Note: This is being written in Dec 2023 but it recounts events from Sept/Oct 2022.
In September we planned to fly back to Tahiti where Peggy’s cousin Frank & his wife Lisa would join us for a cruise to Moorea. That was the plan…. Turns out I had mis-read the visa rules for French Polynesia and I would not be allowed to stay more than a couple days before my “90 days in a 180 day window” would be up. So, despite trying a number of things, I was unable to go. Peggy was not in such a bind because she had gone home for about a month so she still had plenty of time before running up against the 90 day limit.
Peggy flew out September 27 and met Frank & Lisa on Calista September 30. By this time, Frank & Lisa had already spent a week in Bora Bora so they were on ‘island time’ and ready to for some boat time. They have their own sailboat up in Seattle and we sailed in Puget Sound with them a few years back. They also spent a great week with us on Calista in 2021 in Mexico so they are quite familiar with Calista and sailing.
They spent a few days seeing Papeete, going to our favorite pastry shop, ‘Les Reves De Lucie’ (The Dreams of Lucy), visiting the park along the water, the pearl museum, and generally enjoying the city.
The display cases are normally FULL of great pastries of all types!
After a few days in Papeete, it was time to go sailing! On October 2 they pulled away from the dock and headed out through the pass. It is a wide and well marked pass but there are big fast ferry boats coming in and out so you have to watch out and not get in their way. As a sailboat, we have the ‘right of way’ but it’s just good manners to be careful and not make them go around you.
It was a quick trip, about 20nm.
By early afternoon Calista was approaching Opuhonu Bay on the north side of Moorea.
In this image you can (barely) see a number of sailboats in an anchorage that is just inside the pass through the reef.
They anchored in this near anchorage, just above center in the google map sat view. There are a couple more anchorage areas in Opuhonu Bay, one deep into the bay and one on the left of the photo where I have marked ‘Great Snorkeling’. You can also see ‘Cooks Bay’ to the right (although it is thought that Cook never anchored there) and a very high end Hilton with bungalows over the water.
They visited a couple restaurants in Opuhonu Bay and enjoyed some hiking and snorkeling. There was a bit of drama pulling the anchor in ‘sporty’ conditions with a guy from a nearby yacht trying to help but just getting in the way. But it all worked out, the anchor got pulled and secured and they were on their way back to Papeete Marina.
Back on Tahiti, it was time to explore a bit more of the island, starting with a bus trip up to Venus Point (more details about Venus Point in the previous post).
Anyone for water aerobics at Venus Point?
Because we planned to leave Calista in Tahiti for the ‘off season’ and this is also cyclone season, we needed a safe place. Papeete Marina is great in normal weather but if a cyclone gets near and the wind is coming from the North, it gets pretty rough. Marina Taina is a few miles away but it is much better protected from weather.
The trip from Papeete Marina to Marina Taina is not far or difficult but you do have to keep in radio contact with the Port Authority especially when nearing either end of the airport runway. They don’t allow boats to cross under the flight path when planes are landing or taking off. The process is to radio them when you get close, they tell you to wait, and a few minutes later they clear you to proceed. We have done this a few times now and it is pretty easy.
Passing the airport tower.
For this trip, Gilles, our boat ‘care taker’ joined Frank up at the helm.
Moorea in the background. Really calm water inside the lagoon. The darker water just visible in the distance is where the protecting reef is located.
Marina Taina is bottom right. As you can see, the reef completely protects this area and it has become a very large anchorage and mooring field. Some people leave their boat here, anchored and unattended for months!
Calista safely tied up at Marina Taina.
After Calista was ‘put to bed’ Frank & Lisa moved to the Intercontinental Hotel, just up the road near the airport.
The Intercontinental is one of the nicest hotels in Tahiti. It has great salt water and fresh water swimming areas, nice restaurants and they do a great dinner show with traditional Polynesian dancing.
But they still found time to take the ferry back to Moorea with Peggy to see more of the island.
They spent some time in the water, photographing some inquisitive rays.
But even vacation in paradise doesn’t last forever. By October 7, Frank & Lisa were flying home to Seattle and a week later, Peggy got on a plane to San Diego.
So Calista will have to watch the Tahitian sunsets without us until we return in July 2023
