Monday, September 20, 2010

Bora Bora

We were welcomed into Bora Bora by 20 knot head winds supplimented with 3 knots of current through the pass. Darkness falling quickly, Bret and I tested our sailing skills tacking up through the pass to find safe anchorage in 80 feet of water. Bora Bora is geographically superior to the other islands we have visited. The main island has two peaks with the largest called Mt. Otemanu reaching 727 meters or 2,399 feet . There are dozens of smaller islands called Motu's scattered within the circular reef surrounding Bora Bora. The clear blue lagoon is calm with several resort vacation bungaloos clustered along the coastline. Tourism is the main source of revenue for the island and the locals are not as easily approachable as in other places in French Polynesia. As a result, we have spent a majority of our time socializing with other cruisers. We celebrated our joint birthday by snorkling, spearfishing, and enjoying a freshly speared octupus coupled with sunset drinks on a catamaran called African Innovation. Spearfishing various reefs on the island is a daily activity. The underwater life is lush and we swam with numerous lemon sharks patroling the outer reef (the largest exceeding 10 feet). Another day we circumnavigated the island with two other dingy's to dive with manta rays, snorkle various reefs with pit stops at distinguished bars along the waterfront. We hiked the second highest peak called Mt. Pahia with a group of friends (the highest peak requires rock climbing gear with no identifiable trail). Makai joined us for the hike and gave us a real scare when she catapolted off a 12 foot cliff. She miscalculated her trajectory and the landing left her clinging for her life on the edge of the trail. One long pull-up later with her two front paws and she was sitting looking at us wondering why we were taking so long. Bret and I are enjoying our time in Bora Bora and plan on spending another 10 days here to explore the north side of the island. After our stay here, we plan on island hopping the 1,100 mile jump to Samoa where we plan on catching up on boat work and perhaps installing a few luxuries such as an engine.