Journal Entry July 27 - 29, 2005 Magnificent Moorea!

Author: Scott

This is what I pictured the South Pacific to be like. When we were in Nuku Hiva we had a taste with towering mountains coated in lush greens, but there was no turquoise water there like you see in all of the postcards. We did have a glimpse of this water in Tahiti, but Moorea brings it all together. Tournesol is anchored in emerald green water. Our anchorage is surrounded by huge peaks of lava rock covered in greens. At the head of the bay is a mountain where hikers climb to the Belvedere lookout point. Just a short dinghy ride away is a small dock adjacent to the “Snack Bar”, a little outdoor café serving pre-made baguette sandwiches, burgers, and ice cream. There is another dock on the edge of the bay with fuel pumps and a third dock and boat ramp at the fish cooperative. The village at the head of the bay is sparse with the grocery store being the largest structure. At the mouth of the bay there are sailboats anchored in shallow water off the reef, and there is where you can find that striking blue south pacific water.

On Wednesday morning July 27 we woke up to roosters crowing and dogs barking at 0330. Yes, we are back in the heart of Roosterville. Here in Moorea there is an ongoing competition between the dogs and roosters. I think a lone dog decides to throw out a “Im going to chase you tomorrow and have me some rooster pie” bark, and the cocks respond in force with a “not on your fat doggy woggy life” cock-a-doodle-doo, and then the squabbling begins in earnest. I have never heard anything like it, it didn’t even come close in Nuku Hiva. Other than being woken by the chaos, Cook’s Bay seems to be a completely calm anchorage due to the protection from the barrier reef.

We jumped in the dinghy and dropped by Novia to say hello. They had decided to stay on Moorea a little longer because in the night they had a head catastrophe and James was elbow deep in the repairs. Fixing a boat toilet is usually much more complex than fixing a land unit and James was planning for an all day battle. I offered to help, it was only fitting since James helped me rebuild our head, but space was limited. They said they would be coming to town in a bit and we agreed we would all see each other on land. On land we dropped by the Snack Bar for a tuna sandwich and milkshakes. We were absolutely stunned when the bill only came up to 680 francs, about $7.25. Next we headed off for a walk along the waterfront. The road is well paved but drivers in Moorea have a lead foot and we were often lurching onto the embankment to avoid a collision. Just about everything was closed for the lunch break, but we did find two grocery stores, an Internet café, a couple of gift shops, a few restaurants, including one recommended by Antoni, the gas station, and adjoining fuel dock. We strolled out on the fuel dock and who should we see, but Novia coming in for some fuel and pineapples. Apparently the best place to get pineapples is at the gas station, six for 500 francs. Ann and James decided to head over to the Bali Hai Club to look at their gift shop and we decided we would check it out. The Bali Hai Club has been on Moorea for many years with two properties, The Bali Hai Hotel and Bali Hai Club. The property was beautifully manicured with an inviting pool and little cottages strewn about neatly gardened grounds. While we were exploring the club we learned there was a traditional dance performance scheduled for 1900 and we could attend for 500 francs each.

Our next stop was the grocery store, a regular stop for us at each new destination. The store was surprisingly comprehensive. We reunited with Ann and James at the store and they gave us some additional visual information about available merchandise. We told Ann and James about the performance at the Bali Hai Club and they agreed to come along. We all returned to our boats to get ready for the performance. Pam and I took this time to watch the DVD Roland have given us, that contained recordings of the television segment filmed in Tahiti. It was interesting watching the segment broadcast in French and Tahitian. Though we could not understand what was being said, we think they did a good job of reporting our story.

At 1830 we were off in our dinghy to pick up Ann and James and then head over to the Bali Hai Club. The show was performed on their grassy lawn under trees that dripped enough moisture to cause us to move once. The scuttlebutt around the dripping trees is apparently the ex President’s wife illegally imported some plants that contained bugs that have now infested the trees in French Polynesia, and the illegal immigrant pests are causing great damage to the local plant life by chewing holes in the tree leaves causing the trees to dehydrate. I don’t know if this is fact or political fiction but it makes for an interesting tale. The show turned out to be mediocre in comparison to the talent we had witnessed in Tahiti, but it was a fun night out, culminating in a group dance with the audience shaking their not so Polynesian “thangs”.

