This blog entry covers the 11 days we criss-crossed the Raiatea/Taha'a islands, including taking a "botanical tour" around Taha'a, the snorkelling in the Taha'aCoral Gardens and returning to Raiatea for an emergency engine repair.
About Raiatea / Taha'a
Raiatea and Taha'a are two islands in center of the Leeward Society islands group, with a common reef around them. The distance between them inside the reef is a bit over 2 nm. Here is an overview map (taken from tahiti-ses-iles-et-autres-bouts-du-mo.blogspot.com).
Raiatea is the main island of the Leeward islands, with an airport and major town Uturoa. It is also called "the Sacred Island", and was the religious center of the surrounding islands for centuries, and houses the "Marae Taputapuatea", a major religious site worshipping Oro, dating from 1000 AD.
It is said that migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, Rapa Nui (eastern Island) started at Raiatea.
Taha'a also known as "Vanilla Island" is a quiet island with beautiful reefs around it. One of its virtues is the beautiful view one has on Bora Bora (similar to the beautiful views on Moorea from Tahiti).
Passage to Raiatea (Fa'aroa Bay) 28-Jul
The passage from Huahine to Raiatea of about 25 nm took about 5 hours:
We were aiming for Fa'aroa Bay, which reaches very deep into Raiatea, and at the end of which there is the mouth of the only navigable river in French Polynesia.
In order to get there, we had to pass through the passage in the reef around Raiatea. As usual the passage between two reefs was somewhat exciting, even when like in this case the weather was really calm. A rainbow was welcoming us to Taiatea.
We didn't find a anchor spot to our liking at the head of the bay, but luckily found a free buoy somewhere in the middle of the bay, around 16:00.
Dinghy ride up de Fa'aroa River and Relocation to Apo'oiti Marina Anchorage 29-Jul
The next morning, this is how the Fa'aroa Bay looked like from our buoy.
We took the dinghy to the head of the bay and entered the river. The river was not very deep, and I think we did touch the bottom here and there...
At the end of the navigable part there is a pier where you can tie down the dinghy and visit the adjacent Botanical Garden.
As usual we felt we needed to rent a car to enable us to see more of the island, and the current location was not very suitable for that.
So around noon we left Fa'aroa Bay and motored inside the lagoon towards the northern part of the island. We preferred to moor or anchor in the area of the main town Uturoa, just for the convenient access to shops etc, but when passing by the town we did not see any attractive place to moor at.
Towards the reef there were quite a lot of yachts anchored, but it looked quite unprotected to us, and a long dinghy ride to town.
There is also always the question - is there a "dinghy dock" where one can safely leave the dingy while staying on shore.
So we passed by Utiroa and around the airport runway:
And arrived to the entrance of the Apo'oiti Marina, which is adjacent, on the west side of the airport.
As far as I recall, we couldn't make contact with the marina (it was Saturday), so we picked up a buoy just outside of the marina. We took the dinghy to the marina, where we did not find anyone in the offices, so we went for a walk in the neighborhood, up a hill next to the marina.
See the pictures we took there below, looking north, i.e. towards de island of Taha'a.
Note the end of the airport runway to the right,
We then went back to the boat for our daily shandy:
Rest day with swimming 30-Jul
The next day was Sunday, with everything closed, and without a car, we stayed on the boat and did a boat job (provisionally repairing a chafed topping lift) and also explored the reef which we were lying very close to:
Ruth made us a nice salad:
Car tour around Raiatea 31-Jul
Monday morning we succeeded to get a rental car, which was delivered to us in the marina early in the morning.
From there we continued to the main touristic attraction of the island, the Marae Taputapuatea.
This is the largest site of religious worship in French Polynesia, of the Polynesian god of Oro. Its building was started around 1000 AD. It lies on a tongue of land protruding into the lagoon, and consists of one very big center platform, and several sub platforms, as well as an observation point higher up on the mountain slopes,
It is indeed an impressive site, if only because of its sheer size.
It is said that stones from this specific site in Raiatea were taken to other locations in the "Polynesian triangle", including Hawaii and New Zealand, and physically included in "Taputapuate" religious worshipping sites, to symbolically indicate their belonging together.
This proves that Raiatea was indeed a central point in the Polynesian Triangle.
