27th June, Huahine, French Polynesia

In the morning we met the local guy and he took us for a walk round the bay up to a view point and around to a house that he was building. There was a American luxury hotel in the bay but it had been blown away by a hurricane and you could still see the swimming pool and foundations from the bungalows.
After the walk we started to get things ready for the bbq – we were going to make coconut bread to go with it so we had to grate the flesh from about 10 coconuts and collect some leaves to bake the bread in.
Unfortunately the situation changed and we decided to leave the bay and head to a different anchorage.
We headed to the south end of the island and found a sheltered anchorage off a beach where we are planning to spend a couple of days waiting for the wind to ease.
We had heard a boat called Bagheera on the radio and the guy sounded English and when we arrived in the anchorage they were here but not on the boat but when they arrived back they called us up to say hello and invited us over for a drink. They are heading to New Zealand.
After drinks on Bagheera Andy had invited us over for tea and we had a nice pasta with a curry sauce.

26th June, Huahine, French Polynesia

We arrived into the anchorage off the main town, Fare, about 7.30am and found a lovely spot to anchor – unfortunately there is a lot of wind expected over the next few days and it was blowing straight down the lagoon into the anchorage with some 35knot gusts. We decided to head ashore to explore. The town was nice with an unexpectedly large supermarket. We also looked into prices for bike, scooter and car hire as we would like to spend a day exploring the island. Back at the boat there was still huge gusts coming through the anchorage so we decided to head down the lagoon to find a more sheltered spot. We motored into one bay that was flat calm but 25m deep so we decided to try and find a shallower spot. We motored round a couple of places but didn't find anywhere better when a local guy in a outrigger canoe paddled over and told us he had a mooring buoy. We followed him and the buoy was in an ideal location off a lovely beach. He said he was the guardian of the beach and we could come ashore later and get some fruit.
After a quick swim we headed ashore to say hello to the local guy. He seemed like a very friendly nice guy. Whilst we were ashore another boat came into the bay and saw us on the buoy, a dinghy from the boat came ashore and the guy from the boat wanted us moved off the buoy because he wanted to go on it and as he was French he should have priority – the local guy said that we were first on the buoy and therefore we were staying there. The guy didn't want to accept this and when we walk off down the beach he stood their sulking!! We ended up 'hiding' in the jungle behind the beach to try and make the guy leave and finally he did!! The local guy invited us for a bbq on the beach the following night and also arranged to meet us on the beach in the morning to get some fruit.

25th June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia

We had heard from Sunchaser and Christine Anne that Cooks Bay was stunning and also from another boat that there was a fruit juice factory where you could sample the juices so we decided to take the dinghy for a look. We took the dinghy into the bay to a hotel that had a dinghy dock and then went for a walk. There wasn't much to see ashore but we got an ice cream from the garage!!
Leaving the bay we stopped at the juice factory and sampled some of their fruit juices, alcoholic punches and coconut liquor – all were very nice!!
We were leaving at 4pm to do an overnight sail to Huahine – the next island in the Society Island chain.
The sail was very lumpy and not quite enough wind – every time a wave hit it knocked the wind out of the sails so we alternated between sailing and motor sailing.

24th June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia

After some internet jobs we headed ashore with Andy to walk to a look out overlooking our bay and the bay next door. Half way up the hill we came to the Agricultural College which we had been told by Sunchaser had good milkshake and ice cream so we stopped for a break!! The next stop was to have a look around a Marae (a Polynesian religious site) and finally we made it to the lookout. The view was worth the effort. On the way back down we decided we needed another ice cream at the College and also did the tour of the College looking at all the different fruits and plants they grow including a pineapple plantation. After lunch Jonny went to help Andy with his rudder and I did internet jobs.

23rd June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia

More internet jobs this morning – making the most of the good signal!!
At 11am we headed off in the dinghies with Andy (Calysta) and Karen and Guy (American Boat, Szel) to go and see the sting rays. There is an area where the sting rays of fed that is spectacular. The water is crystal clear and there are sting rays swimming around everywhere with black tip reef sharks. We were hoping a tourist boat would turn up and fed them which is meant to be amazing so after a swim round sat in the dinghies to wait. A local guy in a canoe turned up and was feeding the rays and then checking their teeth – our French wasn’t good enough to find out what he was checking the teeth for??!! We asked if we could get in the water as well which he was happy for us to do. The sting rays assumed we must have food as well and started bumping into us – they seemed to particularly like Jonny!!
After lunch we relaxed with our books until Nemesis turned up. They brought us back our spare anchor that they had borrowed after they had bent theirs leaving Manihi and also a bottle of wine to say thank you.
We went over to Nemesis for sun down drinks with Andy.

