16:29.40S 151:45.60W Bora Bora YC, Sunday 18th May PM
Another trip to Raiatea on Thursday to finally get some fuel and oil filters and get our Heike back onboard. Had a beer with 'Wizard' crew then onward and upward again to Bora Bora. We anchored off 'Bloody Mary's' in water that was a bit too deep for our chain but it seemed to hold and we went to 'Kealoha 8' for some late night drinks.
On Friday we motored around the lagoon to the Bora Bora Yacht Club where the World Cruising Club had set up shop. Jean also rejoined Grapto from her little flirt with 'Island Prism'. The impressively named, although quite modest, Bora Bora Yacht Club had barely reopened after a change of ownership but they managed to put on a good buffet for the fleet. I made the mistake of turning up to the WARC do in native blue pareo and black pearl neckware. Hey, I'm a cool dude with a good tan! There were lots of ladies who thought a bit of touchy-feely was acceptable but it degenerated into some of the more excitable women (you know who you are) running off with my pareo as a trophy. Fortunately for me I needed pockets to hold enormous amounts of local currency so I had shorts on underneath. Ha.
On Saturday morning we had two excellent dives outside the Bora Bora reef with loads of nasty looking sharks. Look forward to seeing Colin's excellent scary underwater video when I get good internet links. There is a bit where I kick a 10 foot shark to the surprise of both of us. Saturday afternoon was a bit of a waste with a lot of siesta time and we ended up missing the YC dinghy race. I'm sure others will write about it.
Today (Sunday) there was a bit of a blow coming in and some boats left for more sheltered spots or dragged their anchors. We are on one of the few mooring buoys so we could be reasonably smug about it. Nick and Rosie from K8 turned up in the afternoon and we ended up drinking all our wine supplies bought in for the next leg. More provisioning for us tomorrow. The start for the next leg has been delayed until Tuesday. We have opted to go to the Southern Cook Islands and Rarotonga rather than to the delightful but near-deserted Suworrow in the north as we wimpishly appreciate fresh food and other things to be had from civilization after a long sail.
M