Society Islands

My apologies for the lack of recent updates & therefore extra long news report! We have had a blast here. The best bit – enjoying paradise at a fraction of the price, the honeymoon couples are paying! A waterfront bungalow with a huge bed, crisp white bed linen, fresh water showers, air conditions & tv is appealing but at £400 per night I can do without!
Since leaving Tahiti we visited Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, & of course world famous Bora Bora. They are green, mountainous islands like the Marquesas but with reef encircling them, similar to the Tuamoto’s. We sail through the breaks in the reef (passes), dropping the anchor between the reef & land. Apart from the great food in the supermarkets the other thing the French do well is marking the channels with red & green posts to aid navigation. In one confused moment we motored in circles whilst trying to work out if the marker should be on our starboard or port side. Hugely important, get it wrong & the boat will hit reef…lets just put our indecision down to having too much sun!!
Moorea took our breath away for both good & bad reasons. Gillaume & Julian joined us from Tahiti for the weekend. It was great to share life on board Barraveigh & they were great guests. They arrived on 2 scooters with 2 surfboards, bottles of wine, a case of beer, my fab straw hat & snorkelling equipment – I wish we had taken a photo! Unfortunately overnight one of the scooters was stolen, hugely disappointing but they remained upbeat & continued to have a fantastic weekend.
Swimming with sting rays was the highlight in Moorea. We took the dingy to a swallow area in the middle of the ocean and were instantly surrounded by sting rays. They were very inquisitive, checking us out & swimming by brushing themselves on us. Bobby tried to get a ride on the larger rays, grabbing hold of their wings. Guess they weren’t keen as they’d stop swimming & go into reverse to get him off! Hanging around in deeper water just meters away were black tipped reef sharks. I guess they were friendly sharks & didn’t mind being chased by Bobby & I, who were keen to get a good photo!
During a kayak trip I made a discovery, five sunken Tiki’s the size of our dinghy. I doubt they are authentic but it was a cool find & I rushed back with my snorkelling gear.
The anchorage in Moorea was perfect, surrounded by coral & turquoise waters. Perfect until the wind kicked up. The anchor dislodged & we dragged. Luckily the chain wrapped around a coral head & stopped us from going into the reef but it could easily have been a different story. As daylight arrived & the winds died, we pulled anchor. Not easy with the chain wrapped around a coral head & very little room to manoeuvre. It was tense (especially between Captain & crew!) but we got Barraveigh out of there safely.
A night passage to Huahine was anything but tranquil. Both struggled to sleep during our 2 hours “off watch” due to unsettled seas & with intermittent winds the sails were constantly in & out, & engine on & off. Result a grumpy captain & moody crew! ; )
We remained in Huahine longer than expected waiting out a bad weather front. Much of the time was spent partying with fellow cruisers, followed by a day of movies recovering from hangovers! – vague recollections of dancing onboard Seari before stripping off for a night swim; a night of games with Barefeet, after which Bobby slept in the cockpit with a bucket!; impromptu sundowners on Barefeet followed by a late night of loud music & dancing….very surprised the rest of the fleet were still talking to us the following day! It was a fun filled week with good friends & laughs, oh & bruises – my hammock on the bow collapsed sending my crashing down onto the life raft (Dad, you’ll be pleased to know my cleat hitch was perfect, it was Bobbys bowline that slipped….result a bruise the size of a plate on my calf!!) We even managed to set aside time for an archaeological tour of the island & a walk to many marae’s (old sacred platforms where local people years ago would pray to the gods – once you’ve seen a few you’ve seen enough but it was good to stretch our legs!) It was a great island & one of the favourites!
A quick stop in Raiatea due to empty propane tanks, that’s gas bottles to us Brits (apparently I’ve been baking too many muffins!!) before moving onto Bora Bora!! Pulling the anchor in Raiatea gave us a few problems. Soon realised why when the anchor broke the surface with a lump of coral attached to it (see photo gallery).
We are now in Bora Bora anchored outside the apparently well known (I had never heard of it!) Bloody Marys, a fab restaurant & bar visited by the stars & bus loads of honeymooners! We have visited many islands that have similar offerings as Bora Bora, fantastic turquoise waters, incredible snorkelling & great scenery yet there is something special about Bora Bora even if it is over run with tourists! For that reason (& that I’m not keen on beginning another passage to the next island chain) we have remained here for longer than expected. The Society Islands have certainly woven their magical spell upon us & its hard to say goodbye.