22nd June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia

For the first time since the Galapagos we had a good internet signal so we spent the morning doing admin jobs on the internet ….. checking e mails, updating the website pictures.
After lunch we were ready to get off the boat so we headed ashore for a walk around the edge of the bay which is stunning – lots of palm trees with huge mountains in the distance.
After a busy couple of days we had a quiet night on the boat.

21st June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia

The 2nd part of the rally was beach activites including outrigger canoes race and other traditional sports including fruit carrying, coconut husking and stone lifting. We made of team of 4 with Colin and Anna from Maya 3. We won out heat in the outrigger canoes which was great fun but a lot harder than it looks. Next was fruit carrying – there was a branch with bananas tied to both ends then you had to carry on your shoulder around a course before passing to the next person to complete a lap. Jonny and I did this for our team and after Jonnys lap we were in 2nd place unfortunately the bananas were very heavy and a couple of guys over took me putting us 5th out of 6th!! After lunch we had the coconut husking after a demonstration from the locals we had to husk, crack, extract the meat and then make as much coconut milk as possible. Unfortunately our coconut had the smallest nut so we didn't get much milk but it was great to learn the method. The final activity was stone lifting which the local made look easy but only a few cruisers tried. By the end of the day our team came 5th which we were pleased with.
After a much needed swim we headed over to Maya 3 for a pot luck dinner.

The Tahiti to Moorea rally is a free event held around this time every year. It has been a great event and we would strongly recommend any cruisers coming this way next year get involved.

20th June, Tahiti to Moorea, French Polynesia

The rally committee was making a decision about the race to Moorea at 9am depending on the amount of wind. Looking at the wind we didn't think it would be happening (0 – 5 knots) but they decided to go ahead. We were in the first start at 10.05am and got prime position on the line!! Unfortunately that was the highlight of the race!! Newt does not like going up wind in 5 – 8 knots of wind and despite our best efforts with constant trimming we were soon near the end of the fleet with Jonny muttering as bigger boats came past us with badly set sails!! Jonny decided he now knows what it must be like to do a pursuit race in a wayfarer!! We eventually finished the race after over 3 hours with only 10 boats behind us (and a lot who had retired) but due to the strong tide we were almost further away from Moorea then we were before the 3 hour race!! After 3 hours motoring we made it into a very crowded anchorage in Opunoho Bay, Moorea and after 3 attempts managed to find a gap we were happy with.
We were invited over to Ishka (Ian and Ida, Australian catamaran) for sun down drinks and then Nemesis for tea.

19th June, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

An early start this morning because we wanted to fuel up and then head to the town quay early. As part of the Tahiti Moorea rally you got a free nights berth on the town quay but there was limited space so we wanted to be there early to get a spot. We fueled and watered up and headed out of the anchorage passed the airport. Before you cross the end of the runways you have to call the Port Control for permission and despite doing this and being told we were clear to proceed we had a couple of planes passing quite close above us!! As we made our way down the pass towards the town quay we had a guy in an out rigger canoe surfing the wake created by the dinghy being towed behind which was amazing to watch. There was plenty of room on the town quay and we had lots of people to help us with the med mooring docking – taking our bow lines and then passing us the lazy lines. We were still unsure whether we had managed to get a place on the rally so went to find the organizer who told us that they were currently full but people might not turn up so to go to the Registration tent at 2pm.
They had decided to extend the rally numbers from 50 to 60 boats so we managed to get a spot and registered. In the afternoon there was basket weaving, a Polynesian blessing on the yachts and a skippers briefing followed by a cocktail party in the evening.
After the cocktail party we invited Calysta and Maya 3 over for fish curry and Andy (Calysta) helped me make my first ever curry – which was yummy!!

