Busy in Bora Bora

Fred on Songline introduced Jake to the surfboard.
I forsee a new toy on Savannah.

We’ve gotten to do a lot here in Bora Bora over the past week.  It is honestly one of my favorite places so far.  A nice mix of the Marquesas and the Tuamotus, landscape wise.  The people are friendly and there are lots of things to do.

A few nights ago the folks on Rutea organized a bonvoyage party for the sailing vessel Sara Jean II.  They were leaving the French Polynesia and heading for the Cooks (the same path we’ll be taking soon).  So we all brought an appetizer and bought our drinks from the yacht club here and had a nice night of chatting, catching up for some, and saying goodbye for others.  Afterwards, I went into town with a few of the girls to watch the dance competitions that are going on right now.  Every July there is a celebration called Heiva where dance groups from all of the different villages come together to compete against each other.  They build restaurants and structures in the town here just for this occasion.  In 5 weeks time, they’ll all be torn down. 

I loved the dancing.  It reminded me of the competitions I used to go to when I was a kid.  Only this is Polynesian dancing and mine wasn’t.  But the concept was the same.  A group of people get together and practice and practice and practice.  They’re performers.  They smile, they move (in quite unforgettable ways), and they do it because they love it.  The groups were made up of both men and women.  I read on a friends blog how he really enjoyed the women dancing the most.  As it should be (and I do agree it’s very beautiful, and boisterous!).  But I have a different perspective.  The men’s dancing can get kind of savage with a lot of slapping and yelling and it’s absolutely fascinating to me.    And here’s the best kept secret of the Polynesian…the men here are better looking than the women.  And most men will agree.  We’ve had men rowing by in their outrigger canoes for the past few months and  I for one have been thoroughly entertained.  Whether they’re 17 or 70, the muscles never cease to amaze me.  The women on the other hand are either really beautiful, or not so much. 

We moved our boat to the other side of the island and found some more stingrays and black tips to snorkel with.  These appeared to be more skittish than the ones in Moorea but it was fun all the same.  For those following behind us, they’re on the southeastern side of the island past the small sailing club on the motu.  There are a few buoys out there but you can’t see them until you get closer to the reef.  Much like Moorea, just look for the tourist boats.

Happy Birthday Fleur!

Last night we caught up with our friends on s/v Libis again.  It was Fleur’s 34^th birthday and they were having a little floating pizza party.   Fred and Cinda on Songline were there as well and we had a great time just chatting and floating around.  We ended the night back on our boat with some additional food and drinks and of course, more stories. 

This morning we woke up early, got in the dinghy and made our way to Marama’s Tattoo joint at the southern end of the island.  Andy has been wanting to get a Manta Ray and we just haven’t found the time.  We were told this guy was the best around and after seeing Andy’s tattoo, I believe it.  He totally freehanded the whole thing.  No stencils, no drawings on paper first…just a short chat with Andy and what he was all about and about an hour and a half later, an intricate manta on his shoulder with various different Polynesian symbols pertaining to his life….water, waves, stars, the four elements, family, protection, energy.

We’re back at the yacht club now and tomorrow we’ll go to the store one last time and fill up with water, then we’re off.  We’ve decided to skip Maupiti since we’re pushing our luck here anyway and head straight to Suwarrow in the Northern Cook Islands.   So this may be our last post with pictures for quite some time, but I’ll still keep you all informed as to our shananigans via SSB posts.  It should take us 4 days or so to get to Suwarrow and then we'll stay there two weeks (or so) and then head to American Samoa...we'll have plenty of pictures by then!

Fred and Jake paddling around the boat.

Lemon Sharks

Yesterday we went with Yuka and Mark on s/v Merkava to dive with the lemons sharks.  A few other boats went with us as well to snorkel (and lucky for me, watch Jake).  We went just out the pass to the left where there are lots of buoys to tie the dinghy up to.  We went down about 50-60 feet and just waited.  We didn't have to wait long.  There ended up being about 5 of the biggest sharks I've ever seen.  There were a few mommy sharks that looked like they were close to pupping.  They would swim at you with their big teeth hanging out and then when they saw the scuba bubbles they would turn.  It was a big nerve racking at first but by the end of the dive, Yuka, Mark and I were trying to herd them toward Andy so he could get better pictures.

