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Bora Bora – Society Group – French Polynesia

Raiatea was hard to leave. We were not super thrilled about going to Bora Bora. As I write this I realize how funny that sounds. Most people would be extremely excited to visit Bora Bora. For us, however, it was a stop we need to do in order to check out of French Polynesia by the end of our 90 day visa. And we knew it was a stop that was going to be heavier on the pocket book. We arrived August 5th, 2018 just in time to check out.

Checking out of Bora Bora has been reported as a easy process. The location of the offices relative to where you moor the boat is fairly close. That being said, there are very limited options to anchor, leaving $$$ mooring only options. We moored up at the Maikai Marina Yacht Club in Vaitape. It sounds fancier than it is and the included wifi is very slow. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay and the kids enjoyed the pool, when they were allowed (not always an occurrence). We ended up paying for 5 days there because it was cheaper than paying for 3 days. Not all 5 days were spent there though. We were able to sail over to the east side of the island for a few days to check that out. I think our timing must not have been optimal. We heared wonderful things about the eastern side, but for us, it was windy and not the best conditions for exploring. The view, however was spectacular. And to top it off, we were anchored, FOR FREE, right in front of the high paying customers in the Four Seasons and St. Regis Resort.S/V La Cigale anchored near us.We had these two men join us for a bit of fun… they were using our wake for a lift. It was great fun, but what we didn’t realise was that they scuffed up our “new” paint job on the hull. Hmmm, a bummer indeed, but left lasting memories of the fun it was and the smiles they gave us.

The Bajka Boys, Catherine from La Cigale and Taj enjoying the ambiance at the MaiKai.

Aiden from Sv Tranquilo sharing his toys with Taj .

Fellow sailing family from S/Y C’est Si Bon

From Bora Bora (our last official French Polynesian island) , we sailed off the mooring ball at Maikai Marina, out to Maupiti, through the narrow pass and onto the hook next to our friends on La Cigale and Bajka.

The last picture of our asymmetrical before she completely blew apart (off of Suwarrow, 700 miles later).

Mo’orea – Society Islands – French Polynesia 🇵🇫

TAHITI!!! Society Islands – French Polynesia

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What a strange feeling…. after so many months of small populated towns, if any at all, small grocery stores that had just enough supplies to restock a few select fresh fruit (mainly grapefruit, imported apples, and bananas), and quiet surroundings with only nature to be heard, we made landfall in the busiest, most populated island in French Polynesia, Tahiti, June 24th, 2018.

Our overnight passage from Toau was pretty much seamless after our exciting 3 am departure was out of the way. 36 hours and a Wahoo later we found ourselves just reaching the north end of the island of Tahiti. We made way for Venus Point, the same anchorage Capt. Cook landed in on the Bounty to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun on June 3, 1769. That was 249 years ago! This very protected, easy navigable, black sand bay, eased our entry into “city life” for just one night. The black sand was something we, on Shawnigan, had not experienced yet. When we dropped the hook, we assumed the water was dirty and that we would not be able to see the bottom. As soon as the anchor was down we hopped on paddle boards and toured around. It didn’t take long to realize that we could actually see the bottom from the surface. At 20 feet down, our silver anchor glistened half dug into the black sand.

We made Shushi with the Wahoo we caught!

The next morning we made way for the anchorage just north of Marina Taina, which is just south of Papeete, Tahiti’s largest city and the Capital of French Polynesia. On our way in through he pass, we motored by a popular surf spot, no not Teahupoo, but lovely to see. I think its safe to say that we all felt shell shocked. So much to see, the surfers were beautiful, the landscape was beautiful, the people on outriggers givin’her were beautiful, the water was beautiful, the list could go on. Shortly after, as we made our way up the channel, our friend named Gilles, whom we met a few years back in Sausalito as he and his family sailed through on SV Coccinelle, came to greet us on his dinghy. He hopped aboard, tied his dinghy to Shawnigan and lead the way to the anchorage.

Gilles and Christian getting caught up on 4 years of not seeing each other.

The anchorage was tight, but we found a spot. It was exciting to see so many boats anchored and moored in a few mile radius. The kids were especially excited, because big city means more kid boats coming together in one location, therefore new kids to meet and make connections with. A few other things to be excited about: BIG grocery stores and free wifi access from the town hall, family visiting, and a tour of the island via rental car. Yay!

Every morning the outriggers were out practicing.

Play time with cousin Lola.

Ellamae and Apolline

Family shot with Lola in front of Tahiti waterfall.

Moon setting

Ages 17 – 5 years old.

Ellamae’s send-off crew (Boat kids from La Cigale, Raftkin, and our Shawnigan crew).

That’s Nina, doing some kind of funky pose.

Taj is in awe with the size of the waterfall.

Taj, very much his dad’s son…

We finally met S/V Bonaire!

Nina and Taj coming into shore in the dinghy to pick me up.

Taj (at 5 years old) being towed behind a dinghy on a hydrofoil. Thanks Jeremy with starboardSupNZ !

Kid boat meet up at the park near the marina in Pape’ete. Kids from S/V Today, S/V Coastal Drifter, S/V La Cigale, us (S/V Shawnigan), S/Y Panacea and S/V ManuiaBus ride back from town with S/Y Panacea crew.