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Legendary Leeward Islands

March 10, 2004

Many many apologies for the lag in our logs. We got a bit behind in French Polynesia, as the $24 per hour Internet connectivity prices seemed to put a damper on Web updates. Once we arrived in Hawaii, our laptop hit the shop for some much-needed work. True to the Hawaiian saying "Slow Down, this ain't the mainland", the repair techs took over six painful weeks to repair a sound card and a DVD player.

But, we're back in business and we last left you in the Tuamotus Islands, French Polynesia. After a two-day passage from Rangiroa in the Tuamotus to Papeete, Tahiti, we entered the famous and exotic Society Islands. While not as friendly as the Marquesas, or as surprising as the Tuamotus, the Society Islands are the epitome of Polynesia, and the stuff of legends for every mariner and voyager. In general, the less populated and touristy islands hosted the most friendly locals, although the generosity and spirit of the Society Islands, in our opinions, did not reach the level of the Marquesans.

Back to the Big City
Although intending to spend only a few days in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, we ended up spending almost two weeks. We had been hearing for months from other cruisers that every boat part you needed could easily be found in Papeete. We did not find this to be accurate, and the parts that were available were extraordinarily expensive. Not to mention that only French was spoken throughout most of Papeete. The Papeete merchants are also very specialized, and we would often spend an entire day walking in the sun to track down one part; one store would not have it, and would refer us to another store, who would send us down the road to another store, and so on.

We had heard of the high prices of items in French Polynesia, and Papeete was the poster child for expensive everyday goods. Any goods that are not French are highly taxed by the French government, including those food items we were missing from home. One memorable example was Marc's craving for American-style ice cream. After a fruitless search for Ben & Jerry's, we finally found a pint of Haagen-Dazs… for the low price of $17 U.S. Needless to say, his craving was not that bad and we made due with the lower-priced local ice cream.

Boat parts were no exception. A RACOR fuel filter that costs $25 in the U.S. ran us a steep $65 in French Polynesia. However, we were able to find cheap dinghy parts for our French-made Zodiac dinghy.

Every day in Papeete was a six-mile hiking day to round up parts at the boat stores and machine shops in the industrial district of Papeete. It was a challenge to Cathy's high school French, but we managed to convey to the local shops that we needed a bushing made for the tiller, metal stanchions welded back together, and a new fix for the scupper drains. We changed all systems, purchased new rigging at API Yachting, updated the head system, and made about a million trips to Nautisport marine stores. We also sanded and painted the wooden toerails and Tramonto is shining again. Marc has developed incredible skill as an electronics engineer, diesel mechanic, and plumber. When we can't find the proper parts to do an essential fix the right way, Marc can create pieced together solutions that would make Dr. Frankenstein proud.

The fun and social side of Papeete was nightly dinners at the roulettes, about 30 mobile "roach coaches" that park on the downtown quai. Here, you could find great and cheap dinners for $8-$20: poisson cru, grilled fish, Chinese food, wood-fired pizzas, and crepes. One highlight was nightly happy hours with Wally and Carey from Dazzler. We also had a great time with Na'ia and Yang Wa, two boats we had met and shared many drinks with in Puntarenas, Costa Rica in March. When we left them in Costa Rica, our planned route was to Panama and East through the Canal to the Caribbean. They sure were surprised to see us on the dock in Papeete in November!

We moored on the downtown quai in Papeete, which is somewhat like sleeping next to a racetrack. The four-lane highway was inches from our heads, and curious walkers from the cruise ships wandered by to see the motley assortment of boats on the quai. Papeete has ancient boats moored there that look like they are no longer seaworthy, but are homes for French expatriates who want waterfront residences. Many of these boats have not left the quai in years and are laden with things like huge chest freezers on their decks. The marine officials in Papeete were nasty and rude, but if you showed the proper respect you could get what you needed done.

As a break from the constant boat work, we rented a car and took a day trip to Tahiti Iti, the small peninsula connected to the larger island of Tahiti. The French call it the "presqu'ile", which means "almost island." We visited a nicely restored marae and went to check out Tehuapoo, the surfer's mecca, which is known as the largest and most dangerous offshore wave.

See the photos of Papeete and our trip to Tahiti Iti.

Moorea
After our maintenance was done in Papeete, we hightailed it out of the big city and headed for the peace, tranquility, and beauty of Moorea. Named "yellow lizard" after the name of the ruling family, Moorea is just a three hour (20km) sail from Tahiti and, in our opinions, was one of the the best stops we made in the Society Islands. It's slow, quiet, lush, not overdeveloped, and friendly, with dramatic peaks and turquoise lagoons.