The whole site from above:
And from ground level:
Including a big Banyan tree:
And the central platform:
From there we toured in a loop through the island and came to the "Belvedere Fa'aroa", in the center of the island, looking towards the East. Some beautiful views...
We drove on to "La Promenade Des Gabbros" which is a charming set of staircases and paths through a small area with all kinds of naturally shaped volcanic rocks, giving the area a "Jurassic Park" type of feel:
Intermixed with some great views:
From there back to the Uturoa, but again - on the way some great views:
Passage to Taha'a (Apu Bay) 1-Aug
The next day we did some shopping, and our rental car was collected. We thought we had seen enough of Raiatea, and paid the marina bill (for use of their buoy, the dinghy dock, and use of their showers and toilets) and prepared to release ourselves from the buoy. But first a picture of how close we had been lying (connected to the buoy) to the adjacent reefs.
After we took off, this is a view back on our way to Taha'a.
Here is the track of our short passage that day.
Arriving to Apu Bay, we were lucky enough to find the last available buoy.
Here a pic looking from our Apu Bay anchorage to Raiatea in the distance.
And here in the same anchorage, looking towards Taha'a.
Note the dinghy tied to a buoy in the foreground. At that time I was not aware that a way to keep your buoy when you want to make a day trip with your boat, is to tie your dinghy to your buoy and leave it alone. Your dinghy can be stolen of course...
There was not much to do in the bay, and when we made a tour with the dinghy, we did not find a good place to go on shore.
The only interesting thing was to see the cargo ships and ferries passing by on their way between Uturoa and Tapu'amu Bay further North on Taha'a.
Relocation to Coral Garden 2-Aug
The next day we relocated to a location close to the reef further to the North, close to where the "Coral Garden" is located. See track below (apparently the locator did not work during the whole trip, therefore there is a direct line instead):
Almost immediately after leaving, we got our first (good) view on Bora Bora (in the distance), around 16 nm away.
With telelense. For us a magnificent sight, first of many to follow.
Looking back towards Raiatea:
A bit later we passed next to Hurepiti Bay:
And in closeup:
When we got close to the Coral Garden we passed by the "Le Taha'a Island Resort" resort which is right next to the Coral Garden, in this picture with Bora Bora behind it (and a speedboat in front of it):
In this closeup one can see where we anchored, not far from the Resort and the Coral Garden.
One of the best anchorages we have ever been in.
It was a bit strange to lower the anchor in very shallow water on top of the sand bar extending from the reef (like in 3 meters of water), but due steep sloping of the bottom the boat was actually floating in much deeper water (more than 10 meters).
Straightaway we took the dinghy to the Coral Garden, which we knew was between the two motus (reef islands) close to our anchorage. It was really marvellous, especially for Ruth it was the ideal snorkelling spot, very protected, and not very deep.
It was very close to the resort:
And visited by organized tours from the main Taha'a island
But that couldn't spoil our fun, we snorkelled a bit, and walked around on the motus:
Then went back to the boat and had a diner against a real special sunset:
Swimming at Coral Garden and relocation to Buoy in Tapu'amu Bay 3-Aug
Next morning we went back for more snorkelling in the Coral Garden. This time I put my phone in a small protective bag and took some underwater pictures (very limited quality, but you still get some idea):
Later on, we decided to move into the Tapu'amu Bay, in order to make it easier to do some shopping near the port therein, and found a free buoy there.
Interestingly, from there we could take this picture of our previous anchorage, with Bora Bora in the background, with tele lense.
We then went for a drink in the Fare Miti floating Rhum and Tapas bar, not far from our location:
(Picture taken from their Facebook page)
And my own picture:
Discover engine doesn't start and relocate to Apu Bay 4-Aug
The next day we took the dinghy to the port, filled up some jerrycans with diesel, walked around a bit, did some shopping next to the port and went back to the boat.
At some point during the day, I discovered, to my big dismay, that the left engine would not start, no matter what I tried. I succeeded to isolate the problem to a malfunctioning start motor, but did not have a spare motor on board, and was not capable of repairing it.
This was a serious matter, as I was not going to go on with only one motor. I looked for a capable engine mechanic, as close by as possible. In the end I found a friendly surveyor in Raiatea, who knew a good mechanic Benoit, also in Raiatea, whom I succeeded to contact, and he said he would be able to look at it, the next morning (Saturday) - in Uturoa!
