French Polynesian – Sailing with Saphir

Tahaa to Bora Bora. 8-12Maj

When we arrived to Tahaa we stop for the night right inside the reef and had a glass of home made white Sangria. Will definitely do that more times. We had dinner and then went over to Thetis for a sundowner drink and was home first around 22.00 arrived there around 17.30. Very long sundowner and also so nice to meet them and lots of the Arc boats.

The next morning we went to coral garden that we had heardIt the the in so much about. Took us a few turns until we had the anchor in. It is nice to know the depth underneath us. Our depth meter is broken and we do have the charts telling us the depth but it is not the same to know the exact measurements. It makes a difference. I hope Edgar can fix the depth meter soon so we we are sure about the amount of chain we need to have and that we do not need to end up to far out from land. There are some boats from the Arc laying here already and more are coming. Its a very popular place.

We take the dinghy in to the coral garden. It is a opening between two Islands so the water is quite flowing. Very lovely snorkelling place. Here I meet again some curious fishes.

After been I snorkelling all things needs to be cleaned in freshwater due to all the salt. Do some washing at the same time and this time it has to dry in the boat.. The night is magical and we continue playing hitster. This time all of won.

Before we leave the next day we have to snorkel one more time. This time I see black tip sharks and to giant morays. Lots of other nice fishes and corals as well.

Time to leave this beautiful place and to Bora Bora. We have a bouy at Bora Bora Yatch Club that is located 10 min drive with the dinghy to the town. This is also the place where we will meet up the other boats before we do the 5 leg on our sailing with World Arc. Here they come out to you so we can pay for the bouy. Great service! They also comes and pick up our garbage.

Me and Eva are ready for exploring Bora Bora when we are here. We didn’t get that far since we had to turn around to not miss the happy hour although we saw some cool things om the way.

We went in to town to check how the connection works to the airport and to walk around a bit. We found this cool map showing all the island in French Polynesia covering almost hole Europe. It gives you a perspective how huge French Polynesia is. The hard part is you need a boat or a plane to get to the other places here . On the way back we got rain…. Have not had much of that during the sailing and I knows it needed even if I do prefer the sun. Locking on the bright side it is not cold when it’s rains.

We had a great last evening with Eva and in the morning after we drove her in to town in her new hat she bought yesterday. From town there is a boat transfer to the airport.

It’s been a great time having you onboard Eva you are missed already and we wish you a great summer sailing back home in Sweden with Bullen. Hope to see you soon. Thank you for joining us on our adventure.

Hugs Eva

Huahine

We arrive early in the morning to Huahine and anchor close to the village Fare. A short relaxing time and some swimming next to the boat. The current is quite strong so you can lay behind the boat and swim without moving forward.

After lunch we take the dinghy in to land to throw our garbage and see what the village has to offer and what we can find in the supermarket . It is a huge store where you can find many other things then food. Even here it is not much fresh fruit and vegetables. We get some soft drinks, beers, fruits. A stop at the yacht club for a drink before we head back to the boat.

In the evening we are invited over to Jörgen and Louis on Sara of Sweden for dinner togheter with Jan and Anders from HokaHey. It was a very nice evening at there boat. Great food, fisk that they had caught. Wonder when we will get som fish on Saphir?

The next day we went for a bike ride with Jörgen, Louise, Alex and Inez from Sara of Sweden. We rented e-bikes since there are some hills that are very’ Bran’. First stop is to taste if the sea is fresh water or a mix. It is a mix. The next is a museum where you can se how their i boats looked liked that they built to travel around and visit other islands. In the canal that goes in to the sea they have built fish traps of small rocks.

The tour continued out on a peninsula to have a swim and some snorkelling. Luckily for us was that there was a little restaurant in a privet home so we could have lunch with the best view.

Next stop was to look at the blue eyed eels. There was a lot off them when we spotted them. After that we had some hills to bike up. The e-bike made it easier and we was rewarded with a great view. Thank you Louise, Jörgen, Alex and Inez for a great day.

When we came back BlueSunshine and some more boats had left and found a better spot further south. We hoisted our anchor and went over to them. This was a fantastic spot and well worth moving the boat. We went over for sundowner at BlueSunshine together with all from Sara of Sweden. There is a few off this sundowners on the boats or ashore. It is very nice and relaxing . Also very nice to see the others boats closely and get some good ides for your boat. The last photo was taken by by Mark on Amanzi. Time to use our own drone I believe.

