Tahaa - Hit a Coral Head

We left Faaroa Baie on Raiatea on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 without an anchorage in mind.  We traveled up the northeast side of Raiatea scouting possible anchorages.  Seeing none that looked interesting, we headed to the little town of Uturoa on the northern coast of Raiatea facing the southern coast of neighboring Tahaa.  Tahaa has approximately 5,000 residents.

The possible anchorage off of Uturoa was small and full, so we crossed this off our list and headed through the well marked channel skirting a major reef area across the lagoon to Tahaa.  We spent one night in lovely Haamene Baie on the southeast side of Tahaa. 

Wednesday, Haamene, August 3

The bay was deep and well protected.  We anchored in 30 feet of water near the head of the bay and the sleepy little town of Haamene.  

This town is the only town in Tahaa with the elementary and middle school.  In Society Islands, the elementary school is called primarie and the middle school for students 10-15 years of age is called college.  Children from around the island attend these schools when they are in session.  Right now the students are on holiday and the town is very quiet.  When students are high school age, they go across the lagoon to Raiatea to attend the high school.

Haamene also has a small grocery store, post office, bank, town hall, snack bar, and church.  We had pretty much explored the town in half an hour after our arrival. Upon our return to the boat, we now had some company, Michael and Jody from California on the their 47 foot Gulfstar ketch, Savannah, home port of San Francisco. Their boat has often been mistaken as a Nauticat.  Even we were wondering from a distance if they were our twin.

We invited Michael and Jody over for wine that evening and had a nice evening getting to know them a little better.  They told us of a place they had heard of from friends that is a great place to snorkel called the coral gardens on the northwest side of the island near the motus of the Perle Hotel.   The hotel is very exclusive and rooms run about $900.00 a night.  We would be happy to anchor to the side and enjoy the same scenic beauty.

When we awoke on  Wednesday morning, the bay was absolutely still and the lighting for taking photos was magnificent so of course I took some and  here they are.

Looking out from Haamene

Morning lights on Haamene

Reflection Pond!

Russ returning from a post office, bank, and bakery run.

We left Haamene about 9:00 a.m. with the thought of going out to the Perle Hotel to anchor for the night and do some snorkeling.  Some of the scenery traveling around the island was beautiful.  Worrall Wind sailed past pearl farms, churches, and morning outrigger canoes.  

Outrigger Canoe Passes in Front of a Motu close to Coral Gardens

Bora Bora Beyond the Reef

We caught our first sight of Bora Bora from the distance of about 20 miles away.   There are red and green markers defining the deep water channel which we carefully paid attention to.  As we passed the last green marker to our starboard side, there was not another green marker within site.  To our starboard side lay the motus we wanted to go to and numerous sail boats, mostly catamarans but a few monohulls, one that was well over 80 feet long.

Coral Gardens – Almost!

We examined our charts and watched our depth sounder as we slowly approached the motus.  I could see some light blue sand areas so I went up on the bow to guide Russ over to the anchorage.  We still had 30 feet of crystal clear water under us and were less than 50 yards from the ancorage.   As soon as I reach the bow, I became alarmed at how close the coral heads seemed to be to the surface.  Before I could even register the alarm, the boat bumped up and on top of one of the heads, stopping us abruptly.  Oh sh#!! 

Now what?  No Boat US here.  Russ tried to plow forward with no avail.  I could see a clear channel to the right of us, but how to get there was the question.  Should we put up the sail, use the anchor to kedge, or just cry?  By this time one of the cruisers on his dinghy came towards us from the anchorage.

“Geez, I was just out here fishing and didn’t think these coral heads were so high,” he exclaimed.  “You look like you are two inches above the water line.”  He also told us that that the heads were at least 15 feet under the water.  Although he was quite nice and it was reassuring to know that there was someone else who spoke English nearby, he wasn’t able to really help us.  We draft nearly 7 feet loaded, so these heads were probably just under the water by 7 feet in most places.  Lesser draft sailboats and cats were able to skim the surface, we weren’t.  We weren’t listing, but high centered and stuck on a bomme.

