We left the lovely island island of Moorea and enjoyed a great sail back to Tahiti. The wind shifted just enough to allow a reach most of the way in fairly flat seas. During the transit we tried our luck at fishing and had two lines over. The hand line was rigged using one of Barbara's favorite lures they call the "Mexican Flag" (the colors of the streamers are the colors of the flag) and we tried one of the LL Bean lures I brought on the pole and reel. Neither had any success. No fish tonight for supper!
We tried to moor at the Tahiti Yacht Club, but they were full, so we worked our way back to the Taina Marina. On the way we had an exciting rescue of a young Tahitian boy whose single outrigger canoe had capsized, breaking off its outrigger and the empty canoe was floating in the channel. We saw him in the water clinging to the broken outrigger about 300 yards away from the canoe and upwind in a freshening 20 knot wind. He was very tired and scared. Barbara was called on deck as she was making supper (chicken pie) and she dug out a floatation device tied a quick line to it as Michael skillfully maneuvered Astarte in a very narrow channel as we tossed the float to the young boy who spoke no English. As we brought him on board he kept pointing to the drifting canoe and was more worried about his canoe. So while Barbara comforted him (her French is much better than Michael or me), Michael turned the boat 180 degrees and we chased after the canoe which was approaching the reef. We managed to capture the canoe and our crazy turns in the channel must have been seen ashore as a dive boat came zipping out to help. The boy was grateful to being returned to shore with his canoe and we continued our journey to the marina because it gets dark here at 17:30 and we need to anchor or find a mooring.
Tomorrow, the day will be spent trying to get gifts for everyone back home (and my family knows how much I hate shopping).
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Taking in the History, Culture and Tour of the Island
Today, Wednesday, we started our day by arranging for and taking a guided tour of the island. The tour bus was a yellow Toyota 4X4 pickup truck with two benches installed in the bed running longitudinally and facing each other. There was a green vinyl canopy covering the seating area with huge 4" extra heavy pipe roll bars (we would soon find out why). We were picked up at the beach off of which we are moored by Ron, a Dutch immigrant who has lived here since 2005. He spoke English very well and looked like a surfer dude from California. He was barefoot the entire time. We were told that besides the three of us (Barbara, Michael and myself – I'm still the guest writer) we would have to pick up one more customer. - she never showed so we had a private tour.
Our first excursion left the main perimeter road and headed up a mountain. The road was barely wide enough for this truck. We passed fields of grapefruit, papaya, and oranges as Ron maneuvered us though one switchback after another. Near the top of this 2,000+cliff called Magic Mountain the trail was only wide enough for the truck with shear (and I mean shear) cliffs down each side. We stopped about 50 ft. from the top where we had to walk a narrow trail with rope handrails on one side. The view at the top was spectacular as we could see about 1/3 of the island's coastline. From were we snorkeled with the Sting Rays to Cook's Bay. Astarte was just a speck moored in Opunohu Bay. Interesting story that our guide told us was that Captain Cook landed in Opunohu Bay not Cook's Bay – the same bay we are in.
The next stop was inside the extinct volcano, where today Pineapples are grown and cover the ground. The spot where we were standing was the scene from the movie about the Bounty starring Mel Gibson where Mel and the tribal Chief exchanged gifts. The two tallest mountains on the island also surrounded the caldera and rise up to 1,300 meters (about 4,000 ft). A mountain to the west has a large hole through it about 50 feet from the top. Legend has it that one god tried to steal the mountain for his island and was stopped when another god shot an arrow through the mountain. Where the arrow supposedly landed with the rock from the hole is considered the holiest ground in Tahiti.
Additional stops included the Agricultural Station where pineapple research and other plant research is conducted. Moorea is known for it's pineapples which are said are the sweetest in the world – but none are exported. Moorea is known as the pineapple island and other islands in this chain are known for black pearls, watermelons and vanilla beans. Each island has a distinct personality. We did stop at the pineapple distillery but the plant has been shut down for three weeks waiting for a part from Australia. Many people have been left unemployed and the pineapples are rotting in the fields.
