Journal Entry – August 2 - 4, 2005 – Unexpected Move on Moorea

Author: Scott

Tuesday August second was just one of those days where we didn’t do much worth mentioning. The highlight of the day was filling our gas can for the dinghy which has been working exceptionally well on Moorea. Otherwise, it rained off and on throughout the day and we hung like slugs on the boat.

We did manage to get out for dinner. We walked to the local pizza place with Frank and Rachel from Starship. As we sat eating our pizza all the lights went out, so the owner of the shop and other patrons illuminated the dining area with their car headlights. The power stayed out during our entire walk home with cars racing at us at full speed, thank goodness Frank brought a flashlight.

On Wednesday we set out early for the fuel dock. On the dock is a funky shower and faucet unit. Not being shy we decided to take advantage of taking a shower and doing laundry standing out on the dock for the world to see, of course we weren’t out there in our birthday suits, but close enough. When we were squeaky clean, Pam moved into laundry mode and I trotted over to the gas station to snatch up some of the pineapples that had been rumored to be delicious. You get 8 little locally grown pineapples for 500 francs, not a bad deal for expensive French Polynesia. My next task was to try to find MORE FRESH FISH for the Fish Goddess Pamela, she had not consumed any sea life for at least a day and was in desperate need, so I jumped in the dinghy and cruised over to the fish dock. On my way I heard a shout from Last Call and diverted my course to see what was up. They called me over to tell me they had read about us in Sailing Magazine and Leslie told me to come aboard so she could show me. It turns out they keep back issues of sailing magazines onboard and they had the issue of Sailing that covered our voyage late last year. Trevor also asked me to help him with a computer problem; they had lost the sound on the computer. The volume problem was a quick adjustment and I was off in search of fish again. Bad news for the Fish Goddess, no fish at the inn! It was going to be a tense moment breaking the bad news, I hoped she wouldn’t flail around in desperation and jump off the dock in a mad hunt for fish in the bay. She actually took the news better than I thought, only moaning a little. The laundry was all finished and we filled two jerry cans with water, but decided we would only use the cans for washing or showers, as the water was a little murky from the recent rains.

In the afternoon we had plans to attempt our twice thwarted hike to Belvedere lookout, but as we were preparing to leave the mountain became shrouded in rain again. It looked like the mountain gods of Moorea were dead set against us visiting the mountain. We rebounded quickly and decided to walk back to the Pineapple Plantation for a second look and taste at the gift store. The walk was lovely as we managed to stay in the sun ahead of the rain. We were treated to a rainbow as we looked back behind us, however this also meant our laundry left out to dry was now getting a second fresh water rinse.

When we reached the gift shop, there were far fewer people in the store than on our last visit. We poked around a bit and ended up at the tasting bar for a few tastes of liqueurs that we could not remember tasting in the barrage of tastes we were given on the last trip. At first our impression of the woman serving us was that she was completely indifferent to our existence. We said hello and without a word she plopped two glasses in front of us as she gave us random tastes. Everything soon changed however, as we stood there sampling our hostess must have made some deductions about our identity because she shyly asked us in a whisper if we were on a boat. We told her that we were visiting on a sailboat. A smile came to her face and she then quietly asked us if we were those people on television who were sailing around the world and couldn’t see. Again, we told her she was correct, and within a second all barriers were dropped and she started asking all sorts of questions. We learned that the Pineapple lady’s name was Tara and that she was the manager of the gift shop and had worked in the store for ten years. Tara has lived on Moorea all her life and is very proud of her home. Now we were getting information about the island and suggestions of what liqueurs to buy and lots of friendly chit chat. We eventually moved on to pay and learned they could not accept a credit card for our purchases because the machine was down due to the power outage the night before. Well, now we were in a pickle, we were almost $20 short of cash. We quickly looked at our items to find some sacrifices and we were just about to return our items to the shelf when Tara walked over and asked us how much we were short. After telling her, she tapped on the calculator for a second and magically our purchases equaled the money in our pocket thanks to Tara’s special employee discount. Our next obstacle was the weather, we looked outside and it was raining cats and dogs. Tara said she would give us a ride to the bank so we could get some more cash and then back to our boat. Our new friend was full of help and support. We waited on a wooden bench with lizards carvings and waited for the staff to close up shop and then Tara told us to follow her to her car. As we drove in the rain we chatted about the children on the island. Pam was interested because she had not seen many children. Tara told us that many of the children on Moorea stay indoors a lot, caught in the influence of television and computers. Apparently if we wanted to catch sight of the children we needed to keep a watch as they walk to and from school. Tara took us to the other side of the bay and we got a quick look at the small town and I got a much needed visit to the ATM. We were then dropped off at the grocery store near our boat and we said our goodbyes to Tara.

The mission at the store today was to make a second attempt at locating fish for the Goddess, and this time we were successful. As we paid for our fish my mind wandered back to the seal we saw perform in Nuevo Vallarta and how the shiny black guy was rewarded with fish. There must be something that could work to my advantage from this common uncontrollable craving for fish. “Pam will you do the dishes tonight, I have a fresh piece of red tuna for you, okay now balance the ball on your nose…” We finished off the day with a very fat and happy Fish Goddess.

Thursday turned out to be our last day in Cook’s Bay. We spent the morning on the boat keeping watch because the wind was up, but we emerged at noon to get a bite at the café by the dock. We had called up Starship and Last Call to see if they wanted to join us. Last Call said they would meet us over at the café. We had a quick lunch of (you probably guessed it) tuna sandwiches. Last Call showed up just as we were finishing up. Leslie asked us if we were interested in following them over to Oponuhu Bay, they knew we were nervous about the reef and said they would not mind guiding us in. We were thrilled with the offer and quickly agreed.

We immediately stepped up the pace of the day and quickly completed the necessary errands to be ready to depart in just a few short hours. We made a final trip to the grocery store, bought ice, and tried without success to use the very slow Internet café.

The trip over to Oponuhu bay was a little wild and rolly, as soon as we left the safety of the barrier reef we were quickly tossed abound by waves hitting us on the beam, it was just the kind of trip that would turn a person prone to seasickness green in seconds. Little Tournesol tried like a champ to keep up with Last Call but we were certain that they were holding back and wallowing in the waves to stay with us. The sun came out for our trip over to Oponuhu and we were treated to fantastic views of the volcanic peaks and rich valleys of Moorea, again we were transported to a fairytale land with splendid mountainscapes and the sun setting on the deep blue ocean. It turns out that the channel into Oponuhu bay was very clearly marked and easy to navigate. We headed over to the mouth of the bay where a number of yachts were anchored just outside of the bay but inside of the barrier reef. Our first anchoring attempt was in twelve feet of turquoise water, but we were just a little too close to a neighboring boat for comfort, so we pulled up the anchor for a second attempt. Just as the anchor hit the bow roller, the other boat hoisted their anchor. I called over and asked if they were leaving and yes indeed they were. If we would have hesitated for even a minute we could have stayed anchored on our first attempt. On our second attempt we had to circle around to find a suitable spot, but finally we found our new home.

Once we were settled the water called to me and I had to go swimming in the bluest water we had scene thus far on the voyage. The water was warm, clear and beautiful. Back onboard we shared a simple dinner of broccoli and cheese soup and fell asleep in one of the calmest anchorages we have ever visited.