At this point Russ decided that he was going to try and backup, but then what? Back out the way we came (backing up is always a problem with our prop walk), or thread our way forward through the narrow channel.   He put the throttle into reverse and gunned it.  We could hear our keel grinding against the bomme and slipping off.  After what seemed like an eternity and which in reality was less than 10 minutes, we were free of this monster head. 

Russ put the boat into forward propulsion as I stood on the bow pointing my arms in the direction he needed to turn and calling back to him starboard, starboard, starboard, port, port, port, more port, more port, starboard now, starboard, starboard!  We were finally in an area with blue sand an in the anchorage.  Our cruiser advisor, pointed to an area of sand about 30 feet deep sandwiched between coral heads at the bow and very shallow sands behind  the stern.  “It should be ok to anchor here,” he called.

“Thanks,” I cried my heart still pounding from being grounded and doing somersaults at what looked like a recipe for anchoring disaster, “but how do we just get out of here?” 

“Just go that way he pointed, you should have plenty of water under you,” he responded.  We waved goodbye, thanked him again,  and got the heck out of there. Wish we had come in that way, but there was nothing on the charts indicating that one way or the other was the better approach.   We may have over reacted, but we wanted at least 50 feet of water under us and 200 yards of swing room from our anchor.

Wednesday - Apu Bay – Taravana Yacht Club, August 4

We sighed with relief once the water was deep blue again, but were disappointed at having to give coral gardens a pass……at least for now.  We looked for anchorages on the coast of Tahaa, but still suffering from our near catastrophe, we opted to head for Apu Bay on the Southwestern side of Tahaa where we knew we could anchor or get a mooring buoy at the Taravana Yacht Club.

Our new son-in-law has a close friend whose father owns and operates the Taravana Yacht Club.  We had made contact with Richard the proprietor the day before and had told him we would be there in a few days…that’s when we thought we would be at coral gardens for a night or two.   There are fourteen mooring buoys in the bay in front of the club.  Fortunately, there were 3 buoys available.  We snagged one and slept far better Wednesday night on a buoy than we would have anchored between a coral head and shallow beach at coral gardens.  We were treated by a beautiful Polynesian Sunset.

The Taravana Yacht Club is a lovely open air restaurant and bar that is officially closed on Wednesday and Thursday. 

It was very quiet on Wednesday night and we had an opportunity to get to know Richard a little bit while he was not having to work. He is a great guy and sincerely enjoys having fun and making people happy.  He is a father figure for many of the young cruisers and local kids.

Roz, Richard, and Russ

Thursday – Potluck, August 5

We spent Thursday finally getting our WIFI working again, doing laundry, straightening the boat, taking a walk, and relaxing.

Laundry with a View

 We even had time to watch a coconut sprout and play hide and seek with a coconut crab.

On Thursday, even though the club restaurant is closed, Richard opens the bar and cruisers are invited to bring meat to grill on the bar-b-que and side dishes to share.  Pina Coladas are the house specialty, and they were great!  We met several other cruisers and made arrangements with the dive shop to go on a 4 x 4 expedition on Friday that would also take us snorkeling at coral gardens.  Yes!

Worrall Wind Update - Winds have died down - Up a Lazy River

UTC/Local Time: August 3 0630/August 2, 2030


The winds that have been howling for three days settled down today in the bay where we have anchored. We will make a final decision tomorrow morning whether we are leaving and venturing up to the north end of Raiatea.

Yesterday, our friends Gene and Gloria on Pincoya anchored next to us after coming across the channel in 35 knot winds and 14 foot seas, trying to set anchor in a bay south of us only to find themselves on a reef with howling winds and 3 foot windwaves. They were fortunate to get off of fringed reef with help from their sail and motor. Better yet, it doesn't appear that they are taking on any water or the boat is any worse for the grounding. The were happy to join us in the bay we are in where there is good holding, even though it got pretty windy and rainy.