We stopped at ancient ruins to view what is left. There were 40,000 people on Moorea at one time – they were happy and content and had a great society until the English missionaries came. They brought western diseases and made the locals wear clothes which caused more disease as the clothes got wet and mildewed causing lung problems. Today the population of Moorea is 14,000.
Our final stop was the shrimp farm where pond raised shrimp are raised. The were good looking shrimp but they wanted almost $25 per kilo. - we passed.
Tomorrow we leave Moorea to sail back to Tahiti. My time is short and we want to take a tour around Tahiti.
Our first excursion left the main perimeter road and headed up a mountain. The road was barely wide enough for this truck. We passed fields of grapefruit, papaya, and oranges as Ron maneuvered us though one switchback after another. Near the top of this 2,000+cliff called Magic Mountain the trail was only wide enough for the truck with shear (and I mean shear) cliffs down each side. We stopped about 50 ft. from the top where we had to walk a narrow trail with rope handrails on one side. The view at the top was spectacular as we could see about 1/3 of the island's coastline. From were we snorkeled with the Sting Rays to Cook's Bay. Astarte was just a speck moored in Opunohu Bay. Interesting story that our guide told us was that Captain Cook landed in Opunohu Bay not Cook's Bay – the same bay we are in.
The next stop was inside the extinct volcano, where today Pineapples are grown and cover the ground. The spot where we were standing was the scene from the movie about the Bounty starring Mel Gibson where Mel and the tribal Chief exchanged gifts. The two tallest mountains on the island also surrounded the caldera and rise up to 1,300 meters (about 4,000 ft). A mountain to the west has a large hole through it about 50 feet from the top. Legend has it that one god tried to steal the mountain for his island and was stopped when another god shot an arrow through the mountain. Where the arrow supposedly landed with the rock from the hole is considered the holiest ground in Tahiti.
Additional stops included the Agricultural Station where pineapple research and other plant research is conducted. Moorea is known for it's pineapples which are said are the sweetest in the world – but none are exported. Moorea is known as the pineapple island and other islands in this chain are known for black pearls, watermelons and vanilla beans. Each island has a distinct personality. We did stop at the pineapple distillery but the plant has been shut down for three weeks waiting for a part from Australia. Many people have been left unemployed and the pineapples are rotting in the fields.
We stopped at ancient ruins to view what is left. There were 40,000 people on Moorea at one time – they were happy and content and had a great society until the English missionaries came. They brought western diseases and made the locals wear clothes which caused more disease as the clothes got wet and mildewed causing lung problems. Today the population of Moorea is 14,000.
Our final stop was the shrimp farm where pond raised shrimp are raised. The were good looking shrimp but they wanted almost $25 per kilo. - we passed.
Tomorrow we leave Moorea to sail back to Tahiti. My time is short and we want to take a tour around Tahiti.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
In Love with Moorea
Moorea has to be one of the most beautiful islands in the French Polynesian archipelago and it epitomizes what you may picture as paradise.
Yesterday was a quiet day of snorkeling the reef close to where we are anchored after surviving the big squall of the night before. The fish are too numerous and varied to describe but go to the local aquarium shop and look at the salt water fish then multiple that by miles and miles and that describes the reefs around Tahiti and Moorea. Most fish are much bigger here than I remember seeing off of St. John's in the Virgin Islands a few years ago when we went snorkeling there.
Today we took the dinghy for a 45 minute trip to a place where the tourist boats feed the Sting Rays. It was a shallow (5 feet deep) sandy reef where the Rays come right up to you and are looking for food handouts. We brought a can of tuna fish but apparently their taste is much more in the sardine or fresh tuna category than the canned variety. They still swam right up to you (we had put our Steve Irwin inspired Sting Ray repellant prior to going in) and are very docile curious creatures. Their topside skin feels like suede and the underside like velvet. Most of our visitors were 4 to 5 feet wing to wing and 1 or 2 were over 6 ft. Overall their length was almost twice their width and the "stinger" on their tail was always very visible. The most surprising thing to me were the numerous backed tipped reef sharks (4 to 6 ft) that were swimming right up to us and were as curious as the rays around people. I did not feel threatened but maybe I should have! Sharks are such interesting creatures.
