Moorea
30 July 2013
We tied up to a mooring ball right beside our friends from Huck, providing them with a bit of entertainment in our attempts to retrieve the partially submerged mooring. We had 3 great days in the reef-protected anchorage, safe from the rough conditions outside. Visibility in the anchorage was so great that we could see the bottom 60 feet below. We were situated beside a shoal, where the snorkeling was good enough for paying customers to arrive daily in dive boats. While we have been admittedly spoiled by the outstanding snorkeling/diving conditions in the Tuomotu, we still found plenty of interesting sea life by swimming between coral heads. Tom spotted an eel that popped his head out of a crevasse in a coral head, curious about the big creature with the camera hovering outside his den. We also found a red anemone 1 foot in diameter, this peculiar tomato-like creature attracted tiny blue fish at its centre.
The perfect weather window arrived Saturday. Light Southeasterly winds and a reduced swell of 2.5 meters (down from 4 – 5 over the past week) were forecasted, which is exactly what we got... well, mostly.
Our short journey to Moorea took 4 hours, which was an excellent way to get ourselves back into sailing after our break. We set out expecting a scenic, easy passage. When our cruise grew lumpy, we recalled a statement in one of our cruising guides: in spite of the close proximity of Tahiti and Moorea, the swell between them can be very uncomfortable, even when light conditions are predicted. That’s for sure! This is likely because of the swell wrapping around Tahiti, which causes confused seas. Waves vary in height and direction, and the short period between them makes for a very lumpy ride. Kim was happy she secured everything in the cabin prior to heading out, and we were glad we ate a good breakfast, as preparing snacks while underway would have been out of the question.
We decided on Opunohu Bay on the North side of the Island as our destination. The entry into the lagoon is well marked, and unlike North American marker buoys, there is no courtesy perimeter around them. In fact it’s wise to leave a wide berth around them, as coral heads and reefs often extend a bit around them. We were happy we selected the anchorage to the immediate left of the entrance, as the protection from the reef is excellent, creating almost flat calm conditions. The water is crystal clear. You can literally watch your anchor sink into the sand below and watch tropical fish and sting rays swim around the bottom of the chain.
Speaking of sting rays, we had an unforgettable experience yesterday (in our next blog)…