (engine and auto pilot)as the weather was showing decreasing wind over the next few days. We are all ready for some land.
We turned on the engine about 3:30 p.m., and under motor with a small tail wind we should arrive in Moorea early tomorrow afternoon.

Wednesday, June 2:
By 2:30 this afternoon, we were anchored in Cook's Bay in Moorea. This island with the backdrop of the lush green mountains with cumulus clouds building on top with deep blue seas is where we started the dream 15 years ago. On our 25th wedding anniversary, we came to Moorea and saw sailboats in the bay. We said, wouldn't it be wonderful to sail our own boat here someday? At that time, it was just a fantasy dream. As we were waiting on the bow while we were making sure the anchor was really set, Russ said, "Pinch me, are we really here?" I gave him a little pinch and a kiss. Yes we are really here! It's unbelievable. We did it! In the bay with us are several other Puddle Jump boats, including Alobar and Furthur.
We disembarked and went for an afternoon walk into town. We all seem to be having some difficulty getting money from the ATMs. We tried three of them with no success. Our challenge tomorrow will be to figure that out. In the meantime, we used plastic to buy some groceries and had a wonderful French dinner of curried shrimp and rack of lamb at one of the established restaurants on the bay. We sat next to the water and noticed that manta rays were swimming in. We counted 9. The waiter told us that up to 13 come in every night and are hand fed by the owner around 8:00 p.m. Sure enough at 8:00 p.m. the owner, descended the steps to the water with some tuna. The rays were flapping and vying for his attention as he pet them and gave them some tuna. It was fun to watch.

Garyn and Jess have gone to bed and we will be following as soon as this update is posted. It will be a joy to sleep all night on still waters. We look forward to some snorkeling and hiking over the next couple of days.

It is a beautiful night in Cook's Bay. It's very still. We cannot feel the boat move at all. The stars in the inky sky are brilliant. The moon has yet to rise. We have the doors and windows open and covered with mosquito netting. Off to our port side their is a church community center. When we walked by after dinner this evening, the place was packed what looked like funeral (not a lot of happy faces). Now that we are on the boat, we hear Polynesian singing waft across the water. Lovely.
All is well on Worrall Wind.