In the afternoon a walk along the perimeter road was in order. The vegetation, flowers and tropical plants are everywhere and the people live simply but are very happy. Each small house had solar panels and a solar water heating system on the roof. All the electric cables were buried underground so as not to obstruct the beautiful views all around. Around every turn there are postcard views of towering green peaks and sparkling Pacific waters. Pictures will follow when we get a faster internet connection.
Finally, meals aboard Astarte have been fabulous. Breakfast this morning was banana and walnut pancakes (previous breakfasts have been eggs, pork chops, croissants, and baguettes) Dinner's have included turkey, the best New Zealand lamb chops I've had in a long time, hamburgers with homemade baked beans, and tonight's shrimp, artichokes and pasta.
Bravo Zulu to Barbara for terrific meals.
Tomorrow, we will take a guided tour of Moorea visiting the archeological sites, the agricultural station, pineapple plantation and most important, the distillery.
Yesterday was a quiet day of snorkeling the reef close to where we are anchored after surviving the big squall of the night before. The fish are too numerous and varied to describe but go to the local aquarium shop and look at the salt water fish then multiple that by miles and miles and that describes the reefs around Tahiti and Moorea. Most fish are much bigger here than I remember seeing off of St. John's in the Virgin Islands a few years ago when we went snorkeling there.
Today we took the dinghy for a 45 minute trip to a place where the tourist boats feed the Sting Rays. It was a shallow (5 feet deep) sandy reef where the Rays come right up to you and are looking for food handouts. We brought a can of tuna fish but apparently their taste is much more in the sardine or fresh tuna category than the canned variety. They still swam right up to you (we had put our Steve Irwin inspired Sting Ray repellant prior to going in) and are very docile curious creatures. Their topside skin feels like suede and the underside like velvet. Most of our visitors were 4 to 5 feet wing to wing and 1 or 2 were over 6 ft. Overall their length was almost twice their width and the "stinger" on their tail was always very visible. The most surprising thing to me were the numerous backed tipped reef sharks (4 to 6 ft) that were swimming right up to us and were as curious as the rays around people. I did not feel threatened but maybe I should have! Sharks are such interesting creatures.
In the afternoon a walk along the perimeter road was in order. The vegetation, flowers and tropical plants are everywhere and the people live simply but are very happy. Each small house had solar panels and a solar water heating system on the roof. All the electric cables were buried underground so as not to obstruct the beautiful views all around. Around every turn there are postcard views of towering green peaks and sparkling Pacific waters. Pictures will follow when we get a faster internet connection.
Finally, meals aboard Astarte have been fabulous. Breakfast this morning was banana and walnut pancakes (previous breakfasts have been eggs, pork chops, croissants, and baguettes) Dinner's have included turkey, the best New Zealand lamb chops I've had in a long time, hamburgers with homemade baked beans, and tonight's shrimp, artichokes and pasta.
Bravo Zulu to Barbara for terrific meals.
Tomorrow, we will take a guided tour of Moorea visiting the archeological sites, the agricultural station, pineapple plantation and most important, the distillery.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The French Polynesian Games
Sunday saw us involved in a full day of festivities ashore and a great traditional Tahitian lunch buffet, thanks to sponsors and a small fee. With only 30 boats it was very much a private party and so much fun. We went ashore at 09:00 and were greeted with demonstrations on how to tie a pareu (traditional sarong), how to husk a coconut and crack open the nut and always had music in the background (the Polynesian people just love their music and love to play). The first competitive event was racing 6 person outrigger canoes. Our team consisted of 4 people from the boats and two experienced Polynesian paddlers. Michael, Richard, Chris and Yoshi made up the team known as Mild Stroke. The course was 200 meters and despite our best efforts we finished 3rd in our heat. The winning team was a bunch of big guys with a team called Funky Water.
