We’ve missed a day since Bourayne Bay had no Wifi.

Yesterday, we motored from Fare to Bourayne Bay. When we were halfway there, we saw the sight that sobers every sailor: a sailboat newly wrecked on the reef. God we hate that sight. She was on her starboard side, no sails up, and we know that she wrecked no more than three days ago. We do not know if the crew survived. She looks fine from this far away, but knowing how coral can destroy fiberglass, we’re sure that she’s a wreck now. With no sails out, she had to be motoring, and appears to have simply run into the reef. We hope that the crew escaped but we’ve heard only that the wreck happened recently and that there appears to be no salvage yet. it’s always interesting to learn what happened.

Sobered as we were, we continued to Bourayne and found a mooring buoy for the night. I got a layer of gloss varnish on much of the wood, we had a great meal, and hit the hay after our usual generator run.

We awakened at 0800 and decided that Bourayne Bay was not as interesting as we had planned. OK, let’s move! Build a cabin and you’re stuck: visit with a boat and just pull the anchor and move on.

Just before we slipped the mooring, we got a VHF call from a moored neighbor who was also heading south. It was the crew from Stormy Bay, a boat and crew that we had last seen in San Carlos, Mexico, four years ago! It’s one of those little gems of cruising that are the icing on the cake. They’re from Hobard, Australia and we became good friends as we all worked to prepare our boats for long passages. We made plans to meet and have dinner aboard Wings in D’Avea Bay.

The rourte to D’Avea Bay was SHALLOW! Holy smokes, we say 7” of water in places, and we draw 5.5 feet. That’s not a lot of room to move. Conni stayed on the chart plotter and I was standing and watching the world and the forward-looking sounder, but the system worked well. We did manage to survive but it was nerve-wracking in places.

We dropped our wonderful Mantus anchor, gave it a few tugs before it set, and when it did, it was like suddenly pulling on a fire hydrant: the bow swiveled around and we stopped! We love that anchor.

I completed a few chores, as did Conni, and we went ashore to explore. We walked about 4 miles, from one point making the bay to the other point. We found a Marae, the ancient Polynesian worship centers that we’ve seen so often. It was smaller than most, but forlorn and lovely. As they all are, it was located on a point of land at the ocean’s edge. And, as always, I think about what their world must have been like. Certainly, I can’t imagine, but the distance between our worlds astounds me.

We walked back to the bar of the resort at which we had tied our dinghy. They had advertised that they supported boaters, and we try to support businesses that to that. We strolled to the bar and enjoyed a beer each for the next hour. Conni asked that, since my French was better, I walk up the road to make a reservation at Chez Tara, a restaurant that has been mentioned in several of the guides for Huahine as one of the two best restaurants on Huahine. Naturally, I did so, and made reservations for us for 1900. We left the bar in the dinghy and went to prepare ourselves for dinner.

One of the neatest things about the cruising lifestyle is to arrive from one’s boat via dinghy, or to depart via dinghy. We arrived, tied up the dinghy, and strolled through the resort to our 1900 reservation. I ordered the shrimp curry with coconut milk, and Conni ordered the Tahitian crab with ginger. Wow! Both preparations were spectacular! I love it when Conni enjoys what she’s ordered and as she dove into the crab, crab crackers clicking, she obviously enjoyed it!

The meal was spectacular and we were the only customers there. It’s a family-owned and operated restaurant, so as soon as we paid and departed, they closed. We strolled back to the resort, through the outside tables to the dock, and motored home. What a special way to live.

Our best wishes and hopes go to the crew of the mystery sailboat that came to such a terrible end on the Huahine reef. We’re sorry beyond words for your misfortune.