From Society islands

I think I'll do a quick update here so I don't get too behind myself. We were delayed in Moorea 2 days waiting for weather but since Moorea has been my favorite island so far, I was A-OK with it. The scenery in the Cook's & Opunohu Bays is so beautiful. We enjoyed our coffee in the cockpit just gazing up at all those rocky mountains. Plus, the weather system we got was bringing cold southern air up to our area so one morning it was 70 degrees in the cabin & Jon was in heaven! Thankfully for me, it has warmed back up.
From Society islands

One day we dinghied over to an area where the tour boats feed the stingrays so just like in the Cayman's Islands, you can swim with them and since they're looking for food, they're all around you. The sharks love it too so of course they're all around you looking for food. We're used to them now. We also did some snorkeling, which was just OK. Moorea was hit by a cyclone a few years ago and it took a huge toll on the coral. You can see where it was incredibly full & beautiful given the density of coral heads and formations and it is coming back but it isn't there yet.

On our last day in Moorea, we set out very early again with Ardea & Barfly to hike up Mouaputa. It is a large, imposing mountain with an arch like rock formation at the top that to me, looks like a bridge. Jon & I had read the comments on SummitPost.org (this is where we're getting some of our hiking info these days) and it looked like it was going to be too technical for us. But Connor & Michael on Ardea knew some local people who said it wasn't that difficult and that the ropes that you need to use to ascend & descend were in good condition, so we were once again up for" bagging" this peak too!
From Society islands

It was a beautiful day and hadn't rained for 2 days so the trail was pretty dry. It was much more lush than Mt Rotui and there was more shade. The trail was well maintained. It meandered along a river to a waterfall before starting to head steeply upward. There were about a dozen ropes to use for the steepest stretches and the uppermost part of the trail was nearly vertical but it wasn't particularly hard for us to get up or down using the ropes. Actually it was pretty fun. We had a great view of course from the top. The arch is slightly below the summit and you can take a little path down to it but Jon & I opted to stay on top- and not risk falling off the mountain altogether. We didn't have any trouble getting back down, although it did take us the same 3 hours to descend since it does require concentration for footing and only one person can use each rope at a time so there is time to look around at the view while you wait your turn. We all really enjoyed the hike and the trail was much better than we anticipated.
After we got back to the main road, we hitchhiked home to the boat and got it ready for an overnight trip to Huahine, the next island in line in the Societies. Since the trip is about 80 miles, it's best to cover them at night and arrive in daylight. There were about 8 boats that left the same time as we did- a lot of nav lights on the horizon that night, at least at first. It was very windy with large, following seas but the trip went well and it felt really good to be at sea again. Of course, the latest with the autopilot and it's new pump is that in the middle of the night, the tiller arm pin sheared and so once again we were without the pilot. It was an old pin from our original pilot and it had become loose so there was probably too much strain on it at that point so it broke. We engaged the windvane, beared off course a little and it steered us the rest of the way. We jibed 3 times and even though I always dread it in big seas, when it really comes down to it, it works just fine. We pull the jib in, the boat slows down, we tighten the main, have the boom brake snug and then nudge the helm over until the boom swings over the little bit of distance it can since we have it tight, then we reset it. We really like having the boom brake.

We've enjoyed Huahine. It isn't as picturesque as Moorea but it has a quiet charm. Finally, there's a beach bar named Te Marara with a happy hour that provides a place for cruisers to gather. We rented bikes a couple days ago and biked around the two islands of Huahine Nui & Iti. At first glance, the bikes looked pretty good but once we got going on them, it was pretty apparent that they were ready for the dumpster. All we could think about is how many times we've rented bikes this trip only to have them be way less than optimal and how we have fantastic new folding bikes sitting at home. We didn't think we could afford the weight or the loss of space but this is it- we're bringing those bikes back when we come home! Along the way, we kept running in to friends off other boats who were also biking the island.
From Society islands
Huahine is filled with friendly people, a newly paved, smooth road, flowers everywhere, pretty bays and vanilla plantations. We visited one and got a little tour of the grounds. I bought some beans to make my own vanilla with. They grow the plants on stakes in a UV protected greenhouse. The flowers are a pretty, pale yellow and each flower makes one vanilla bean. The air does smell of vanilla.

On our bike ride, I noticed again that there aren't cemeteries here. Generally, your loved ones are buried in your front yard. Most have little roof structures over them and always lots of flowers, shells or other decorations. There are plenty of dogs around, most are too tired to be unfriendly although there were some we had to bike rather quickly past. Jon & I often start a dialogue about what we think a dog is saying to himself. If one is sniffing something alongside the road we'll say: "Hmmm, wonder if I can eat this. Might make me sick. I could die even- well, that wouldn't be bad either. It's probably the shortest way out.... I'm going for it!" It's funny, but it's also sad. We saw some old archeological remains, the Belvedere with the great view, we ate lunch along a narrow beach on the southern end of Hauhine Iti and we stopped to see the "famous" sacred eels. They are large, blue eyed eels that live in a little stream in the town of Faie. We were really excited to see them but there isn't much to really see. The shallow stream has cement retaining walls, set in the trees with poor light to see the eels which were snuggled up partially underneath the cement wall so no pictures of them.

And yesterday we did boat projects in the morning and then spent the afternoon snorkeling near the anchorage, along the barrier reef. There were lots of fish, some new ones we hadn't seen and also the first we've seen of the Crown of Thorns starfish. It hardly looks like a starfish but it does move like one- slow. Jon spotted another leaf scorpionfish. They look like a piece of dead seaweed, swaying the bottom, perfectly camouflaged. They're pretty confident about their camouflage so you can get right up to them to try and make out their anatomy.

Today, I think we're going to head over to Ra'iatea. We'd like to see if it's possible to have a new bolt made for the autopilot and we feel like we've done all we want to do here considering the time we have left. "See" you there!