Barbara was part of an all woman's team (Barbara, Ronnie, Vicky and Ann) who looked good, were very vocal and wore fake Maori tattoos. They finished a respectable 3rd – beaten by the eventual winner. Tough to compete with the "meat".
After a great lunch of traditional Polynesian fare including raw Mahi in coconut milk (Poisson Cru); pork with oyster mushrooms, chicken and spinach, fermented fish (Barbara tried it and Michael and Richard did not) white rice, breadfruit, taro and poe. The drink was a fresh coconut cut open with a notch and a straw inserted for the coconut water.
Afternoon competition included relay racing while carrying two bunches of bananas on a pole set on your shoulder and coconut husking. Young and strong won – the older generation was not competitive. This was followed by traditional Polynesian dancing and singing. Barbara was front and center for the hula demonstration and was chosen to exhibit her skills with the professional dancers. She did really well and has hidden talent.
Last night around 22:30 a strong squall came through with 40 knot gusts and torrential rain. Thanks to a good sandy bottom and a good anchor set by Barbara and Michael, Astarte came through it unscathed. About 10 other boats weren't so lucky, dragged their anchors and crashed into other boats. Today is a snorkeling day with a beautiful reef just off out anchorage. Tomorrow we will take a hike up the cliffs to the high ground.
Barbara was part of an all woman's team (Barbara, Ronnie, Vicky and Ann) who looked good, were very vocal and wore fake Maori tattoos. They finished a respectable 3rd – beaten by the eventual winner. Tough to compete with the "meat".
After a great lunch of traditional Polynesian fare including raw Mahi in coconut milk (Poisson Cru); pork with oyster mushrooms, chicken and spinach, fermented fish (Barbara tried it and Michael and Richard did not) white rice, breadfruit, taro and poe. The drink was a fresh coconut cut open with a notch and a straw inserted for the coconut water.
Afternoon competition included relay racing while carrying two bunches of bananas on a pole set on your shoulder and coconut husking. Young and strong won – the older generation was not competitive. This was followed by traditional Polynesian dancing and singing. Barbara was front and center for the hula demonstration and was chosen to exhibit her skills with the professional dancers. She did really well and has hidden talent.
Last night around 22:30 a strong squall came through with 40 knot gusts and torrential rain. Thanks to a good sandy bottom and a good anchor set by Barbara and Michael, Astarte came through it unscathed. About 10 other boats weren't so lucky, dragged their anchors and crashed into other boats. Today is a snorkeling day with a beautiful reef just off out anchorage. Tomorrow we will take a hike up the cliffs to the high ground.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Not Racing to Moorea
Saturday was the big Rendezvous from Papeete to Moorea. Thirty boats participated in the event over the 20 nautical miles and although it was continually stressed that this was not a race, times were kept and posted at the end. Astarte finished a respectable 20th (and if Michael and Barbara had a more competent crew (me) they would have moved up a couple of spots). It was a great sail in 15 to 20 knot winds and 6 to 10 foot seas. We managed to average 6 knots boat speed for the trip.
This event started on Friday with a cocktail party; blessing of the fleet by the local holy man and dancing (the local variety of hula - Grass skirts and coconuts, male Polynesian - young men in skirts- and fire dancing) accompanied by a great local ukelele and drum band. They were good! The troupe got all the boat captains out to dance as they were taught (unsuccessfully) how to do the local Polynesian dance.
After the event we walked a few 100 feet (50 m) to a plaza with dozens of food trucks serving a wide variety of fare. This gathering occurs every night in the plaza and is THE happening spot in Papeete. Every truck serves steak frittes (fries) and dozens of other entrees. I had ½ duck perfectly cooked with rice and a Coke for $15.00 (cheap eats in Tahiti).
