Bora Bora holds a special place in Hideko's and my heart. We were married there and it was a magical time. Everyone aboard was excited to drop anchor in her crystal clear lagoon.

We left Huahine with no issues and the starboard rudder seemed to be doing a fine job solo. The auto pilot wandered a little more than usual but nothing to be concerned with. The sun was in my face on the way out so I focused my attention aft and used the transit on Huahine to guide us out with Hideko on the bow watching the marks.

We raised the main sail just outside of the pass. The wind, and the forecast for the wind, was light and we would likely motor sail much of way across to Bora Bora. I was contemplating pulling the jib out as we cruised near the Huahine reef to enjoy the view. Then I heard Nobu yelling from the side deck. Nobu's English has gone from not so good to very good since I have known him and I am constantly impressed by how fast he picks up languages (Spanish, French, English)(and how slow I do). Yet I could not understand what he was saying here. I was concerned.

Then I looked to where he was pointing and I saw two Humpback whales. Wow. Hideko and I had been in whale territory so many times but had never seen them. These two, a moma and an older baby (my guess), were sleeping on the surface. As we approached on a tangent they woke up and began to swim parallel to us. It was an awesome experience none of us will forget.

The seas picked up a little as we passed out from behind Huahine but squelched again as we entered the lee of Raiatea and Tahaa. We sailed and motor sailed along the north side of the leeward societies enjoying the outline of Bora Bora as it grew clearer and larger every minute.

The Bora Bora pass, there is only one, is on the west side of the island in the middle of the reef. We had a nice tour of the island as we approached the east side, sailed along the north side and turned down the west side.

As we came down toward the pass I noted some very large breakers on the reef. The swell was from the southwest as was the wind. Not optimal for entering a west pass. As we approached I watched a freighter exit which gave me some confidence things were reasonable. We dropped the sails and approached south of west due to the tide setting northwest. The single rudder was a bit more noticeable in the rip of the pass with the wind blowing a good 20 knots.

Once inside the lagoon we headed south to the anchorage in Bay de Povai just north of Bloody Mary's dock. Bloody Mary's (a popular restaurant) has about 10 moorings in this area but they are highly contested for. They are supposedly for guests of the restaurant but this restriction is not widely respected by the cruisers present nor enforced by the restaurant. Many boats anchor here though the bottom is consistently 75 feet in the area. We found the holding to be good with a mud bottom and put out our entire 300 feet of chain to get a 4:1 scope.

Once the boat was secure we all cleaned up and headed over to Bloody Mary's. This place is perhaps overrated but only because the rave reviews are so extreme. It is a really cool spot. Sand floor, big hard wood stumps for bar stools, pandana roof with no walls and the menu is whatever fish they have freshly laid out in a canoe full of ice. You order by pointing at what you want and everything is grilled. Very expensive, awesome vibe, and good food (sometimes great).

Hideko and I had our rehearsal dinner here and this was our first time back. It was a lot of fun and we were glad to share the spot with Nobu who seemed to have a great time as well.