We anchored in two spectacular bays that cut deeply into the shoreline: Opunohu Bay and Cook's Bay. A hike through the lush jungles brought us into the agricultural center of Moorea, which grows most of the pineapples in French Polynesia. On the way to an ancient marae, we stopped by the agricultural college to gorge our hot and dehydrated selves on fresh fruit juice and incredible mango, coconut, pineapple, and lime ice creams and sorbets.

See the photos of Cook's Bay, Opunohu Bay, and Moorea's incredible scenery.

One day, Cathy and Wally from Dazzler were wandering the roads and doing some exploring on a nearby beach. We wandered onto the beach, where a large family barbecue and party was in progress. Within a minute of our arrival, they had invited us to join them for lunch and eat huge quantities of barbeque chicken, poisson cru, salad, and fruit juice.

In our opinions, one of the best attractions of Moorea is Sting Ray World. It's a snorkeling spot accessible by dinghy outside of Opunohu Bay. We took the dinghy through the turquoise waters to a chest-high stretch of the clearest aqua water you have ever seen. As soon as they hear the boat engines, about 50 stingrays approach and swirl you as you stand in the water. Not only do they cruise by you inches from your legs, but if you have fish, they will wrap themselves around you like a cloak while they wait to be fed. These stingrays have wingspans of up to six feet, and are safe if you stay away from and do not step on their barbed tails.

One day, Marc dropped Cathy off at Sting Ray World and took the dinghy out of the reef pass to explore a nearby surf spot. Minutes later, he came screaming back in the dinghy excitedly proclaiming that he had seen whales. We both went out to explore, but ran out of gas in the engine after coming out of the pass with no whales in sight. As Marc was filling up the outboard with the spare and we were stopped, two enormous humpback whales surfaced within 20 feet, exhaling out of their blowholes and slapping their huge tails right near us. A memorable whale sighting that we will never be able to duplicate!

The trip to the next island, Huahine, required an overnight passage and we left at 4 p.m. for an early morning arrival. That night, the winds blew and the seas climbed to 10 to 12 feet with squally weather all night. We arrived in Huahine the next morning around 10:30 a.m. to clear skies and sunny weather.

Huahine
The lovely island of Huahine is surrounded by a reef and has a beautiful blue lagoon and a quiet town where we spent time watching the world go by. It's a local town, not overly touristy, with friendly locals and great surf. Marc soon discovered the surf spot right outside of the reef pass. The waves were 6 feet and clean, but the current in the pass was fast on the outflow. Paddling out to the break was no problem, but getting back in to the anchorage after a long day of surfing couldn't be done without the dinghy. We met Oliva Hela, a Vancouver, BC boat with Polish sailors Jakob and Isabella, and shared many bottles of wine and delightful dinners. Jakob decided he wanted to learn how to surf, but caught the outgoing current and headed out the pass towards the island of Raiatea before a local surfer jumped in his boat for a dramatic rescue.

We had been incredibly lucky with our anchoring for the entire trip. Not so in Huahine. Although the clear blue water affords incredible visibility up to 30 feet, we couldn't see to the 45-foot bottom of this anchorage. Or the one piece of coral in the entire lagoon, with our anchor snugly nestled right below it. With the high winds, it was lucky that we weren't going anywhere. The big problem was that we had to be on the next island of Bora Bora the next day to pick up a friend at the airport. Marc was able to free-dive and find the anchor, but he couldn't stay down long enough at that depth to free the anchor. Fearing the worst and the high prices of French Polynesia, we hired a local diver to free our anchor and kept our fingers crossed. Only $10 U.S. dollars later, we were free and on our way to Bora Bora.

Bora Bora
For all of my adult life, I had fantasized about the turquoise waters of Bora Bora, and I was excited to finally be on my way. The name itself brings up an image of knife-edge jagged cliffs dropping into turquoise lagoons and palm-covered motus. The reality is beautiful, but somewhat marred by the effects of tourism and overdevelopment. Cathy's good college friend, Kim Blackford, was flying from Denver into Bora Bora for a two-week visit. She was due to arrive in Papeete at 1 a.m., and had to wait overnight in the airport until her 6 a.m. local flight to Bora Bora. We were waiting and waiting for her in Bora Bora and she did not show up for her flight or for the next few flights. We later discovered her in town without any luggage. As she was sleeping in the airport in the midst of a crowd of people with her luggage straps wrapped around herself, her luggage was stolen right from under her. She woke up when her carry-on backpack, containing her passport, credit cards, and money, was pulled out from under her head. She saw the thief, chased him down in the airport, and successfully demanded the return of her carry-on. When she returned to her seat, she discovered that her larger pack, containing all her clothing, our brand new $800 tiller pilot replacement, and our forwarded mail, had been stolen. Welcome to French Polynesia, Kim! She was a great sport, bought new clothing, and soon got over it after a couple of Hinano beers. So, keep a close eye on your baggage in the Papeete airport and don't fall asleep.