Saturday was rendezvous day and started by leaving the marina at 08:00. getting permission from the Port Authority to transit past the end of the airport runway, and meeting the rest of the fleet just outside the harbor entrance. We had a good start and were in the top 10 to leave the start line. As noted the "house" finished 20th. Moorea is a 50 sq.km island with a population of 14,000. It is what one would expect Hawaii and Tahiti to look like in the 1800's. It has a rim road and the mountains are very steep, green with vegetation and beautiful.
Finding anchorage in this tiny harbor of Opuunohu was a challenge but Barbara and Michael are good at it and gave us a good set on the first try. Good thing they did because the wind gusted to 30 knots overnight and little sleep was had. In the morning the winds subsided and the sky cleared. We were greeted at 7:00 am by a boat delivering two fresh baguettes to each boat participating.
Today it's onshore with a Tahitian barbeque and war canoe races. Michael and I are on the Mild Strokes team and Barbara is on a womens' team. More on this event tomorrow.
This event started on Friday with a cocktail party; blessing of the fleet by the local holy man and dancing (the local variety of hula - Grass skirts and coconuts, male Polynesian - young men in skirts- and fire dancing) accompanied by a great local ukelele and drum band. They were good! The troupe got all the boat captains out to dance as they were taught (unsuccessfully) how to do the local Polynesian dance.
After the event we walked a few 100 feet (50 m) to a plaza with dozens of food trucks serving a wide variety of fare. This gathering occurs every night in the plaza and is THE happening spot in Papeete. Every truck serves steak frittes (fries) and dozens of other entrees. I had ½ duck perfectly cooked with rice and a Coke for $15.00 (cheap eats in Tahiti).
Saturday was rendezvous day and started by leaving the marina at 08:00. getting permission from the Port Authority to transit past the end of the airport runway, and meeting the rest of the fleet just outside the harbor entrance. We had a good start and were in the top 10 to leave the start line. As noted the "house" finished 20th. Moorea is a 50 sq.km island with a population of 14,000. It is what one would expect Hawaii and Tahiti to look like in the 1800's. It has a rim road and the mountains are very steep, green with vegetation and beautiful.
Finding anchorage in this tiny harbor of Opuunohu was a challenge but Barbara and Michael are good at it and gave us a good set on the first try. Good thing they did because the wind gusted to 30 knots overnight and little sleep was had. In the morning the winds subsided and the sky cleared. We were greeted at 7:00 am by a boat delivering two fresh baguettes to each boat participating.
Today it's onshore with a Tahitian barbeque and war canoe races. Michael and I are on the Mild Strokes team and Barbara is on a womens' team. More on this event tomorrow.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Another Day in Paradise
Please be patient as this blog entry is being written by Barbara's brother Richard (Soby), who is more used to technical writing and proposal development than the eloquent prose styles you have been used to reading.
First, the luggage arrived and was delivered to the marina – thank you Delta and Air France for that joy. It was like Christmas aboard Astarte when Barbara and Michael received their: engine mounts, prop zincs, flags, TDS tester (by the way the water aboard Astarte is of excellent quality), lures, books and rain gear. First impressions of Tahiti: this is a beautiful tropical island, very mountainous with a ring of flatland along the coast and surrounded by coral reefs. We are moored inside the ring of coral at a marina in Papeete with hundreds of other boats. Astarte's anchorage is at a mooring ball in 16 ft. (5 meters) of water surrounded by coral and rock that pop out at low tide. The way we are moored we are constantly looking at the breaking surf over the reef and amazing to watch 10 ft (3 M)T waves crashing into the reef yet 200 yards inside we are in flat water. The water is so clear we can see the bottom easily and the array of tropical fish surrounding the boat is like being in a tropical aquarium. We just witnessed a large sting ray glide past us. It had a "wing" span of about 4 ft. (3.2 meters).
Wish I knew more French than I do because it is the dominant language, but one can survive with English here. Everything is so expensive in French Polynesia. We went to the Carrefour grocery store yesterday, similar to a mini Walmart where you can get sporting goods, clothing,and food all in one store, and bologna was $9.00 per pound. The store was well stocked with cheese, pates of all kinds, vegetables but no eggs or fresh green beans – things we take for granted in the states.
