Month: July 2012

July 29, 2012

The main town in Huahine is Fare.  It’s small, but it does have a couple of eateries, shops, a small resort hotel, and it’s famous among cruisers for its large grocery store. (Cruisers are crazy about large grocery stores!)  We headed in and found a small town that reminded me of the old section of La Paz, a favorite town in the Sea of Cortez area of Mexico.  It was pretty and had a peaceful, even sleepy feeling.  Of course, that may have been because it was Sunday and nothing was open.

We wanted to find a spot for lunch and after striking out in town, we headed to the resort in hopes their restaurant might be open.  It was, and it was a really pretty spot.  We ordered some food and a couple of beers and relaxed while we watched a mom teach her joyful child how to dive into the pool.  The waitress came by with small ramekin with something in it.  Was this some complimentary taste treat?  I pulled it over to look at it, and she said, “For the flies.”  There are flies?  I smelled it and it turned out to be a vinegar-soaked paper towel.

We soon got our food, and it was delicious.  It turns out the local flies share our opinion as they showed up soon after the food did.  It wasn’t too bad as we mostly waved them away or ignored them.  I don’t know what the vinegar cloth was supposed to accomplish, maybe repel them?  I don’t know how well it worked, but I suppose it made the hotel feel like they were doing something about the problem.  We enjoyed the lunch in spite of the intruders, but I did wonder if they’d be an annoyance during our stay.

That evening, things improved in the anchorage after a couple of boats left and it suddenly felt a lot more roomy.  Now we had space around us, nice conditions, and felt very comfortable. The next day we planned to motor down to the south end of the island to an anchorage reputed to be one of the nicest in French Polynesia.

July 28- 29, 2012

We were sad to leave Moorea, but strong winds were predicted and we wanted to get to the Leeward Islands (Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora) before they arrived. Our plan was to spend 3 or 4 days in Huahine and then head about 20 miles west to Raiatea to sit out the windy period.  Specifically we wanted to be in the city of Uturoa, the second largest city in French Polynesia.  There we’d hoped to have a secure place to tie up our boat, access to grocery stores, eateries, and a rental car if we wanted to see the island.

For now, our plan was to see Huahine while we had the chance.  It’s a little off the beaten path as most tourists focus on Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora.  We headed out late in the afternoon for the overnight passage.  It was uneventful as we motor-sailed the entire way, but we did notice our radar was getting an awful lot of noise spikes, like someone else with a very powerful radar was nearby.  We blamed a large super yacht that was in the area and didn’t think much more about it.  (It turns out that other radars may not be the cause and Simrad is sending us a new unit to try to fix the problem.)

We arrived at Huahine early in the morning and headed in through the pass in the reef.  All these islands are surrounded by a barrier reef, but unlike the Tuamotus, these passes are easy to navigate and can be done at any time with no worries about the state of the tide.

Unfortunately, getting anchored was not as easy as going through the pass.  It was a small anchorage off the main town, and there were a lot of boats there.  We maneuvered in and managed to find a spot, but it was a little closer to other boats than we like to be.  It would have to do for now.  Unfortunately, getting to a place and dealing with a crowded anchorage is like meeting someone and getting off on the wrong foot.  You start with bad feelings and you either get past them or not.  And so began our time in Huahine.

July 29, 2012

After a nice night’s motor-sail, we arrived at Huahine this morning.  It was really a pleasant 90-mile trip with smooth seas and light wind.  It was a bit of a challenge finding a spot to anchor as it’s pretty crowded and the anchorage near town isn’t very big.

July 27 & 28, 2012

We spent our last couple of days back in Cook’s Bay before heading on. We did some grocery shopping and met some newly-arrived friends for lunch on the deck of my beloved Bali Hai hotel.

Before we left the next day, a miracle occurred. We went for a long walk to a town outside the bay and found, at last, a decent cappuccino at small bakery cafe.

On the way back to the boat, we discovered a pizza place so good we seriously considered staying a few more days.

More winds were predicted and our clock was ticking (we have a 90-day visa in French Polynesia), so we needed to head on. I know it doesn’t sound very sailorly to want to avoid wind, but here it tends to bring sloppy seas and uncomfortable conditions (or maybe we have just become big wusses). In any case, our goal was to see Huahine and then be at Raiatea with its grocery stores and restaurants before the next wind’s arrival. So sadly, we headed on, knowing it would be unlikely to find a place as nice as Moorea- perhaps our favorite place yet. -Cyndi

July 22 – 26, 2012

Here are some more pictures of Opunohu Bay in Moorea that we just had to share.

Stress?  What was that again?