Today, the four of us in our respective dinghies, ventured up the only navigable river in French Polynesia.

We were able to go into the jungle for several miles before it got too shallow for us to motor or paddle.

Unlike the jungles in Mexico, these waters were devoid of any visible wild life...turtles, alligators, birds, etc. We could hear some birds, but did not see them.

The beautiful flowers, palms, and foliage made up for the lack of wildlife. Despite the winds near the ocean, the inland water was quite calm. We came across a woman and three teenage girls in chest high water collecting shrimp and small bait fish in the foliage near the river bank.

They weren't having a lot of success, but looked like they were enjoying themselves. They may have gotten enough for evening appetizers.

Shrimp Catch

At one point, we were able to dock the boats and take a walk through an abandoned plantation with a variety of beautiful plants, butterflies, spiders, and yellow striped lizards.

There is a gentle breeze this evening and the stars are twinkling in a pitch black sky.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Holed up on Raiatea

Sunset - Looking West from Fare on Huahine

UTC/Local Time: July 31 0400/July 30 1800
Latitude: 16 49.061 S
Longitude: 151 24.957 W

Update:
After looking at the Grib files and the weather forecast, we decided to leave Huahine on Friday and make our way across the channel to Raiatea. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday called for high winds, 12 foot seas and rain. Friday, although many superstitious sailors would refuse to take leave on this day, was the only reasonable window until the middle of next week. Our other choice was to stay put in Huahine.

Unfortunately, the Fare anchorage is beneath a mountain that Russ named Rainmaker. Fare anchorage can be quite gusty even in good weather.  We couldn't imagine what it would be like in the predicted high winds, so we came across the channel.
 

Waves break to the side of us as we came through Irihu Passe

We motored the whole way so that we could get through Passe Irihu and anchored behind the reef early in the afternoon. We have taken refuge in a bay called Faaroa. It provides reasonable protection, although we have measured winds of 37.8 knots and the anchor chain moans and groans. The wind calmed down last night, and has alternated between periods of calm and high winds all day today.  Of course there are also accompanying rain squalls.

 
We could have moved to a more quite anchorage, but we heard on the radio about how crowded this anchorage is. There are thankfully only a few boats here, so we don't have to worry about anyone dragging down on us.

Today, while securely anchored despite the high winds and fetch coming down the mouth of the bay, we have been listening to an audio book, Timeline by Michael Crichton, while working on projects. The sun has now gone down and it is relatively quiet. The worst of the weather is supposed to pass through late tonight and tomorrow morning then gradually abate through Tuesday or Wednesday.
There is no Internet in this bay, Drat! If you wish to contact us, please use our sailmail address and we will download by radio. In the meantime, we are reading, listening to books, splicing lines, working on projects, and just relaxing. I've actually been reading about and playing with photoshop.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Exploring Huahine

Taking Care of Business and Exploring Huahine, Society Islands

Sunday, July 25, 2010 - On the Hook and Why is the water pump on?

After our crossing from Moorea, we arrived in Fare Bay in Huahine, dropped the hook, did some cleanup and spent the afternoon and early evening just relaxing and napping. When it was time for bed, I took first shower. The shower sump pump worked fine, but I couldn't hear the volume of water exiting the boat that I should have. Finally, I heard the water being pumped out of the boat and enjoyed the hot water shower. After my shower the water pump came on and didn't seem to go off. I brought the matter to Russ's attention. Are slow start to shower sump pump and fresh water pump not turning off unrelated or related? It's late. We decide to turn off the fresh water pump and sleep on it. We were planning on renting a car in the morning, but looks like we have some maintenance work to do instead.

Monday, July 26, 2010 - Fixing things and Grocery Store Adventure
We get up early in the morning, after a night of howling winds and us checking the anchor alarm frequently. We held tight. Russ starts to sleuth down the water pump problem.

Good news: We have an extra pump, if the pump is the problem.

Bad news: Our dry bilge has several gallons of unaccounted for water.