And so I decided to leave immediately in the direction of Uturoa, using the remaining (right) engine, and get as near as possible to there before sunset, and then continue to Uturoa early in the morning.
And thus we did - we went on our way motoring back to Apu Bay.
On the way we took this sunset picture of Bora Bora...
We arrived to Apu Bay in the dark, close to 21:00. I used my search light to look for a buoy, but did not see one, and did not want to start moving between the yachts lying there at anchor with only one engine, which severely limited my manoeuvrability at low speeds, so we moved to a remote part of the bay where it wasn't too deep (and not too shallow) and in the end we did find a place to anchor.
Get engine starters repaired in Raiatea (Uturoa) and return to Taha'a Hurepeti Bay 5-Aug
The next morning, we were on our way at 6:00:
The passage to Uturoa, still on right engine only, took a bit less than 2 hours:
With a lovely sun rise:
And lovely colours in the sea and sky looking towards Huahine:
We went to the main port of Uturoa, where there was space and where we presumed we could stay alongside for some time, and phoned Benoit to say we had arrived.
The mooring at the port quay was tricky, in that the rudder only functions when the boat has some speed. Applying forward and backward thrust with one engine at low speeds on a catamaran immediately causes the bout to turn. But if one has space (which there was), keep very low speed, and thinks the whole manoeuvre through well beforehand, it is manageable, and we succeeded to moor with no problems, even with no one to assist on the shore.
Here a picture taken in the port after we were moored:
Benoit arrived very quickly, and turned out to be an expert mechanic, with his own workshop in town. He confirmed that the culprit was the starter motor, and said that he thought he would be able to repair the existing motor, in which case we wouldn't have to wait for a replacement motor to arrive from Papeete. which would take several days. At opportunity, he said, I will also look at the right starter motor. And so he removed both starter motors, and went off, saying he would be back in about 4 hours. We couldn't believe out luck to be helped so quickly.
While Benoit worked on that, we went to the beloved patisserie right at the port, and to the supermarket, and yes, at the appointed time Benoit returned with the overhauled motors, and installed them, and everything worked perfectly again. He said that the brushes had worn, which had caused a large accumulation of graphite dust in the motors, and caused one of them to malfunction. I do not think that I think to ask him, how much service life the brushes still had in them, nor did he volunteer anything on that either. I think I just presumed that the motors had been fully overhauled, and that I wouldn't have to worry about them, for a long time.
We were very happy, paid him, and went off, back to Taha'a, this time to the Hurepiti Bay, the bay that cuts deepest into Taha'a from the west side.
We arrived to the Hurepiti Bay a bit before sunset, and found in the navigation app that the buoys placed there belonged to Vanilla Tours, with a phone number for coordination, So we phoned and the guy on the other side told us that the buoys were all reserved, and we couldn't use them. We continued until (almost) the end of the bay, avoiding the numerous coral reefs, and found a place to anchor. However, the holding there was not good, and after making a few attempts to throw the anchor, without satisfactory results, and it was getting dark, and we saw that one of the earlier mentioned buoys was still unoccupied, we audaciously decided to risk the owner's wrath and tie to the buoy anyway, at least for one night.
Obtaining permission for using the buoy and walking from Hurepeti Bay to Ha'amene Bay 6-Aug
The next morning, the owner came out with a dinghy. The man, who turned out to be the owner of Vanilla Tours told us to move off, so Ruth told me to let her speak with him. In her nicest tone, she asked him to consider again, and what was really the problem, why couldn't we stay there? He said that someone had reserved the buoy for this evening, but actually he wasn't sure that that boat would really arrive, and then he said, that, in any case, the buoys are intended for Vanilla Tours customers only, and no one else can use them, in accordance with his agreement with the neighbors, who object to engine and generator noise in the (indeed very quiet) bay. Ruth said, that we would love to join the tour, and become Vanilla Tours customers. So that settled it, and we could stay on the buoy. I think he mentioned that if the expected customer would arrive in the evening, he would be able to find a solution. Indeed, in the evening the expected customer arrived, and turned out to be a friend of the boat which was occupying the other Vanilla Tours buoy, and they tied together to that same buoy. We felt a bit guilty of our behavior, but that did not last long. The owner told us not to use our engines and generator, under any circumstances, as he did not want to get entangled in complaints by neighbors about noise coming from his buoys.