Bora Bora was our most anticipated and least fulfilling stop. The topography was beautiful, but the services in the town were underwhelming and expensive. This was the only stop in French Polynesia where the locals were actively rude. Elsewhere, the Tahitians could be disinterested and reserved, but Bora Bora's residents went out of their way to not help us and make us feel unwelcome. When we could not locate Kim, the desk attendant at Air Tahiti was aggressively unhelpful and had no interest in telling us whether or not she had checked into her flight in Tahiti. Finally, after three hours we found her safe and sound, but with a much lighter load.

We had a great vacation with Kim, and spent most of our five days in Bora Bora in the water, snorkeling, kayaking, or just getting wet. Kim also went on a few dives. On to Tahaa, one of the undiscovered jewels of the South Pacific.

See photos of Bora Bora and Raiatea.

Tahaa
Tahaa, the Vanilla Island, was a gem not to be missed. It's small and tranquil, with none of the trappings of tourism and the authentic South Sees feel I was looking for. We spent our days wandering through the small towns and being picked up by friendly locals. Everywhere we walked on the island, the local residents greeted us with a friendly "Ia Orana" and a big wave.

Inside the fringing reef at the northern end of Tahaa lie about 60 motus (small, coconut-covered islands). They are within the huge fringing reef, so the water surrounding these motus is blue, shallow, and calm. The water was so clear that we could see the coral heads 80 feet below us, and were surprised when the water depth ranged between 80 and 4 feet under keel. It was a challenge to navigate by color - if a coral head beneath you appears yellow, it's too shallow and time to get out now. Trial by fire, but Tramonto survived unscathed with her hull intact.

The lovely Hotel Hibiscus is located at the mouth of deep Haamene Bay, and offers free mooring balls. This late in the season, we had the moorage all to ourselves and spent many contented hours drinking Hinano beer on the deck. We had a memorable dinner that was a splurge for our pocketbooks and our diets at the Hotel Hibiscus, with fresh fish that had just been pulled out of the water, and artistic presentation with flower-strewn plates. We were accompanied by a local character named Fredo, who joined us for cards at dinner and revealed that he was a tour guide. The Hotel Hibiscus is also noteworthy for its sea turtle rescue operation. The owner purchases baby sea turtles from local fishermen at market value, then raises them until they are large enough to be released.

The next morning, Kim and I embarked on a day tour of the island with Fredo. We drove a 4-wheel-drive vehicle through the jungle and over hills with panoramic views of the turquoise ocean and lush green mountains. Fredo was great company and a child of the 70's like us, and we entertained ourselves by singing American Broadway tunes from Annie and Grease as we drove through the jungles. We also visited a pearl farm and a vanilla plantation.

See a slideshow of the idyllic island of Tahaa.

Local Gems
The world-famous Tahitian Black pearls are one of the South Pacific's most famous and tightly controlled exports. They range in color from silver, to aubergine, to green, with incredible hues in between. The rarest and therefore most valuable colors are the aubergine and green pearls. Their name is derived from the oyster in which they grow, the Black-Lipped Oyster.

Cultured pearl production is a big-money and very complicated procedure.

Black-lipped oysters are grown at pearl farms and are hung in vertical rows at least 6 feet under the water surface. Pearl quality can be affected by boat traffic and waves, which can produce dark lines in the pearls.
The mantle (reproductive organ) from a donor black-lipped oyster is cut into small pieces and inserted into the other oysters.
A specially-trained "pearl surgeon" visits the pearl farm to surgically open and implant the oysters. One pearl surgeon at a Tahaa pearl farm would stay for one week, implant 65,000 pearls by hand, and make $15,000 for one week's work. The island of Rangiroa in the Tuamotus has a college that trains local residents the art of pearl production.
The oyster is implanted with a special sphere made from the shell of the Mississippi River mussel, imported from Louisiana. A small bead is put into the pearl as an irritant. The nacre, the beautiful shiny surface of a pearl, is the pearl's response to this irritant in its reproductive organs. Each pearl has up to 16,000 layers of this nacre before it is harvested,
The pearls are monitored for acceptance of the implant. About 80% of pearls reject the implanted nucleus, so the operation is attempted again. About one quarter of the pearls refuse to produce pearls and reject the implant. After four times of rejecting the implant, a plastic form in a round or teardrop shape is glued into the shell. It is covered by nacre and when it is complete, the shell is cut around the implant and it makes a lovely, shiny piece of jewelry.