Good news: It's not sea water. Bad news: Shower sump overflowed once again. Not sure why, maybe it lost its prime during the rolling seas.  Russ cleans out the bilge. But there is more water in the bilge than could possibly have come from the shower sump overflow.

Good news: Water pump is working. Good pressure at the pump.

Bad news: There is not enough pressure building to fill the hoses. There is a leak somewhere.

Good news: There is no leak forward of the pump.

Bad news: That means the leak is behind the pump (engine room, aft head or shower).

Good news: Russ finds the leak in the aft head cupboard. A T-joint stressed out during our rocking and rolling. My shower blew it off the hose. Russ has the right replacement. We are fixed and just need to dry out by 11:00 a.m.

Moral of the story: Turn off the fresh water pump at night and when we leave the boat. (Fortunately, we were onboard when the fixture broke and we could hear the water pump on. Had we not been on board, the water pump would have continued pumping all of the water (250 gallons) out of water tank into the bilge. Hopefully, the bilge pump would have pumped it overboard as soon fast as it was being pumped into the bilge or we could have had major problems with flooding on the boat.) So many lessons to learn.

We still are having problems connecting our WIFI system to local provider. Seems to have gone haywire after Russ fixed the gooseneck on the mast….hmmmm. More later on that. We had done enough fixing for the day and went ashore to walk around.


 Grocery Store Adventure

The cruising guide said there was a fabulous grocery store on this little island. It was not an exaggeration. Actually, the variety of merchandise was amazing rivaling the biggest Carrefour (similar to Walmart) in Papeete. We even found things here we couldn't find in Papeete or Mexico……Denty Moore Stew, Chilie Con Carne, etc. Who would have evers thought we could get so excited about these little things!

We also found some powdered yogurt mix call Eaziyo from New Zealand. Of course, I had to buy a few packages.After our exciting grocery store adventure, we met up with friends on The ROAD, for happy hour, then returned from the dingy dock on shore to the boat for some chilie con carne.

Dinghy Dock in Fare

Russ could hardly wait. I made up a batch of vanilla yogurt and could hardly wait for 8 hours while it thickened.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - Rain  Forest Walk

The vanilla yogurt was delicious! I'm going back for some more of those packages before we leave here. We took a lovely walk with friends from The Road into the rainforest today just outside of town. And of course, it rained while we were there, but the canopy was so thick, we could hardly feel the rain, only the secondary drips as the rain slid off the leaves to the forest floor. The variety and beauty of the vegetation here in Polynesia is incredible. Here are some photos of our rainforest exploration.

Shirely, Taffy from SV The ROAD, and Russ

After our morning walk, we returned to the boat. Russ started sleuthing out the problem for the WIFI problem. Basically, the router was working fine, but the "bullet" that picks up the signal from the antenna didn't seem to be working. Next step is to investigate the wires in the mast. Did Russ nick or pin them when he was repairing the gooseneck?

We decided he had done enough work for one day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon snorkeling in a nearby reef and getting our exercise by swimming from the reef back to the boat towing the dinghy behind us, just like Jack LaLane swimming from Alcatraz towing a rowboat with the line in his teeth……well not quite, but it still brought that image to mind.

We are renting a car tomorrow with Shirley and Taffy on The ROAD. This cruising couple is from South Africa. They have been cruising for ten years. We met them and their crew member,Collin a fellow countryman , and their very intelligent parrot Rubbish while we were moored in Tahiti. The ROAD stands for the Royal Order of the Ancient Druid. Taffy claims to be the ancient druid and is the head of the royal order.


Wednesday, July 18, 2010 - Island Tour

We got an early start with Taffy and Shirley for the rental car agency on Wednesday morning, but got there later than we intended because there was quite a bit going on in town. We could hear the Tahitian drumming coming from the pier.

A dozen women dressed in their Polynesian finery with headdresses and arms filled with fragrant leis were waiting for the approaching cruise ship, the Tahiti Nui.

