Lagoon 400 Cool Runnings anchored in Bora Bora

Swimming with giant Manta Rays at Bora Bora

Raiatea and Tahaa

After spending a few days in Avea Bay in Huahine, we made the short hop over to Raiatea on August 18th.  We entered the southern most pass and found a deep bay to anchor in.  Luckily, there were mooring buoys and we were able to pick one up, and spend the night there.  In many of the bays around the Society Islands, we have found free mooring buoys, because some of the anchorages are just too deep for a boat to use its own anchor.

Raiatea is home to the site of Marae Taputapuatea, one of the most important religious and historical sites in Polynesia.  Marae are open air temples (and, incidentally, this is what Dave and I stumbled upon in Huahine, when we went on the dinghy ride.  I had mentioned it in my previous post, but at the time, was not completely aware of what we were looking at!).  The marae and open air temples at Taputapuatea on Raiatea were a very short dinghy ride away from our anchorage, so we went there the next morning to explore.  The entire site is a candidate for inclusion on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it was extremely interesting to learn about the ancient Polynesian culture, and of course, a great school field trip!

Marae at Taputaputea.  The trees you see are sacred trees, as the birds that sat in the trees were considered messengers to the god 'Oro (to whom the marae were dedicated), and they used the bark and wood of the trees to carve their tiki idols

Some of the slabs were over 3 meters (almost 10 feet) tall!

Another view of the marae

Stone Tiki at the marae

View from the Marae site - I couldn't resist...it was just so beautiful!

Gaby found this piece of coral here that looks like a cross.  Quite ironic given the pagan nature of the place! 

After our excursion to the Marae site, we upped anchor and headed to the next bay.  We had heard there was a nice river to explore, so we moved our home and relocated to Baaie Faaroa and picked up another mooring buoy to go and explore the Aoppomau River. As we were getting into the dinghy, we were met by "James", who was on a kayak, and offered to show us the river as his home was up there. We were a little skeptical at first, wondering how much this guided tour was going to cost us, but he never answered that question!  We couldn't really decline, so off we went, James on his kayak, and us following in the dinghy.  Well, what an educational day it turned out to be!  First the ancient temples, and then a lesson on flora and fauna of Polynesia! (primarily Flora...we didn't see too many animals, other than James' dog, whom the kids loved!).  Gaby completed a paper for school entitled "Plants I Learned About Today" after our trip up the river!  She included drawings of the plants, a description, and what the plant was used for (eg: medicinal, decoration etc).

 James never asked for a cent for his time, he was just happy to share his knowledge and show us the river!  This friendliness is what we've come to experience from the locals pretty much wherever we go.  We of course gave him a tip, and bought a big bunch of bananas from him for $5!

The entrance to the river

Up the river

James showed us to a vanilla plantation...here we are with the vanilla pods!

Row, row, row your boat (dinghy) gently down the stream...

The following day we headed over to Tahaa, the next island which shares a reef and lagoon with Raiatea.  We explored a couple of bays and then went to anchor on the reef in 5ft of beautiful, turquoise water.  We were pleasantly surprised to find our friends on Invictus and Excalibur already anchored there!  Invictus and Excalibur are the 2 boats we met in Huahine, and whose kids Ben and Gaby had played with while there (swinging off the side into the water).  Also anchored there was a boat we'd met in Rangiroa (in the Tuamotus), a Lagoon 500 with a Belgian family aboard!  It certainly is a small cruising community after all.  

Invictus ended up hosting a party with all the boats in the anchorage - we left the kids on Cool Runnings and had a great time with 6 other couples on Invictus!  Let me just add that Invictus is carrying about 300 litres of really good red wine, so you can imagine the most excellent party that was had!!!

