Cruising the South Pacific

Chuck, Trudy, Gary, Sherry, Joanne & Richard holding the PGIslander burgee with Bora Bora in the distance

"Richard, wouldn't it be awesome to charter a catamaran and cruise the South Pacific?" I said last year when discussing our travel plans.  "It's been quite a while since we've done a charter and we sure enjoyed cruising with John Allison and our Texas friends in TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association)."  "What about asking our Florida friends in the PGIslanders?"  And so it went.  Before we knew it, our friends, Trudy & Chuck and Sherry & Gary were all signed up. We needed a 4th couple, though.  Fortunately, Trudy's Iowa friends, Cathy and Dennis, decided to come and the plan became a reality.

The day of June 28th finally arrived.  Our plane flights took us from Ft Myers via Houston via Los Angeles via Kona, Hawaii (with a week's stop over to visit our daughter, Michele) via Honolulu via Papette, Tahiti to Raiatea, French Polynesia, a distance of 5,826 nautical miles that crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere.  Sherry & Gary greeted us and whisked us away to a beautiful staging motel, Sunset Beach, where they were storing our grocery provisions.  We were the last of the gang to arrive and we celebrated with a welcome toast and then zip lined into the water off their gorgeous dock.

Our catamaran, Tatia, at anchor in front of Bora Bora

Next day we boarded, Tatia, a gorgeous 44 ft. catamaran with 4 staterooms and 4 heads (AKA bathrooms), large outdoor seating areas and a trampoline for star gazing.  This was our ship for 10 glorious days of cruising and snorkeling the nearby islands of Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora and Huahine. 



Staghorn coral

Our first stop was memorable - the Coral River, simply the best snorkeling spot we've ever encountered anywhere.   First we anchored our "Mother ship" and then hopped into our dinghy for a 10 minute ride to a nearby motu (AKA tiny tropical island).  I felt like I was landing in Gilligan's Island, just a gorgeous spot with palm trees and a little path that led north.   A five minute walk took us to the end and we hopped into the waist deep water that was rushing through at about a 5 knot current.  The water was crystal clear and when I stuck my face in, what a wonderland awaited me of colorful coral and gorgeous tropical fish.  I rode the current down the river to the end amazed at the underwater paradise.  Everyone in our group was pumped from the experience! 


Chuck getting ready to grill

We were fortunate to have cruise mates that loved to cook - and cook they did.  We gave up getting Chuck, Trudy and Gary away from the grill and kitchen.  During the trip we had eggs every morning for breakfast, yummy sandwiches and dinners of spaghetti, pork chops, steaks, burgers, barbequed chicken, salmon and crab cakes, etc.  Needless to say, we were very happy to wash the dishes!

Next day we headed to Bora Bora, which beckoned in the distance.  What a beautiful sight and sailing destination!  The winds were favorable for motor sailing and in approximately 3-1/2 hrs. we anchored off the island.  While we were there, we explored the town and ate lunch at Bloody Mary's, a famous spot with great shrimp and fish.  The Polynesian people were friendly, but many only spoke bits of English since French is the language of the area.  We managed to communicate well and enjoyed the French food and wines.

Bora Bora draws many honeymooners in the over-the-water bungalows, which look pretty dotting the shores.  Anchoring was pretty easy and we caught a few mooring balls in the trip also.  They were a bit hard to catch because the lines are often under the balls, slippery and not very easy to grab.  But, our trusty crew was able to negotiate the issues well.  I really enjoyed stargazing at night - the Google Sky Map App on my Nexus ipad helped me identify the Southern Cross and we also saw some neat shooting stars and constellations not available to see in this hemisphere.

Joanne & Richard on tour of Huahine

A memorable day trip for us was on the island of Huahine.  It was a boisterous 4-1/2 hour sail from Raiatea into a pretty harbor where we anchored.  We found a local guide who drove us around the island to a Pearl Farm where we learned the fine points of pearl growing.  We visited a Vanilla Farm, where we checked out the plants and tasted homemade coconut ice cream.  We also viewed ancient archeological sites on the island, where the natives practiced human sacrifice to their gods. We collected shells of the area - some were very different than anything we've seen anywhere else. 

Rainbow over Raiatea

The 10 days went by quickly.  Our friends went back to Raiatea for a few days of R&R at the Sunset Motel.  We flew to Papette, Tahiti where we rented an over-the-water bungalow at Le Meredin, a lovely resort.  While we were there, we toured Tahiti's inland areas and saw some gorgeous waterfalls and heard the history of the island. 

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation! Hope you can visit there someday, too!

Our Over the Water Bungelow

 

Aloha from Hawaii

Michele at Blessing

Punta Gorda - Fort Myers - Houston - Los Angeles - Kona, Big Island of Hawaii - that's the route we flew last Saturday after getting up at 3:30 AM and arriving at 7:30 PM (Hawaii time is 6 hours behind Eastern Daylight Savings time!)  Whew! Long flights, but pleasant ones all on frequent flyer United Airlines miles.

Michele met us at the Kona Reef Condos with a welcome dinner of tacos, chips and lots of stuff to stock our frig.  It was so great to see her! 

Since we've been here, we had some fun adventures.  We really enjoyed being part of the Kaiser Clinic Opening.  The Grand Kahuna performed a beautiful Hawaiian Blessing Ceremony.  Check out his picture! 

We also had an unforgettable night snorkel with lots of manta rays.  It's hard to describe the beauty of these creatures as you watch them do barrel rolls underneath you.  And they are H U G E!  We also enjoyed snorkeling Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, known as the 2-step, where we encountered lots of gorgeous fish above huge coral.  Yesterday, we drove out to Waipio Valley and took a tour down the steepest terrain maintained by a county government to a gorgeous tropical valley (it was the opening shot in the movie, Jurasic Park.)  Awesome!