La Head Director

Passengers disembarked and were greeted with leis and the two cheek kisses. Turns out that the passengers on this boat were primarily the international bicycle teams participating in the Polynesian Bicycle Race. Each day, the cyclists ride around the different islands. We were to see them later in the day on our car tour around the island.  This was a fun way to start our day!

Highlights of our tour around the island were:

Maeva - is an excavated archeological site of ancient Marae (Island Royalty, Religious site). On Huahine, the various chiefs from around the island had all of their ceremonial homes and religious sites in one place instead of sprinkled around the islands near their own villages. It's an unusual practice, but makes for an impressive excavation and archeological place of interest. We wondered through the sites for about an hour. Ancient fish traps are still in use today outside of the town.

Ancient Terraced Gardens and Foundations

Shallow rooted palm trees lean into the wind

Fish Traps Still in Use Today

Coral City - On the end of a peninsula on the west side of the island near the now defunct Sofitel hotel, we went for a snorkel. A local woman, Michele, suggested that we not wear our fins, but sandals into the water. She pointed out to what looked like a kilometer away to the reef and asked if we could see the exposed coral reefs sticking out of the water. We could. She said we could wade out to them and because of the current, it would be better for us to keep our feet on the ground so we didn't drift south.

Had Michele not suggested that we go out to the rocks, we would never have ventured that far from shore on our own. It was truly spectacular to see the variety of fish, coral, anemones, sea cucumbers, clams, and spiney urchins in the crystal clear water. After our snorkel we got back in the car and continued on our tour.


Blue-eyed Eels - Just before crossing the bridge that joins Huahine Nui to Huahine Iti, we came to a little village with a fresh water stream that was nearly dry. Purportedly, on the downriver side of the bridge that crosses the stream, there live some blue-eyed eels that are revered on Huahine. By the looks of the very little amount of water in the stream, we wondered if the eels were still alive and about.

To our amazement they were. A tour group came through and had a bucket of meats that they started to through out to the eels. Thee eels, many four feet long, sucked in the meat like slimey vaccuum cleaners. The tour guide was sure to keep her fingers out of the way. When the eels got close, she and her tour would pet them. We were happy to stand on shore and watch the whole experience. And yes the eels do have blue eyes.

Tour de Polynesia - If you have ever seen bicyclists racing, you know how fast the experience whizzes by. When we stopped at a high overlook on Huahine Iti, we were the only car on the overlook.

Within minutes the overlook parking area filled with cars and people. The cyclists were coming up the hill and we had front row seats. Fortunately because they were huffing and grinding up hill, we got a bit more time to watch them before they crested and disappered in a flash on the downhill side. It was very exciting.

Here They Come!

Rah! Rah!

And,  There They Go!

Vanilla Plantation - On the eastern side of Huahine Iti, we stopped at a vanilla plantation. The owner showed us his crops and how the vanilla bean is grown. He only spoke French so we just got a little information from him.  We will have to learn more.   And of course, we each had to buy some fresh vanilla beans.

Vanilla Vines in Screened Greenhouse

We returned to Fare, dropped off our car, and proceeded to happy hour. We had had a wonderful day. Our friends Gene and Gloria on Pincoya had come into the bay and joined us for happy hour.

Thursday, July 29, 2010
Last night, the Tahiti Nui, loaded with all of the cyclists disappeared out the reef while we slept. We decided to stay close to the boat and relax today. Tomorrow, we plan to cross the channel to Raietea and Taaha, about 20 miles away.

In the meantime, Russ is still sleuthing down the problem of our WIFI. It turns out that he didn't pin the wire inside the mast while fixing the gooseneck, but he had nicked it breaking one of the wires inside the casing. He soldered it together and is now seeing if that will be enough to solve the problem. We hope so since direct connect to the Internet is painfully slow.

This afternoon, we will make one last trip to the grocery store and maybe do one more snorkel adventure.

Huahine is not to be missed.  We have had a great time here.

All is well on Worrall Wind.