Barbara cooked a delicious turkey dinner last night with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. After an afternoon of snorkeling around the boat it was a big hit and was truly a Thanksgiving meal. Today, we do some island exploring, starting with downtown Papeete and ending up at the boat "rendezvous" (it is not a race) meeting for Saturday's event to Moorea. More on that in the next blog.
First, the luggage arrived and was delivered to the marina – thank you Delta and Air France for that joy. It was like Christmas aboard Astarte when Barbara and Michael received their: engine mounts, prop zincs, flags, TDS tester (by the way the water aboard Astarte is of excellent quality), lures, books and rain gear. First impressions of Tahiti: this is a beautiful tropical island, very mountainous with a ring of flatland along the coast and surrounded by coral reefs. We are moored inside the ring of coral at a marina in Papeete with hundreds of other boats. Astarte's anchorage is at a mooring ball in 16 ft. (5 meters) of water surrounded by coral and rock that pop out at low tide. The way we are moored we are constantly looking at the breaking surf over the reef and amazing to watch 10 ft (3 M)T waves crashing into the reef yet 200 yards inside we are in flat water. The water is so clear we can see the bottom easily and the array of tropical fish surrounding the boat is like being in a tropical aquarium. We just witnessed a large sting ray glide past us. It had a "wing" span of about 4 ft. (3.2 meters).
Wish I knew more French than I do because it is the dominant language, but one can survive with English here. Everything is so expensive in French Polynesia. We went to the Carrefour grocery store yesterday, similar to a mini Walmart where you can get sporting goods, clothing,and food all in one store, and bologna was $9.00 per pound. The store was well stocked with cheese, pates of all kinds, vegetables but no eggs or fresh green beans – things we take for granted in the states.
Barbara cooked a delicious turkey dinner last night with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. After an afternoon of snorkeling around the boat it was a big hit and was truly a Thanksgiving meal. Today, we do some island exploring, starting with downtown Papeete and ending up at the boat "rendezvous" (it is not a race) meeting for Saturday's event to Moorea. More on that in the next blog.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ia Ora, Ia Ora Na
That's the Tahitian greeting for "hello/welcome." "Ia ora, Ia ora na" Richard (Soby). He made it to Tahiti after a rocky start and an LA connection that involved having him paged at the airport because it was so tight. That also meant no stop at the "duty free" shop for boat "beverages." But he did arrive bright and early on Wednesday morning. He cabbed to the marina where we would meet him and somehow he missed us and we missed him as he drove through the front gate. So he got dropped off at the docks and we finally connected. The bad news, he had no luggage – it was somehow lost in transit. So no "Christmas" aboard Astarte (yet.) Luckily he did pack some shorts and comfortable shirt in his carry on bag.
We got to the boat by 0630 and enjoyed some breakfast (pain de chocolate (chocolate croissant) and pamplemousse (local giant grapefruit). 22 hours he kept going all day long without a nap! We did a short walk around the area (to pick up our propane tank, some more fresh veggies and cash). Lunch and dinner aboard Astarte (including a local tuna caught by Michael). Astarte rum punches and then an early bedtime for the entire crew (after a last minute luggage check).
Hope the luggage gets here today – because tomorrow (Friday) is sign up day for the Tahiti to Moorea boat rally.
It's great having our guest!
We got to the boat by 0630 and enjoyed some breakfast (pain de chocolate (chocolate croissant) and pamplemousse (local giant grapefruit). 22 hours he kept going all day long without a nap! We did a short walk around the area (to pick up our propane tank, some more fresh veggies and cash). Lunch and dinner aboard Astarte (including a local tuna caught by Michael). Astarte rum punches and then an early bedtime for the entire crew (after a last minute luggage check).
Hope the luggage gets here today – because tomorrow (Friday) is sign up day for the Tahiti to Moorea boat rally.
It's great having our guest!
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