Exploring Bora Bora
03 August 2011 | Bora Bora Yacht Club
Sunny and warm.
We've moved now that the wind has let up!! We upped the anchor(boy was it dug in!) just after 0900 and took off backtracking our in coming course back toward the west side of Bora Bora. We took it slow to make sure we stayed where we were supposed to be on the track. Since we had come in safely, going back the same way would make sure we got out through the reefs and shallows safely and it did. We followed our course carefully and got to the Bora Bora Yacht Club at just about 1100.
Since we still have abut a week left here, and we need a few supplies, we decided to stop at the yacht club and pick up a mooring buoy. There is another front coming in and we want to make sure we are in a safe place when it arrives in a few days. Weather trends here tend to be one week of good followed by one week of garbage with big winds and rain. Right now, it's nice and sunny with a gentle breeze blowing through the buoys. As we approached the small cove, we called Hokulea, one of our sister ships here at the yacht club(Solstice is here also). Jake looked around the mooring field and told us to come in as there was at least one buoy available. As we entered the buoy field, a boat was just disconnecting from their buoy so we waited a few minutes till they were safely away and grabbed it as is in a safe location. Many of the buoys are quite close to each other and we don't want to bump another boat. As it is, we are quite close to a large charter catamaran. We grabbed the line on the buoy and after adding a second line(just to be safe) we were set. We had heard that there was excellent internet service here and that has proved to be correct so that is an added bonus.
We launched Puff with Dragon and headed ashore to get signed in, learn about what was around the club and get rid of trash. While at sea, we can get rid of some of our trash over board but in a lagoon where we are now, nothing goes over board. Plastic is NEVER dropped over board. It is always taken to the next stop in the voyage. Once signed in at the office(actually at the bar as they have no office) we dropped off our trash and headed into town. We'd thought that the club was closer to town but it's actually quite a ways out so we had a good walk to get to the stores and find a place for lunch. We'd been clued into where we could get a good cheap lunch along the road. It's at one of what we refer to in the US as a "roach couch". These are spread all over every island we have visited and each has a different take of what they offer. All the food that we have had there has been quite good(most times). Some better than others as it is everywhere. We found the suggested "coach" and I had chicken with french fires on French bread. The fries are not on the side, they are in the sandwich. Tracy had a sandwich of Chicken Chow Mien on French bread. Something we have never seen at any other "restaurant". She tried some of my sandwich and said she liked hers better. She didn't get fries on her sandwich though.
We hiked through town looking at what the town has and found the local Tourist Information Center and picked up some maps to get a better lay of the island. Walking back to Zephyr, we stopped at the two grocery stores(we'd passed them on the walk in to town) to get a few items and some drinks. We loaded up our back packs as well as the bags we carry for supplies and headed back. As we did, we cam upon two men having a fight outside a black pearl store along the road. Not sure what that was all about but one looked like the owner of the store and the other didn't. They slapped and punched each other other quite well before a bunch of people stepped in to stop it. As we headed back, we came across some old friends of ours--Lene and Henrik off Dana. We'd met the in Mark's Bay in Nanaimo, British Columbia several years ago and have bumped into each other off and on but hadn't seen them in over a year. They hail from Denmark and have been out cruising(even went around Cape Horn) for years. A fascinating couple(even built their own boat) that can "talk the talk" since they have "walked the walk". A treasure trove of knowledge and a great couple. We'd been in contact with them via email for a while(they had been at Raiatea)but didn't expect them to be at Bora Bora for another week. As we walked back, I passed them right by(not recognizing them) saying "hello". Tracy recognized them immediately. They had just come into the yacht club and they had also set off to explore the island. We stood along the road and chatted and got caught up a bit. As we will both be here for a few more days, I'm sure we will get together again to get better caught up.
We arrived back at the yacht club and headed back to Zephyr to get out shower supplies and headed back in to get cleaned up since the club has hot water showers. While there are signs on the doors that mark one as womens and one as mens, the mens was not an actual shower. Instead it was lined with supplies and equipment. So with only one shower(and it was occupied) we walked out to the dock and came across Avril and Graham from Dream Away(we'd met them on Tahaa) as well as Jake(off Hokulea) and Bill from Solstice. We got caught up on what everyone has been doing before heading back to the showers. Nice a clean, we stopped in at the club and had a beer($6.25 per beer) before returning to Zephyr for the night.