The next day, Ben and Gaby completed a project that required them to design and build a sailing vessel.  They constructed the "SS Butter" (pronounced "Butar" according to Ben.  The reason for this name is that they used an empty tub of butter as the hull!).  The "SS Butter" was subjected to some sea trials in a pond created in the bean bag by all the rain we had overnight and then we attached a fishing line to it and let it sail off the back of Cool Runnings.  Dave has already posted the video of both of these events.  A great project and "SS Butter" is still alive and well!

Teamwork was required in the construction of the "SS Butter".  No adult help was allowed in the design and construction

The completed "SS Butter" complete with port and starboard lights.  Well done, Ben and Gaby!

Our anchorage in Tahaa.  Site of the launch of the "SS Butter"

She floats!  The "SS Butter" is dwarfed by "Wind Star", the 4 masted cruise ship that we saw in Tahit, Moorea, and now again in Tahaa!

Gabs and mom share a special moment :)  The next day we sailed to the north of the island to a place called "Coral Gardens".  We anchored the boat and then took the dinghy over to a coral reef.  We walked to the top of the motu, and then drifted down with the current over the coral.  Great snorkeling and we saw lots of beautiful fish!  

Our anchorage at the Coral Gardens in Tahaa looking over at Bora Bora

Benjamin enjoying sunset in Tahaa 

One more of the sunset in Tahaa:  next stop:  Bora Bora

Another great day and another beautiful anchorage.  Next stop, Bora Bora!

Lagoon 400 Coolrunnings - Bora Bora Yacht Club

Ben and Gaby testing their new boat...the "SS Butter".....

Anchored in 5ft of crystal clear water with our two new boat family friends

Ben and Gaby launch their own self designed and built boat in Society Is...

Kids having fun off our friends boat!!!!!!

Hot dogging in Dinghy on my birthday - Huahini Island, Society Group

No more formal sit down dinners aboard Coolrunnings ;)

Moorea and Huahini

The trip over from Tahiti to Moorea was a quick one.  We left Tahiti around lunchtime, and made it to Cook's Bay in Moorea that afternoon.  Moorea reminded us a little of the Bay of Virgins in the Marquesas, with its huge peaks looming over the bay.  The island, like most of the Society Islands, is surrounded by a reef, and the water around the reef was crystal clear.  Entering the pass was nothing like the atolls in the Tuamotus, and soon we were at anchor and enjoying sundowners!  We spent 1 night in Cook's Bay, and the next afternoon moved over to the neighboring anchorage in Opunohu Bay.  

Dave and Ben relaxing at anchor - Cook's Bay in Moorea

Moorea's Opunohu Bay

Beautiful clear water and a another view of Opunohu Bay in Moorea

We left Moorea on Sunday evening (August 14th) to head over to Huahini, the closest of the Leeward Society islands.  Since the trip is about 90 miles, we had to time our departure from Moorea to coincide with a morning arrival in Huahini, so we could enter the pass there.  By leaving just before dusk, and averaging a speed of 5 knots, we were able to arrive in Huahine at sunrise.  We traveled with 2 other boats that left at the same time, and it was the first time we'd done an overnighter with other boats.  It was both strange, and comforting to see their red port lights behind us all night.  We spoke to them on the VHF radio, and they were both Australian boats, and they were on their last leg of their circumnavigation!

We arrived in Huahine at sunrise, but had to travel up the side of the island to enter the pass, and then travel all the way down again to reach our anchorage at the southern tip of the island.  This scenic cruise gave us some gorgeous views into the interior of this island that is known as "the wild one".

