The beauty of this place continues to make me pinch myself. I'm writing this morning at a quarter to six, just as the sun is rising from behind Tahaa on the deck of our catamaran moored at Apu Bay.
The mooring is perfectly sheltered from the winds just south.
The temperature is again perfect, and I'm not cold without a shirt. Birds and roosters call on the island, but it is peaceful in the bay. The wind is again blowing rustling the orange tinted palms. The waters gradually become more turquoise as it gets light.
Bright and early yesterday, I backed up seven gigs of photos and videos on to our two hard drives. We said goodbye to Le Taha'a and closed the door to our overwater bungalow one last time. We settled up and the hotel shuttle took us to the airport.
When we arrived, Le Tahaa person called Tahiti Yacht Charter to pick us up. Originally, we planned for the shuttle to take us direct to the marina as its just next door, but for some reason they aren't able to do that. So despite emailing to ask them to wait for us with Ben, there was a flurry of confusion apparently because Mike had called in yesterday from his hotel quoting my name, so the TYC driver went there looking for me. Of course, no one there by my name. Picked up Ben from the airport, then Mike from the hotel. Shannon and I actually saw the shuttle drive by, but then it eventually came back and got us.
The driver Hine gave us fresh leis and introduced us to our cat named Arearea. The Lavezzi 40 was nice although a bit older and sea worn in some places. It was pretty well maintained being chartered for this many years however.
We unloaded luggage onto the boat and then went to meet the others who were grocery shopping in town. Despite what we were repeatedly told, Champion grocery store was open on Sundays, but only to 11am, possibly a ploy to get us to buy provisions from them. There was a nice reunion of everybody as TYC drove us back to the marina.
Check out probably took an hour longer than normal because the main refrigerator cooler wasn't working, and only after protracted attempt by Hine to fix it talking to the technician on the phone, did he finally get his ass down from Tahaa to repair it.
Boat check out and chart briefing were very good, sometimes in French, sometimes in English which was fine for Mike and I, maybe less so for Ben. The girls did the girl things, and put everything away on the boat.
Finally we were ready and as I went through some important info about the boat like water and safety, it became more real and got exciting! I was a little nervous too.
We took a boat photo before departure, Mike in his rash guard, girls looking pretty and all of us wearing our leis.
Using differential motoring, I expertly got the boat out of the marina despite a strong wind from the east and we were off! We sailed an hour jib only to Apu Bay in 20 knot winds. It was the best feeling once again to turn off the engine and be under sail only. We tried a tack to get a sense of the boat and accidentally gybed because I didn't tell Shannon at the helm to stop turning while we were sorting out the jib sheet as it got caught first on a window, then a halyard winch on the mast.
We picked up a mooring buoy. Apparently, the restaurant that you're supposed to eat at to moor no longer exists. We took out the kayaks and dingy to shore to see if we could get a Pearl Farm or Vanilla tour, but we ended up on someone's vacant private property guarded by a friendly dog. So since it was late, we went back to the boat.
We started up the BBQ and made steaks. There was just enough butane to cook steaks medium, which were not bad actually. We had quality time before hitting the sack. The shower wasn't bad and I was surprised somewhere we had a heater for warm water.
Shannon and I actually didn't sleep too well last night. For Shannon it was all the rocking, and for me the noises. I got out on deck to fix the mooring line twice, the second time when I realized it was moored too close to the boat did it fix the knocking. Then when I finally identifies some tapping from the rocking on the traveler was I able to get some sleep.
Overall, a great first day. Bora Bora tomorrow!
The mooring is perfectly sheltered from the winds just south.
The temperature is again perfect, and I'm not cold without a shirt. Birds and roosters call on the island, but it is peaceful in the bay. The wind is again blowing rustling the orange tinted palms. The waters gradually become more turquoise as it gets light.
Bright and early yesterday, I backed up seven gigs of photos and videos on to our two hard drives. We said goodbye to Le Taha'a and closed the door to our overwater bungalow one last time. We settled up and the hotel shuttle took us to the airport.
When we arrived, Le Tahaa person called Tahiti Yacht Charter to pick us up. Originally, we planned for the shuttle to take us direct to the marina as its just next door, but for some reason they aren't able to do that. So despite emailing to ask them to wait for us with Ben, there was a flurry of confusion apparently because Mike had called in yesterday from his hotel quoting my name, so the TYC driver went there looking for me. Of course, no one there by my name. Picked up Ben from the airport, then Mike from the hotel. Shannon and I actually saw the shuttle drive by, but then it eventually came back and got us.
The driver Hine gave us fresh leis and introduced us to our cat named Arearea. The Lavezzi 40 was nice although a bit older and sea worn in some places. It was pretty well maintained being chartered for this many years however.
We unloaded luggage onto the boat and then went to meet the others who were grocery shopping in town. Despite what we were repeatedly told, Champion grocery store was open on Sundays, but only to 11am, possibly a ploy to get us to buy provisions from them. There was a nice reunion of everybody as TYC drove us back to the marina.
Check out probably took an hour longer than normal because the main refrigerator cooler wasn't working, and only after protracted attempt by Hine to fix it talking to the technician on the phone, did he finally get his ass down from Tahaa to repair it.
Boat check out and chart briefing were very good, sometimes in French, sometimes in English which was fine for Mike and I, maybe less so for Ben. The girls did the girl things, and put everything away on the boat.
Finally we were ready and as I went through some important info about the boat like water and safety, it became more real and got exciting! I was a little nervous too.
We took a boat photo before departure, Mike in his rash guard, girls looking pretty and all of us wearing our leis.
Using differential motoring, I expertly got the boat out of the marina despite a strong wind from the east and we were off! We sailed an hour jib only to Apu Bay in 20 knot winds. It was the best feeling once again to turn off the engine and be under sail only. We tried a tack to get a sense of the boat and accidentally gybed because I didn't tell Shannon at the helm to stop turning while we were sorting out the jib sheet as it got caught first on a window, then a halyard winch on the mast.
We picked up a mooring buoy. Apparently, the restaurant that you're supposed to eat at to moor no longer exists. We took out the kayaks and dingy to shore to see if we could get a Pearl Farm or Vanilla tour, but we ended up on someone's vacant private property guarded by a friendly dog. So since it was late, we went back to the boat.
We started up the BBQ and made steaks. There was just enough butane to cook steaks medium, which were not bad actually. We had quality time before hitting the sack. The shower wasn't bad and I was surprised somewhere we had a heater for warm water.
Shannon and I actually didn't sleep too well last night. For Shannon it was all the rocking, and for me the noises. I got out on deck to fix the mooring line twice, the second time when I realized it was moored too close to the boat did it fix the knocking. Then when I finally identifies some tapping from the rocking on the traveler was I able to get some sleep.
Overall, a great first day. Bora Bora tomorrow!
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