18th June, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

A busy day today doing chores. We headed into the marina early to do 2 loads of washing. Brought them back to the boat to peg them out but had to borrow some pegs from Maya 3 as we ran out!! We were trying to get in touch with organizers of the Tahiti to Moorea rally leaving on Sat to see if we could get a place so Jonny quickly checked the e mails to see if we had a response – as he was doing this the hard drive started making a clicking noise and then stopped working!! Luckily the drive out of our external hard drive will fit the laptop and we can buy a replacement external hard drive at Carre Four. Our next job was a trip to Carre Four to do abit of provisioning to top up our Panama supplies and buy a new external hard drive. All the rumours about French Polynesia are true – it is very expensive!! After unpacking the shopping and lunch the jobs continued with Jonny taking are stack pack cover to Calysta to see if his sewing machine can cope with the small repair needed and also to fix our slightly battered looking red ensign - the red ensign repairs was fine but unfortunately the stack pack was too thick so Jonny had to hand sew the repair. Whilst he was doing this I took our last load of washing ashore, brought it back and pegged it out, did the washing up and de weeviled some pasta!! As we were finishing our chores Nemesis came over to drop us off some of the Wahoo they had caught on the way to Papeete.
We had been invited over to Blaze 2 for sun down drinks which was great. We didn't end up leaving until 10.30 after having a great night. Andy had invited us over to Calysta for tea – by this time I didn't want to eat but Jonny had a lovely tea!!

17th June, Tahiti

A busy day as usual! After a fun filled night we were up bright and early and off into town. We caught the bus into town and wondered around the market before heading to customs to clear in and out (we are leaving in less than a week so can do both at once!) and then onto the chandlers to buy a new chain hook to replace the one we lost in Rangoria. We then met up with Sunchaser and Christine Anne who had come over on the ferry from Moorea where they had left their boats for the day. We wondered back to the market and got some really good baguette sandwiches and then onto McDonalds for an ice cream!
Next we headed down to the town quay to see Orono 1 and T-Rex who we haven't seen since Galapagos.
Tired we caught the bus back stopping at Carrefour to get bread and butter and then back to the boat. Just had a great pasta dish with fresh peppers and salami for tea with home made garlic baguette. DVD and bed I think now!

14/15/16th June - Rangoria to Tahiti Race!

We left our bouy at 6am under sail (we had rules for the race which penalised engine hours and also adjusted your time for boat length) and cruised through the atol and out the pass with half a dozen other boats. We had a good sail with the kite up and then quickly dropped it as the wind swung close hauled and increased. We were beating in 25 knots with full sail when Kate found some salt water under the sink. About the same time the autopilot gave up so with Kate hand steering I started to bail. I found around 20 buckets (the manual bilge pump chose this moment to rip its diaphragm!)of water under the engine and diagnosed a siphoning bilge pump caused by the extreme angle of heel (we had water on the side decks!).
The rest of the race was good with nice winds and although a few boats over took us we kept in visual range of most people and overtook Andy on Calysta 2 miles before the finish whilst flying our kite again.
We got in and anchored around 2pm on the 15th after 32 hours and 200 miles at sea. We settled down to tea when I found more water under the engine. After much head scratching I found the new stern gland we installed in Grenada had come loose and leaked when we motored in.
Today (16th) we did much bailing and cleaning of the bilges and finally have clean and dry bilges. We also tracked the autopilot problem down to a loose wire on the battery fuse. After a long day of boat jobs we finally went ashore to meet the 11 other boats from the race for a meal and prize giving. We had a nice meal and beers and I presented the certificates to everyone that Kate had made. We came 6th out of 12, but were within 1 hour of 2nd after 32 hours of sailing (we would have been around this much quicker had we not slowed down to bail water!).
A good night had and two tired Newts are now off to bed!

13th June, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

A slow start this morning after our late night on Maya 3. As the weather had improved we decided to go snorkeling at lunchtime on a coral island that the locals call the Aquarium!! The snorkeling was amazing - loads of fish and good coral. We saw a large moray eel and some white tip and black tip reef sharks. After lunch we were reading books when Colin on Maya 3 radioed to say that as there were so many boats leaving tomorrow maybe we should have a race??!! We headed over to Maya 3 to come up with some rules and then went round the anchorage to fill people in - there are 13 boats leaving tomorrow racing from Rangiroa to Papette!!