Land Ahoy - sunrise over Huahine - morning of August 15th, 2016

 After we anchored and snorkeled and explored a bit, we saw 2 new boats enter the anchorage.  Not too long after that, a paddle board came over with a mom and 2 little girls.  They were from "Invictus", a beautiful, 52 foot Lagoon catamaran that we had seen coming in.  They are a German family, and the 2 little girls are 3 and 4 years old!!  They are the cutest little things, and are completely bilingual, with their mom, Nicole, speaking only English to them, even though both parents are German.  While we were chatting with them, another dinghy came over and we were introduced to Nicolas, Ann-Marie and their 3 kids on the French boat, Excalibur.  Soon all kids, and all parents were at the beach getting to know each other.  To me, this is what cruising is all about.  Where in the world can you get 7 kids together:  3 French, 2 German and 2 American, of ages ranging from 3 to 12, all playing (and somehow communicating!) together on the beach and in the water, while the parents sit on the beach comparing boat and cruising notes?!  It was great to meet these new families, and we've made plans to keep each other posted on our whereabouts and we will definitely meet up with them again after we leave this anchorage.

Tuesday, August 16th dawned and it was Captain Dave's birthday!  The kids had made happy birthday cards, and the "Happy Birthday" banner was hung!  We looked back to a year ago when we were celebrating his 50th birthday in Florida, and were speculating where we would be a year from then...and here we are!  Not quite Bora Bora, but close enough!  We dropped the kids off at "Excalibur", the French boat, where they had a ball swinging from ropes and fenders off the side of the boat into the water.  I believe Dave has (or will) upload some video of the fun they were having.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!  (Card by Gaby)

Dave and I took a dinghy ride around the point and explored another pass.  He really wanted to surf on his birthday, and we found a surf spot at the pass, but there was a little too much current and a reef a little too close, so Dave decided to give it a miss.  But we did enjoy watching the local surfers catch a ride, and we enjoyed dinghying around, exploring the beautiful surroundings.

Crystal clear water

A little cove we discovered on our dinghy ride

We also stumbled upon this archaeological site.  We still need to investigate what the significance is of the stones and how they were arranged, but it was pretty cool to find it!

 We celebrated Dave's birthday that evening with dinner at this little restaurant with chairs on the beach, bare feet in the sand!  It was terribly expensive, but, oh well...special occasion!!

Dave's birthday dinner in Avea Bay with Adrian, Michelle and Rebecca

Sunset over the anchorage

Tomorrow we move our home again to another anchorage on the next islands of Raiatea and Tahaa.  They are 2 islands that share a reef, and a big lagoon in the middle, and we've read that there is no shortage of beautiful, secluded anchorages.  So off we go again, to see what we can see!  For now, farewell from all aboard Cool Runnings!

Lagoon 400 Cool Runnings -Birthday jaunt

Tahiti

We spent a week in Tahiti, doing final repairs with parts that Michelle, Adrian's wife brought with her from South Africa, provisioning and catching up on schoolwork!  We spent one day touring the island in a rental car.  While parts of the island were beautiful, we were somewhat disappointed in Tahiti overall.  The city of Papeete was just that, a city, and there are no gorgeous beaches as one might imagine.  Maybe we are already spoiled in what we consider beautiful!!  We image that if you come and stay in one of their resorts, you would have a great time, but as cruisers, we were happy to move on after a week.

This may be the one and only time McDonalds gets a thumbs up from us!!  The kids were delighted to have a delicious tasting milkshake again - what a treat!!  (And sad that we even found a McDonalds in Tahiti!)

Papeete Cathedral

Grottos on our tour around the islands

We visited Teahupoo, which apparently has the most dangerous wave in the world.  It is due to the way it forms and the coral reef directly beneath it.  They were getting ready for the annual Billabong surfing competition when we were there, which takes place every August

Dave wishing he was actually surfing again!

One of many beautiful waterfalls we discovered on Tahiti

This was a lot of fun!  There is a blowhole that shoots out spray from the breaking waves below.  The sound it makes when the sea spray comes out is like a freight train rumbling through!  

Lighthouse at Point Venus where Captain James Cook observed the transit of Venus in 1769 

We left Tahiti on Friday morning, August 12th, and sailed the short distance over to Moorea to begin our cruise of the Society Islands.

