Moorea to Bora Bora

It is a short sail from Tahiti to Moorea with an easy entrance through the pass into Opunohu Bay. Boat bound in Tahiti, Makai had the chance to run and explore land. She met a few local children who enjoyed showing her how to dig holes. Our newly functioning outboard was perfect for bombing around the lagoon in search of fish. Despite local lessons, we continue to eat lightly on spearfishing days. When hungry, we make sure to carry the fishing tackle in which we were raised. We took a few of the speared reef fish to a sandbar known as "Stingray world." In most social circumstances it is a bad idea to fragrance yourself with fish guts (especially when visiting stingrays and sharks). One rare exception is stingray world, where the rays glide all over your body attracted to the smell. The reef sharks are less gregarious and circle from a close distance. On the dinghy ride back from the sandbar we stopped to dive with tikis (an activity we heard down the cruising grapevine). In the 1800's, European missionaries took great effort to abolish ancient Tahitian relics and statues which were not consistent with Christianity. Some locals in Moorea secretly carried huge stone statues and threw them into the lagoon waters about half a mile from shore. The tiki statues continue to lay at the bottom of the lagoon and the dive is a powerful experience.

We left Moorea with expectations of a blow strong enough to leave most yachts in safe waters on the hook (anchor). Pulling anchor before sunset we made it out of the lagoon in time to see the dark clouds make their approach. The wet and rocking nightshifts were all worth it when we simultaneously hooked into two mahi mahi the next morning. Chad reeled in and self gaffed the female while I battled with the much larger bull. Chad then gaffed the male and 'landed' him in the boat. Somehow the monster flipped out of the boat to swim away with his other waiting mistresses. The struggle ended with blood on the sails and a red splatter faced Makai wrestling with the 4 foot female in the cockpit.