#ednd

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12th June, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

After a day on the boat yesterday we decided to head ashore to explore. The main town was 8km from the anchorage so after discussing our options we decided to get a taxi there and then try and hitch hike back. In town we had a walk round the shops and then started to walk out of town as there were a few shops on the outskirks. After a stop at the vineyard for a sample of the local wine we decided to start trying to hitch hike. After about 10 cars we were successful and got a lift with a lovely local lady who drove past her house to drop us at the dinghy dock and then gave us some green peppers she had grown in her garden.
At the dinghy dock we noticed that Ben (Silk Sheets) and Colin and Anna (Maya 3 - Colin - single handed Australian, Anna - a Canadian who joined him in Grenada as crew) were sat at the cafe so we decided to join them for some lunch. While we were sat at the cafe we could watch the boats and see that the swell had started again - by the time we had finished lunch it had started to ease off abit.
In the evening we were invited over to Maya 3 for a fish curry (yes Kate now eats fish and curry!!) and had a great evening only getting back to Newt after mid night.

11th June, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We woke up to a large swell this morning as the wind had swung round and was now coming from the only unprotected part of the anchorage. On boats around the anchorage the men were stood on the bow looking at the anchors!! Our anchor rope bridle was making alot of squeaking but other than that we were happy until there was a big bang and the rope bridle snapped and the chain started to leave the anchor locker!! The chain was secured to the locker with a rope but as the pressure came on the rope and another big wave came through the rope snapped - luckily Jonny was on the bow to stop it disappearing!! After an hour of messing with different ropes and trying different things we managed to get a new bridle rigged and were happy. No harm done but we need to get a new chain hook when we arrive in Tahiti and we now have a very thick rope bridle!!
As we were getting sorted Andy came by to go and get bread but he needed one of us to go with him so he could stay in the dinghy so i had a very very ride to go and get bread!!
The rest of the day we were boat bound (despite the swell easing we were abit nervous about going too far!!) so we invited Calysta, Silk Sheets and Nemesis over for drinks and had a good afternoon.

10th June, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

A grey and cloudy day today - even in paradise we get bad weather!! We were planning to go snorkeling but the cloudy weather meant that the visibility would be poor so we decided to wait for a better day.
Jonny went over to say hi to Ben on Silk Sheets who we havent seen since Galapagos. In the afternoon we took the dinghy across the pass to the nearby smaller village for a walk.
We had a nice quiet evening on the boat.

9th June, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We arrived at Rangiroa at the 6am slack water and made it safely into the lagoon. After a couple attempts at anchoring (and some abuse from an unfriendly Australian boat who we were no where near) we found a spot and got the anchor down.
Once we had the anchor down Jonny took our spare cqr anchor to Nemesis who had bent theirs retrieving it at Manihi.
After breakfast and finding out the local info from Contrails who had been here for a couple of days we headed ashore for a walk. We ordered some bread from the local shop and walked to the other side of the island where despite it only being a couple of hours later the pass into the lagoon was very rough and unpassable.
The nearest 'proper' town is 8km from the anchorage but we had heard that you could rent bikes from the hotel so we went ashore for a nosy and to find out. The hotel looked very nice but the bike hire was very expensive.
In the afternoon Jonny refused to relax and spent the afternoon scrubbing the bottom of the keel whereas i read my book and had a snooze!!
At 4pm Andy came over with some beers because Jonny had helped him retrieve his anchor earlier and then at 5.30 we had been invited over to Takaroa (An english Rival 38 - Jane and Trevor) for drinks - we havent seen very many english boats since Panama - and we had a nice evening with them.

8th June, Manihi to Rangiroa

After a swim and buying bread we set off out of the lagoon to head to Rangiroa - 100 miles away. We were planning to average 5.3 knots to get there at the 6am slack water.
With a mixture of motoring and sailing and then just motoring we had an uneventful overnight sail with Calysta off our Port side and Nemesis in front of us arriving into the lagoon at Rangiroa at 6am.

7th June; Manihi, Tumaotus, French Polynesia

After a lovely curry onboard White Hawk the previous evening we had a lazy start to the day with coffee and pancakes for breakfast. I went up the mast to re-align the wind instruments before our next passage (knocked over by a bird en-route from the Marquesas) and then sat out a series of rain squalls!
We headed over to the beach to collect coconuts (think we have really 'Gone Troppo!') which are much harder to harvest than they look. After an hour of stripping bark and cracking nuts we had two decent coconuts to collect meat from.
We then went over to Mikado for a drink and to say goodbye, and then over to Maya 3 which arrived into the lagoon (we haven't seen Colin on Maya 3 since Lanzarote). We then went back to Newt and had Jeff and Kirsty from Nemesis and Andy from Calysta over for beers before tea.
All in all a busy day - we went to sleep listening to the anchor chain rumbling on coral and working out how many beers it would cost us to get Paul from White Hawk to free it for us in the morning!