Lagoon 400, Pacific Crossing with Cool Runnings

Another pretty anchorage, Lagoon 400 Cool Runnings

Photo Update - The Best of the Marquesas

Our landfall in the Marquesas early in the morning on the 9th of July was a joyous occasion!  We had all been trying to imagine what it would be like to see land again after spending almost 3 weeks at sea.  When the outline of Fatu Hiva became clearer and bigger on the horizon, we knew we had made it!  Once again, we have way too many photos, but I've tried to gather a few of the best of the Marquesas, to give an overview of the wonderful time we had there:

Landfall!  With a rainbow to boot!

Land Ahoy = Happy Family

This was the first view of the anchorage, "Bay of Virgins" on the island of Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
 Even with the clouds obscuring the top of the mountains, you can see the scale of them compared to the masts of the boats

We walked around the tiny settlement of Hanavave, marveling at the lush, green foliage and huge mountains 

Our walk took us to a lovely waterfall, falling down a sheer cliff face about 200 feet high.  

On a dinghy ride around the corner from the anchorage we discovered this hole in a rock.  It was amazing how the erosion had actually formed an archway.

Just another view of Cool Runnings in the anchorage at Fatu Hiva

You almost expect dinosaurs to be roaming around on the cliff faces, so raw and untouched this place is!

Thanks to Kristi on Cheeky Monkey for this picture and the one above.
Cool Runnings in the Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands

We then moved on to Hiva Oa.  This was taken in the town of Atuona.  The tikis can be seen everywhere.

The art lover in me was delighted to find the Paul Gauguin museum in Atuona.  Paul Gauguin called the island of Hiva Oa home after moving here from Tahiti.  Many of his later works are Polynesian themed.  He died here in the village of Atuona on 8th May, 1903 at the age of 54.

After our bananas all ripened at once, we didn't have much fresh fruit save for a few sad apples on our crossing, and even those didn't last too long.  So stocking up on fresh fruit was a top priority when we finally hit land!  Here we have papayas (paw paws), pampelmousse (both gifts from locals), and lots of apples and oranges!!

We enjoyed Bastille day celebrations in Atuona on Hiva Oa - July 14th, 2016.  There was a huge parade through the town, culminating in dancing and feasts at the waterfront community center.

Taking a tour of the island allowed us to explore even the most remote parts and see the rugged beauty from every angle!

More of Hiva Oa.  This was our lunch stop on our island tour.

Our final stop on the island tour was the Iipona archaeological site near the village of Puamau.  This tiki is estimated to be about 2,000 years old!

You may notice that the head of this particular carving is very small compared to the body of the tiki (you can see the other tikis in the background for comparison).  We learned that the head of this particular tiki is on display in a museum in Berlin, so the locals put another (much smaller) head on the body!  They are apparently fighting to get the head back on its rightful body.

An overall view of the archaeological site

We then moved on to the island of Tahuata and anchored in Hanamoenoa Bay.  I was previously able to post some pictures of this stunning bay, so I'll keep it short

Cool Runnings, Hanamoenoa Bay, Tahuata, Marquesas
Saturday, July 16th, 2016

The following day, Sunday, July 17th, we pulled up anchor and left the stunning Marquesas islands behind us and set sail for the Tuamotus chain of atolls arriving in Rangiroa on Thursday morning, July 21st.  I've been able to post pictures and updates on our visits to the atolls, so I should be largely caught up in the picture department (except now for our stay in Tahiti)!

Dave has downloaded and posted a few of his short videos that he takes on his cell phone or GoPro.  The reason they are so short is that it takes so long for them to upload.  Even a 30 second video can take up to an hour to download, even here in Tahiti, where the internet has been the fastest we've had since Panama.  But hopefully even these short clips can give you a feel for what we've been up to, and enjoy sharing with you all!

Tomorrow we will leave Papeete and Tahiti and sail the short distance over to Moorea.  That will be the stepping stone to the exploration of the remaining Society Islands, Huahine, Raiatea and Tahaa, Bora Bora and Maupiti.  We are eager to see what lies ahead in the weeks to come!