The coral here is dead as it can be.  Apparently they had a cyclone here a few years ago and it wiped out most of the coral.  But it didn't seem to make a difference to all of the fish.  There were hundreds of fish of all different types and I even found a little hill where there were literally thousands of juvenile fish swimming around.   If the coral would have been alive this would easily have been the coolest dive I've done.  The fish weren't skittish at all.  I had a few swimming around my head and they caught me off guard a few times and made me a bit jumpy.

I'll keep the commentary low as I'm sure you just want to see the pictures.  They're really great.  Enjoy!

Blond in Bora Bora

So, if anyone was wondering if I’m a natural blond, the answer is yes.  And tonight (and last night), I proved it.   For all of those 4^th grade classes out there reading…beware, I think this might be a PG-13 post based on suggestive content and mild language.  My apologies ahead of time, but Andy thinks it’s  too funny not to tell.

The entrance to Bloody Mary's.  The boards to the right and
the left have the names of all the famous people that have
eaten there.  Evidently, it's very hard to get your name on the board!

We are moored on a free mooring ball off of the restaurant Bloody Mary’s.  The only requirement is that you go in and a have a beer or two.   And so we did.  Last night we sat at the bar with a few other cruisers while Jake played monster trucks in the sandy floor.  A few times he had to go to the bathroom so I took him to the loo to the left of the bar.  After the first trip, the guys asked me if I saw the pull string.  Well, I had read about this pull string so I went back in and saw that in order to wash your hands you had to pull a little ring and a waterfall would start trickling through some rocks and it made for a very unique sink.  There was a bit more talk at the bar, but I ignored it and thought the whole thing kind of cool but not so memorable.

Tonight we went for dinner.  And a fabulous dinner it was. Tuna, Moon fish and shashimi…fantastic.  As soon as we sat down, of course, Sir Jake needed to visit his throne.  Naturally, I took him.  As I was waiting for him outside the stall, I noticed a giant wooden penis hanging from the ceiling over what appeared to be a foot washer (it is a sand bar after all).  I thought it odd but fascinating and when Jake was done we went back to the table so I could tell Andy… “I understand now why they asked me last night about the pull string…there’s a giant penis over the foot washer or shower or whatever it is.”  A long silence followed, along with a sly smile and a look I know well…it sort of says, ‘you dumb ass.’ 

“What?,”  I said.

“For real?”

“Yes, for real…what?”

“That’s a urinal, Monica. “

I still didn’t get it. 

“Why?”

“It’s a men’s restroom.”

“But I’ve been in there three times.”

“And you just now saw the giant penis?”

hmmm…..  I can see where this looks like I wasn’t paying attention.

“Where’s the women’s bathroom?”

“On the other side of the bar.”

“Are you sure?”

Lots of laughing at this point… “Yes, I’m sure”

“Oh…well I’m gonna go check it out”

“You do that.”

What can I say… nothing really…I had no idea…but the giant penis is a nice touch I guess…the men seem to like it…after all, they kept asking me about it.  But I was highly disappointed with the women's bathroom...nothing special in there to keep us talking at all.

Lesson learned...Read the signs over the bathroom door, ALWAYS.

4th of July in Bora Bora

We had a very active, yet quick passage from Tahiti to Bora Bora.  The winds were 20-25 knots mostly on our stern quarter with 10-15 foot swells.  Since it was almost from behind, we weren't too uncomfortable but I have to say I was glad when we arrived.  We averaged 7-8 knots and made the 160 miles in good time.

And what a beautiful place it is.  I've heard from a lot of cruisers that they didn't care for Bora Bora, that it was too commercialized.  After seeing it, I'm beginning to think we cruisers are more than a bit spoiled.  How anyone can pull in here and not think it's gorgeous is beyond me.  We picked up a mooring ball at the Tahiti Yacht club for $2000 francs.  Every night after that is only $1000 francs so it's not that bad.  The yacht club went through some rough times the past few years with a cyclone that came through so they're in the process of rebuilding.  It looks like it's going to be very nice though.  We were able to get a few drinks and enjoy ourselves on their dock.

Today we're heading over to a free mooring of the infamous (or famous, not sure) Bloody Mary's Restaurant.  Our understanding is that you can stay there (short term) free if you buy a few drinks or have a meal there.  There appears to be a pretty good snorkeling spot a dinghy ride away so that's our plan for today.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and ate tons of barbque and potato salad!  And now I'm sure you're enjoying your day back at work...