July 21 – 22, 2012
One of the things we learned as we got closer to the Society Islands (the islands around and including Tahiti) is that here, timing is everything. We cut short our time in Rangiroa because strong winds were expected, and we decided if we were going to be stuck on the boat for days, we’d rather it be at a marina, and better yet a marina near a big city. Luckily, the marina in Tahiti had room and we were able to make that happen (although the many boats who were anchored outside the marina were also very comfortable as the nearby mountains blocked the winds).
So while the boaters who opted to stay back in Rangiroa were dragging their anchors, stuck on their boats and generally having a rough time of it, the boaters who fled to Papeete were eating at restaurants, sampling new cheeses and wine from the huge grocery store, sightseeing in the city, catching up on laundry and boat chores, and generally having a very nice time.
As the winds lasted a good week or more, we thought we had really dodged a bullet with what we thought were unusually strong winds. But we’ve since learned that these winds happen here on a regular basis, that the winds we had just experienced were simply a little longer and stronger than the usual. It seems that much of our planning here would be affected by these weather systems.
As it happened, another round of winds was coming, but the timing was good in that we had planned to head on anyway. Our next island: Moorea, and specifically Cook’s Bay, maybe the most famous and photographed anchorage in the Society Islands because of the spectacular peaks at the head of the bay.
These same peaks make for something called the “Venturi” effect where southerly winds that come over the island funnel through them, making for some violent gusts. Our plan was to stay for just a night, then head for a deeper, more protected bay about a mile west before the stronger winds arrived.
We pulled into Cook’s Bay that afternoon, and it was beautiful. It felt great to be back in nature after being in a city and marina environment for over a week. We had a relaxed night, then the next morning went in search of good coffee drinks. We found them at the Bali Hai hotel, which had an old Polynesian ambiance and an amazing view of the bay. Many restaurants here have a cat or two wandering amid the tables; this place has a chicken. This was my kind of a place, and the cappuccino wasn’t bad (although admittedly our standards for this have been lowered quite bit)!
We actually felt inspired to head further up the road to another hotel with a deck and try their cappuccino, but the Bali Hai was our favorite. I could have happily sat on that deck every day. I wanted to stay longer, but our friends on Diamond Girl would be arriving that evening and they would be closer to the next bay, plus we wanted to avoid any possible venturi effect from the winds due to arrive the next day. Still, I was very sad when we pulled up our anchor and headed on. Mostly, when the time comes to leave a place, I feel satisfied and ready to go, but once in a while leaving is very hard. -Cyndi
