September 18, 2007 - Tuesday Lifted the anchor and sailed to Bora Bora
Crew Anya:
After so many 'firsts' in this six-month journey, this will be my 'last' passage aboard s/v Encanto. Wow, how time flies. I know that I'm getting sloppy with my crew duties as I forgot to notice at what time and exactly what the conditions were when we pulled anchor. It must have been after 0800 local. Still, the air temperature is around 78°F and 26°C in a mere 56% humidity.
First Mate Judy:
We arrived in Bora Boara at 14:46 local time. As we approached the channel we waved goodbye to s/v Emelia and s/v Creola. Both are headed to New Zealand so this is the juncture where we are bidding many cruisers' farewell. Most are heading west and south. A few s/v boats are leaving their boats in the South Pacific and flying home to the USA to wait out hurricane season. And a tiny fraction, like us is heading west and then north to the Kiribati and Marshall Islands.
Upon arrival, Anya, Gaby, and I took the dinghy to find the Intercontinental Hotel where a Robert Wan pearl store is located. It was quite the adventure trying to approach the hotels from the water's side where there are no signs to distinguish one luxury resort bungalow from the next. And the public beaches blend into the private beaches so finding a place to pull up the dinghy safely was a bit of a challenge. Being women, we used our charms to ask several men where the shop was located; each knew, but their directions were confusing. Alas, we came ashore at the Intercontinental Hotel were preparations were being made for a sunset wedding. The beach was raked and all pristine. We scurried in before the shop closed at 5:30 PM. Alas, we didn't like what we saw; we were shopping for a friend as her designated personal shopper. Such trust in us!!! Luckily, this isn't the only pearl shop and so we decided to try another shop the next day in the village town of Vaitape.
Gaby is our expert dinghy driver, but even for her it was a challenge getting back to the boat at sunset. The quality of light can be challenging to see the coral heads in the shallow clear waters. We slowed down, took our time and gave the coral heads a wide berth being ever so careful not to destroy our prop in the process. As we motored pass the Hotel Bora Bora, we saw through the clear waters eagle rays swimming. Wow!
Safely back aboard Encanto. After dinner, we enjoyed a fun filled round of MahJoong with Anya and Sami playing as a team. MahJoong with them as a team was a riot to watch. John won a hand and of course, Gaby was the big winner of the night. She hasn't yet revealed her strategy for winning although she must have one, as she is the consistent winner.