6 June; Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We had a lazy morning before heading over to White Hawk for coffee - Kate and Lynn had a chat and swapped books whilst Jonny went with Paul, Dan and Nick (and Ian off Mikado) for a snorkel on the reefs.
After lunch we did some boat jobs - Jonny put another 12v fan in the saloon to try and combat the 40 degree temperatures, and also sharpened the machete ready for coconut collection.
We were invited over to White Hawk for tea (Chicken Curry) with Andy from Calysta, and so spent a lovely evening there. The winds got up during the evening, but died in the middle of the night.
We may leave tomorrow for Rangiroa(Mon).

5th June; Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We had a nice lie in this morning before getting a baguette and some coconut bread from the baker who comes around the anchorage. Many boats left in the morning (Christine Anne, Sunchaser, Hokus Pokus anda few others) bound for Tahiti. We'll see them down the line somewhere I am sure.
We visited the sailmail station in the atol where a French man has bought a small island and runs the sailmail (email via the HF radio for yachts) station and is building a house for his family to retire into.
We then went for a swim and visited some of the other boats in the anchorage for a chat.
We had a beach BBQ last night with Whitehawk supplying huge amounts of fish that they had caught on the way over. It was a great night and nice to meet lots of new people (but all of whom are heading our way). Kate even ate raw Tuna (marinated in lime juice and ginger) ... very surprisingly she even asked for a second piece!!

Thursday 4th June; Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.

I (J) woke early to turn on the VHF ready for the arrival of White Hawk. At around 9am I went out in the dinghy to meet them outside the lagoon and help guide them in through the pass. Once anchored Kate came over to join us for drinks on board and to catch up with Paul, Lynn, Dan and Nick who we haven't seen since Galapagos. We then had a lazy afternoon on the boat before heading ashore to burn rubbish and then off to Nemesis for tea with Jeff and Kirsty (Lasagne and Garlic Bread - yummy). We watched half a DVD before falling asleep (second half will be tomorrow's entertainment!).

3rd June, Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

A day of boat jobs - changing the fuel filters, filling up with diesel, fixing the spinnaker pole.
We had a lovely evening on the boat - after all the socialising it was nice to have a quiet night in!!

2nd June, Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

A busy day for Jonny fixing computers for Christine Anne and Relax and then servicing our winches. I did other less strenuous jobs - making lunch, cleaning the fridge ...
We took the dinghy for an explore up the lagoon before a swim and shower.
Pot luck dinner on the beach tonight .. we are taking french bread pizzas :).

1st June, Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

As the wind had died down we headed off to the pass (the entrance into the lagoon) to go snorkeling. You do this on the incoming tide and hold onto your dinghy so you get washed into the lagoon. The snorkeling was great - with lots of fish and the best coral we have seen since leaving the UK.
On the way back to the boats we stopped at a small family run pearl farm where they were harvesting farms. It was really interesting to watch the progress - the oysters that produce good pearls get re used for up to 6 years producing one pearl a year. Once the oyster is unproductive the meat and shell can be used so the whole oyster is useful.
In the afternoon we had a walk round the small village and had an ice cream before heading back to the boats and then to the beach for drinks.

31st May Manihi, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

We were going to go snorkelling in the pass this morning but the wind is really blowing (up to 35 knots) so we decided to wait for a less breezy day. Despite the wind the lagoon is still really protected and flat which is great. We went for a walk around the motu we are anchored behind. At the top end of the motu there is a resort that has been hot by a cyclone and abandoned. On the far side of the motu it looked really wild out at sea. On the way back to Newt we stopped to say hello to a new Dutch boat in the anchorage. In the afternoon i read my book whilst Jonny fixed the dinghy propellor - he hit some coral on the way back from the motu (i got us into the motu without hitting anything!!). Another boat arrived this afternoon so we went to say hello - Kirsty is Australian and Jeff is American (but have been living in Oz). They bought the boat in Mexico and are sailing it to Sydney. We decided to miss drinks on the beach tonight and have a dvd night instead.