Finally, we would be welcome to stay on the buoy only until after the tour the next morning, as after that new customers had reservations.
With that settled in the morning, we went on shore, using the Vanilla Tours' dinghy dock, and found the owners to be really nice people, with an amazingly beautiful house and garden. We chatted a bit, and went on for a hike that I had planned, to the Ha'amene Bay on the opposite side of the island. Because both the Hurepiti Bay and the Ha'ameene Bay cut into Taha'a island very deeply, the walk would be not too long. Here is the track of our walk.
This is not far from the Vanilla Tours, on the road, which is a bit higher up, overlooking the Hurepiti bay, and shows the KAIA as well (rightmost boat).
This is also the Hurepiti Bay, but from halfway up the ridge that separates between the east and west side:
And zoomed in on our boat:
Arriving to the top of the ridge, we came upon the gate of someone who really knows how to choose the best location in the area, and name his property appropriately, looking out towards the east side, i.e. towards the Ha'amene Bay:
And here I made what I think to be one of the most beautiful picture I ever made:
On ground level the Ha'amene Bay was a bit less photogenic, but the good food in the restaurant we found there more than made up for that.
Tour around Island with Vanilla Tours and relocation to Coral Garden 7-Aug
The next day 9:00 the 3 boat crews assembled at the Vanilla Tours home, and the tour started. As the father had already mentioned it was going to be a "botanic" tour, not a touristic tour. And so it was, or actually more a mix of the two.
It was the son. Noah. who guided the tour. We got a bit of the family history - the father had arrived to French Polynesia at a relatively young age, with his wife, as yachts men, like us, and liked it very much (like us), and decided to stay on (unlike us). I don't recall everything now, but at some point, they were in a position to buy the piece of land, on the sea, where the Vanilla Tours is located on. They lived from growing vanilla, and apparently became real experts at it, and at some point they added giving tours for visitors to their sources of income. The son was born on Taha'a and grew up on the island. He told us he was the only light skinned child in school, but did not say that he had ever been uncomfortable with that. He mentioned that in school the children were only allowed to speak French and no Polynesian. During the tour we stopped at one of the schools he had been at, and we all got to know his former teacher.
Noah started out with showing us a number of plants with medicinal use which are growing on the plot around his parents' home, but I have to admit that I remember only one of them: the noni fruit, which apparently is useful against a large number of maladies. Here is Noah holding up a pot with noni fruit, which is left to stand in the sun.
Then we were loaded into a terrain vehicle, and taken to a vanilla plantation. Whoever thinks that when driving through Ta'aha ("the vanilla island") one sees vanilla plantations everywere, comes out disappointed. I never saw one from the road. The plantations, if you may call it that, seem to be really hidden between other plants, I don't know why. They are also not that impressive as plants: here Noah is about to show how vanilla plants are artificially pollinated (they do not pollinate naturally on these islands).
Here is one with a flower:
And here is Noah, showing exactly how the pollication is done - the pollen is on the tip of his left thumb and he puts into the opening in the center of the flower.
Finally, here are the vanilla fruits, unripe.
At a resting stop during the tour, I noticed a man who was very generously, and in my eyes beautifully, tattooed, and I asked if he would be willing to pose with my spouse, and he was very happy to oblige:
We stopped at a number of places with great views such as this one:
As well as this one:
The tour was rounded off by consuming the wonderful plate with various fruits which Noah had prepared for us:
It had been a delightful tour!
When we came back from the tour, we left the buoy for our favorite anchorage at the Coral Garden, from where we would leave for Bora Bora the next day.
Leave for Bora Bora 8-Aug
The next day around 11:00, we left the Coral Garden anchorage for the ~6 hour passage to Bora Bora.
See departure track below:
We went south to get to the passage through the reef around Taha'a, and exited through it - the tracking program missed a few points while going through the passage.
This is a pic looking to the reef while we're passing through it:
Passsing around the corner, the waves breaking on the reef looked fiery:
Once outside, we turned sharply right in the direction of Bora Bora. This led us on a path almost parallel to the reefs, and quite close to them.
The view of the waves breaking on the reef against the background of the island was fascinating to me:
This can also be seen in the following video:
And that was the end of our too short stay on Taha'a...
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