Huahine

Huahine is a laid back island. We enjoyed being out of the hustle & bustle of Papeete and relaxed in this more rural setting. We traveled through this area in 2002, but enjoyed it so much that we returned in 2005.

We found a little cafe ashore in Huahine. (left) A nice cool drink really hit the spot!

Raiatea

Don't miss traveling on Le Truck! (right) We enjoyed being out of the hustle & bustle of Papeete and relaxed in this more rural setting.

The local market (left) has many delicious local fruits and veges! We got to the market late (Those of you that know me know that I'm retired! - Read: "likes to sleep in!"). So, the pickings were slim. We found that we couldn't keep a lot of fresh produce on the boat for very long anyway. It was still a great experience to see what was available.

The large modern quay (right) where the cruise liners come into Uturoa, Raiatea. This whole area is a large beautiful center with upscale shops - catering to those rich Americans who aren't "boat poor!" The Moorings have their base nearby.

This photo is for those who think we never fly our gennaker! (left) We had a wonderful down-wind sail from Raiatea to Bora Bora. But, in order to fly this beautiful sail we need a couple of strong guys (they're called deck apes! - just kidding!) because the whole sail weighs  over 100 pounds and takes some planning and strength to manage.

Proof that we do have leisure moments. What do they say cruising is? "Days of leisure punctuated by moments of sheer terror!" There's a lot of truth to that! The other definition of cruising is: "Fixing your boat in exotic places around the world." The Quest is doing her part to support that definition as well!

Bora Bora

It's always easier to follow someone else through a winding passage! (left) Navigating to the east side of Bora Bora can be a trick. We had Scott at the bow and me at the helm steering through coral heads and praying that 9 1/2 feet water depth would be sufficient for our 8 foot draft!! In this case you can see the aqua color in the sinuous channel under the motor boat. The dark areas here are coral patches.

These "bombies" like to go bump in the night. Anchored on the east side of Bora Bora can be a challenge. During WWII the coral heads were cleared out of the lagoon on the west side - to create space for large Naval ships. However, on the east side they remain. Here (right)  Scott wants to make sure we'll have enough swinging room for the boat. After measuring the depth of this coral head we moved the boat! It is definitely not fun to attempt to move the boat in the dead of night after swinging into one of these coral heads. This beautiful aqua color of the water is fairly shallow. Because of minimal tides we'll avoid sitting on the bottom as long as we give ourselves enough room to swing away from these coral heads.

You can arrange to have your lunch served to you while seated in the shallow water Under the shade of an umbrella no less! This shows you how shallow the water is when the color is very light aqua! These types of activities can be arranged by the local hotels. It was truly a thrill for us to be here and enjoy this incredible environment.

The rays (right)  come up and visit us on our dinghy. We were thrilled to experience such clear water and abundant sea life!

A tropical sunset! As night descends we check our anchor one more time, enjoy a good meal and select some evening's "R&R" - perhaps some nice music, a good book or something more romantic!

Anchored off of Bloody Mary's (right) No trip to Bora Bora is complete without a visit to Bloody Mary's. And no trip to Bora Bora is ever the last trip. Now we have a list of places we'll go to on our return trip (in 2005).