Little-known Pearl Facts:

Oysters take about 12-18 months to produce one pearl
Each oyster can produce up to four pearls before dying
Pearls are a tightly-controlled export of French Polynesia. If the thickness of the nacre is anything less than .8 millimeters in thickness, the pearl cannot be exported out of French Polynesia.
There is a $10,000 fine for exporting uncertified pearls
The quality of a pearl is determined by: the number of flaws, pits, and scratches; the color; the size; and the thickness of the nacre
The color of a pearl is determined by the following factors: the minerals present in the water, the degree of salinity, the type of plankton eaten by the oysters, the water temperature, and the waviness of the water.
The most valuable pearls are black, aubergine, or rainbow-colored

Raiatea
Raiatea is the companion isle to Tahaa to the north. Both islands lie close together and form an upside-down exclamation point. They are both within the same gigantic fringing reef, so it is possible for boats to navigate around both Raiatea and Tahaa.

Raiatea also contains the most important marae, or temple, in French Polynesia. All other maraes in French Polynesia are said to contain a piece of this first temple. The religious district for this marae reaches all the way to New Zealand and Hawaii, but does not include the Marquesas. This again underscores the different ethnic groups residing in the Society Islands (of which Raiatea is one) versus the Marquesas Islands to the East.

See photos of Raiatea and the marae.

On Raiatea, we also saw copra sheds, part of the important coconut industry in the these islands. Copra is the white coconut meat that is laid in the sun in sheds with retractable roofs to dry. Copra is a major export of French Polynesia, and is a primary ingredient in cosmetics manufacturing and coconut oil production.

In Raiatea, we had two crew members join us the second week in November for the passage to Hawaii. Rich Jones and John Novembre were great and fun crew members, and they had an eventful, fast, and safe passage to Hawaii.

See photos of Rich and John's arrival in Raiatea.

See Slideshow 1 and Slideshow 2 of the passage from Raiatea to Hawaii.

French Polynesian Food
As our three wonderful months in French Polynesia have come to an end, we'd like to review a subject that is very important to us: food. We were very surprised that most of the food in Polynesia was derived from Chinese culture. The Chinese settlers to Polynesia were very industrious and became the primary merchants and restaurateurs, and expanded the Polynesian menu with their own additions. Some of our favorite dishes:

Fresh pineapple dressed with the seeds of fresh vanilla beans
Mahi Mahi with vanilla sauce (cream, coconut milk, and fresh vanilla poured over fresh, grilled fish)
Casse croute: at about $1.50, these were the most affordable lunches that we ate practically every day. This sandwich is a half-loaf of French bread, with fillings like ham or chicken. Other, more exotic sandwich fillings included French Fries (disgusting) and ketchup, or chow mein noodles
Poisson cru avec lait du coco: raw fish salad with vegetables, dressed with coconut milk and lime. Our favorite variation was a Chinese-style Poisson cru with a tangy sauce and fresh ginger.
Fresh vanilla and coconut ice creams. You could get these in any local shops.
For dessert, a baked papaya split in half and filled with coconut milk and a fresh vanilla bean.
Chicken with lemon sauce
Unfortunately, we didn't eat as many vegetables as we should have due to their high prices. A watermelon grown on Moorea was $25, and a local pineapple would run you $5.

Aloha Hawaii
After a 21-day passage from Raiatea, Tramonto and crew finally returned to the United States after 14 months of cruising. They checked into Hilo, The Big Island on December 12, and squeaked into port between two storm systems. The next month was spent catching up on foods we missed and visiting with Cathy's relatives on the Big Island and Maui. We were unable to leave Hilo for another two weeks due to high waves and winds, but finally left around the 20th of December. On Christmas, we sailed from Maui to the rural island of Moloka'i, and then on to Oahu.

Tramonto is now safely moored on the leeward (western) side of Oahu at Ko Olina Marina. Ko Olina is a beautiful resort, with four lagoons for swimming, a walkway along the ocean, a golf course, and luxury hotels.

Marc quickly found a job as the Communications Manager for Hawaiian Airlines in Honolulu, and Cathy is exploring some freelance writing and consulting opportunities. So, for now, we're happily settled outside of Honolulu and are enjoying the weather and the scenery. It's good to be back to the States and not moving after covering 14,000 miles in 14 months!