We cast the fishing line on our crossing to Bora Bora and when we heard the reel whizzing away we knew we had caught something big. We had to first slow the boat, so quickly furled the genoa and with great effort managed to reel the line in so that the fish was within a few feet of our boat. It was a magnificent green/blue male Mahi Mahi. I was determined to get this beast on board and was shouting to Bill to get the gaff. Then we saw its smaller female mate swimming along side and suddenly we all felt bad! What to do? It had a hook in its mouth and I didn't want to lose my expensive lure, we love eating Mahi Mahi but not being hardened fisherman were now feeling sentimental and sorry for it. In our quandary and dithering about, the poor thing was still thrashing about in the water and fortunately for him (and us), managed to unhook itself.

Excitement over we relaxed to take in the view of Bora Bora's peaks and the waves crashing up against its surrounding reef. The lagoon was a dazzling hue of green, turquoise and blue. Bora Bora, the honeymooners paradise really is all about the splendid colour of it's waters. It is hugely expensive to stay in a resort and you would expect to pay between £11,000 to £15,000 a week for one of the bungalows sitting over the water. If you can easily afford that then perhaps the deluxe bungalow would be your choice at £10,000 a night and that apparently doesn't include meals!

We picked up a mooring buoy just outside of Vaitape the main town.
We were delighted to find the Heiva, the traditional Polynesian festival held in July was still in full swing and easy to dingy to in the evening. The Heiva is mainly a dance and singing competition (Tahiti also holds its own) but includes other events such as the fruit carrying strongest man competition, a race around the island and the orchestra competition (actually just lots of fantastic drumming) to name but a few. The Heiva involves everyone from the young to the old and is definitely a carnival event.
We booked tickets to watch the dancing which began gracefully emphasising the beauty of the Polynesian women. The costumes were spectacular with elaborate headdresses and the grass skirts certainly accentuated the fantastic hip movements which kept in rhythm to the drumming. The male dancers donned as warriors did a lot of knee knocking. It was a fantastic show and definitely a great time to be in Bora Bora.

However despite being in paradise domestic problems still pop up and this time it was the windlass that decided to break. This is the motor that drops and lifts the anchor. Of course it broke when the anchor was down and Bill and Alex had the unenviable job of pulling the heavy anchor and chain up by hand.
Fortunately there are lots of mooring buoys so it didn't stop us moving around the island. It did though, take a lot of emails and phone calls to Tahiti to get a new one shipped out to us.

We've had lots of fun in Bora Bora exploring the land as well as it's wonderful waters especially with our crew Neil and Alex on board. Sadly their 3 weeks had come to an end and we had to wave bye bye at the airport.
We are still here just chilling........