Journal Entry August 15, 2005 Passage from Tahaa to Bora Bora

Author: Pam

We woke up at 0600 to make the last preparations to be ready to go by 0730. At 0715 we checked in with Mico Verde and found we had all been efficient and were ready to head out for what we hoped would be a one day sail of 40 miles. We put up the main sail with one reef and with the engine running sailed off of the mooring just behind Mico Verde. Once we were out of the pass we were sailing at 4-5 knots and life was looking good. I spent the morning finishing and proofreading the document for Sail magazine and sent it off on schedule.

The challenge of sailing between two islands presented itself around 1300 and we lost the wind almost entirely. In total we ran the engine for five hours intermittently for the rest of the trip. This was the longest we had used it with the external pump. Despite our nervousness the temperature never went above 140 degrees, which is actually very low. As we crawled along toward Bora Bora the hope of arriving before dark was getting bleaker and the idea of heaving to outside for the night was not very appealing either. We decided to head toward the pass and make our decision based on the daylight we had left when we were at the entrance. As we approached the sun was very low in the sky, but MicoVerde came to the rescue. They gave us the heading and offered to come out in their dinghy to guide us in. We decided to go for it and by the time we were half way through the pass it was dark. Stephanie and Warren had anchored in a cove just to the right of the entrance, so we decided we would anchor near them for the night and move to a mooring at the yacht club in the morning. With their help we slowly started poking around in the very small and as we soon found out very deep cove looking for a spot to anchor under 60 feet. After a few minutes of going around in circles we were also met by Trevor on Last Call and Dot’s husband on Neliandrah, both were alongside in their dinghies making suggestions. After several passes we determined Mico Verde may have gotten the last spot shallow enough for our ground tackle, so it was decided we would raft up to them for the night. It ended up being a smooth and painless process with our dinghy heros helping with handling the lines. As mentioned before Mico Verde is a 32’ Westsail, she turned out to be a perfect partner in crime for Tournesol. Phew, what an adrenal rush to come into an unknown port after dark, I keep saying we are never going to do that again and of course we would never have attempted it without assistance. Mico Verde had arrived two hours earlier, they of course had no worries with their engine and drove straight through when they lost the wind.

We made a simple dinner of beef stew and instant mashed potatoes (another one of Scott’s favorites) and then walked the four steps over to Mico Verde’s cockpit to decompress. The one day sails are probably the most stressful, there is never enough room for light wind if you don’t want to or can’t use the engine. None the less we are thrilled to be in Bora Bora, our last stop in the Society Islands.