Since Karen got back on Wednesday, we have been trying to pack in our final sightseeing. There is a weather system moving through the south Pacific next week that will influence our weather for our trip to the Cook Islands. Due to visa limitations, we have to leave by next Wednesday. But, if we wait until then we will not get good winds for the passage. So, we are now looking to leave on Saturday night (tonight). NOTE: lots of photos of the sights of Bora Bora below.
When Karen arrived on Wednesday at the Raiatea airport, the first thing she did at the boat was to unpack her new bags with all the stuff from the US. It was like Christmas! Just a few examples: a new dive computer, new WIFI antenna, candy, Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, and the very important boat part from South Africa. Karen was really tired after nearly two days without sleep. She managed to sleep for almost 24 hours straight. While she was sleeping, we moved Tahina back to Bora Bora from Raiatea.
Karen had heard about our bike tour last Sunday, so I took her on the trip around the island with the electric bikes on Thursday. Karen had a great time on the bike tour, and I took the opportunity to take several 360 panoramas along the way. We arranged to meet up with Jason and Lara at the famous bar/restaurant called Bloody Mary’s. When we arrived, another table was being set up for a bunch of other boaters, so we joined them. I took a 360 panorama of the group in the restaurant. It may be a while before I get the 360s processed though.
Jason and Lara went diving at the pass and saw lots of shark and fish. I went with them on Friday, but we saw fewer fish that day. I did get to try my new dive computer, which worked great. I did see some of the very large lemon sharks, and lots of black-tipped sharks. It was sad to see that nearly all the coral outside the pass at Bora Bora was dead. We covered a large area, and could find very little live coral along the way.
On Friday night, there was another pot luck at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. It’s a great way to meet up with other cruisers and pick up tips and compare notes on places to visit. The cupcakes Lara cooked were a popular item and were soon all gone.
Jason installed the new main traveler while I went ashore to get paperwork completed for duty-free fuel. Afterwards, we moved Tahina over to get her fuel tanks filled. Unfortunately, the fuel dockhand did not tie off Tahina’s stern, and we shifted such that the corner of the dock rubbed along our starboard bow where we didn’t have a fender. This happened while I ran to a bank ATM to get cash since they didn’t take credit cards. As a result, our starboard name decal got all scraped up. Bummer! While we were at the fuel dock, Jason took our air tanks to the scuba shop and got them re-filled.
Check out a bunch of photos of the sights we’ve seen in Bora Bora in this photo album. The album includes photos of the day we got to pet and feed the stingrays, the day I went spearfishing with the new speargun, pictures from our second bike tour, and more.
View full-sized slideshow
Today Jason and Lara are going to try a dive with manta rays on the other side of the island. Karen and I are going to do some shopping and prepare the boat for our trip. I’m also working on weather and route planning, and going to get cleared out of French Polynesia with the local gendarmerie.
Our next stop is Aitutaki in the Cook Islands (see map). After exploring there, we will move to Raratonga, where we will drop off Lara and Jason so they can catch a flight to New Zealand. Karen and I will continue on from there on our own.