Back on Tournesol we ended the evening with Pam’s current favorite meal, barely grilled tuna with jasmine rice and lots of wasabi. This means that Pam had tuna for lunch and dinner today, she is going to grow a tail and swim off someday.

Thursday was all about doing our homework. We had an assignment to complete for our friend back in the Bay Area who is co-authoring a book about our voyage. Almost all of the beautiful South Pacific day was spent below typing away. We finally emerged to make a quick run to the store for fresh dinner supplies. However, once we were back onboard we were visited by Frank and Rachael from Starship. They stayed for a cold drink and some chatting, and then asked us over for dinner aboard their Pearson 390. The groceries could wait for the next day. The evening was lots of fun. They have similar music tastes and we instructed them on how to play “The Game”, a music game that is sort of like “Name that Tune”, where the person to call out the music group first, wins a point. I first started playing “The Game” with our friends Steve and Renee. There are more specific rules, but you get the gist. One element of “The Game” is that “The Game” is always being played, so as we ate delicious lamb stew, we would randomly scream out music performers. We stayed late with our new friends and enjoyed the companionship that so easily comes with other cruisers.

On Friday we managed to finish our homework and emailed it off to the States. Pam also spent the morning baking me a chocolate cake for my birthday that she had smuggled in from home. She wanted to make the cake when she knew it could be appreciated, and we had plans to invite Ann and James over for dinner, so the cake would have a proper party to devour it. We stopped by Novia to invite them to dinner so the cake would be consumed and we also invited them to walk to the local Pineapple Plantation with us and Starship. We made plans to meet at the dock at 1330. On Tournesol we grilled cheeseburgers that were to be the prior night’s dinner before the invitation from Starship, and they turned out to be scrumptious. At 1330 we met at the dock and Starship, Novia, and Mariner IV were all present for the walk to the Pineapple Plantation. The hike took us from the head to the mouth of the bay and wound along the perimeter road circling the bay. We walked along the water as it turned from deep green to shades of sapphire and then turquoise. Canoe racks were scattered along the banks of the bay, waiting for the occupants to take the canoes out racing or fishing. We walked along the road in single file or pairs sharing cruising stories and the fellowship that comes with blue water sailing. As we came to the mouth of the bay we were treated with a panoramic view of the bay with towering mountains, palm trees, white sand beaches, and perfect blue water. The sailboats anchored on the reef bobbed on their anchors, and the ever present cruise ship that seems to stalk us from paradise to paradise was pulling into the bay.

It turns out that the Pineapple Plantation was closed for tours as they were expanding the facility to meet growing International orders, but the gift shop and tasting room was open. Now I have been to plenty of wine tasting rooms in Napa and Sonoma but nothing could prepare me for the alcoholic onslaught we were about to experience. Our group bellied up to the bar and a very hyper and gregarious woman dosed out a shot glass to each of us. In the next ten minutes we were subjected to tastes of twenty-one different liqueurs. I couldn’t keep straight what I was being served, was it the pineapple coconut, or the vanilla or banana run. It was obvious they were accustomed to offering tastings to large tour groups on a tight schedule. We all staggered away from the bar with tropical moonshine smiles painted on our faces and poked around the store for potential purchases. Somehow spending money came a little easier after our encounter with the Pineapple Liqueur Lady.

We all floated home to our boats. Onboard Tournesol we were preparing for Ann and James’ visit when were hailed on the VHF by a boat named Moxie. We returned the call and we were asked if our boat once had a water maker. We responded that it had and that the prior owner kept the water maker. Apparently the water maker had been sold by Joel Tuttle, the prior owner, and the name Tournesol was still written on the unit. Dale the owner of Moxie figured there could not be that many Tournesols from San Francisco and decided to give us a call. Yes indeed he had the right Tournesol, how funny that the boat and water maker were reunited in Moorea, French Polynesia. Dale also told us he had heard of our voyage and wondered if we could get together at some point because he had been diagnosed with macular degeneration and had questions about how we managed sailing. We agreed to get together sometime the following day.

Ann and James came over and we were all treated to pasta in clam sauce. For dessert we indulged in my birthday cake. After dinner we taught Ann and James how to play Five Crowns, a card game we learned from Abe and Amy. I was victorious!