One off many good things to sail in group is that we share information between each other. As BlueSunshine told us about the great snorkelling they went with their dinghy. We had to try that as well. It was so great that we went there twice. The second time we got there before the tourist boat and then the water was even clearer. No swimmers with fins that had stirred up the sand. I have never seen so many different fishes together at the same time. Yes the tourists boat feed the fishes so that helps that they stay there but never the less it is magical. It is not only the fishes that is fantastic it is the corals in so many different shapes and all these lovely mussels hidden in the corals also them in so many colours. Enjoy the picture and the movies. Extra fun was the little fish that was very curious

We went ashore on the lovely beach we was anchored outside. There was a man there that own the land and he told us he use to have a hotel here 25 years ago. Since he only speaks French and mine is not that good I didn’t get why. But he wanted to show us where it use to be. The pool or maybe more a big pond was still there. Up behind the threes he pointed was where the small hotel use to be. Think he said around for 30 guests. Edgar went in the water instead of joining us.

Time to move on to the next island. This time not good wind so we motorsail over for 4 hours to Tahinan. Bye bye Huahine

Moorea

We motorsailed over to Moorea and went in to bay d’Opunohu and dropped the anchor. Wow what a place so beautiful.

As soon as the anchor is safe it is time for a swim or two. We had a few more before it was time to go to bed. In this heat it’s so good to take a last dip before bedtime to cool down the body temperature.

We heard about a great spot to se manta rays and sharks so we packed our snorkels and fins and headed out to the reef. The colour of the water is fantastic. Still have to pinch my arm to understand that we are experiencing this and that is not a dream. As soon as we arrived to the area the manta rays came under the dinghy . Eva was very happy to see them and we also saw a reef shark. The wind was getting stronger so we went back to our calm bay.

I was preparing our dinner and was little to fast so I managed to cut of a bit of the skin on my finger with the mandolin. Best way to get of the or In the evening we played hitster, which is a fun music game with hit songs that stretched over 100 year. Eva wass the winner.

The next day we went a shore to look at the Moorea museum that showed the the different sea life and the forest. The building is spectacular and is built to get in the breeze without getting in rain and the heat.

After that we was hungry so we went to the restaurant by the bay and had a nice lunch. Even a restaurant like this knows how to charge for the food. Still wondering if the locals have an others price? Me and Eva took a walk along the street on the island. Not much to see except for some houses and forest. It is nice just to stretch out and walk after spending time on the boat. Here they also sell som fruit and vegetables outside there home. James Cook appears on some of the island a

First some swimming after Edgar had picked us up. It is not only us swimming even the dogs like to swim. Time to hoist the anchor and I do the last part by hand. Getting the technic how to do it. On the way out we passes the cruiser and a privet yacht.

Bye bye Moorea and hello Huahine. On the way there we had Matilda sailing with us on our starboard. Got a picture of them far away

Hugs Eva

Papeete Stockholm Papeete

We saw Tahiti for a few hours and enjoyed the view. Around lunchtime we arrived to Papeete and moored at Tahina Marina. On the way in we saw many nice houses

Edgar and Chris went to clean out all the salt that had come in to the engine room and and some other fixing. I took out the sewing machine and fixed the sunscreen for the front off the deck.

It is a nice to be in harbour for once. Just walk of the boat and you have land under your feet without going in to a dinghy which can be very hard and scary sometimes when it is lots of waves. This harbour had a lots of swells due to the current so we have to make sure we are well moored. Don’t want to bump in to any other boats or the pier.

We have the mechanic man on board. Feel sorry for him in this heat to be in the engine room. He takes out the part that is broken and comes back later in the afternoon to put it back and make sure it is fixed.

In the harbour is a nice restaurant that we went for dinner almost every night and to meet other sailers from the World Arc. We had dinner with Chris and Claus the last evening before Chris goes home to England. It was very nice to meet Claus again. He is also going home to Germany and have no plans of coming back to sail with Thetis as Chris have. We will see him again soon together with his wife Anne. Totally forgot to take pictures

The boat is organised and cleaned on the inside. Ready for our guest and to start our next sailing. First we have to go home to Sweden for the funeral of my dear mother-in-law. While we are away we have help to polish all our stainless steel. It do get rusty of all this saltwater. Not a fun job so happy someone else is doing it for us.

Even though the reason to go home was very sad we did have some lovely days with our family in the middle of the sadness.

On the way back to the boat we had 23h in San Fransisco. We took a cab in to have dinner at The Waterfront restaurantm. It was very good food and we had a great time.

At the Marina our friend Eva was waiting for us. She arrived the day before us and spent the night on the boat by her self. It was a bit challenging to find the boat dark and not much light and on top off that the taxi driver left her at the opposite side off the Marina. Then trying to get onboard when the boat is rolling due to extra high swells that came in. Good that she is use to be on a boat. The next day we tried to do some shopping in the big supermarket but it was closed luckily the other small was open so we could get a few things and best off it was that they had eggs.. this egg hunt and I guess it will continue. There is a lot off hens around on the island but they are wild and almost all eggs comes from New Zealand.

After the shopping it was time to explore the island a bit and we saw that it should be a beach not that far away. Our bikes came out and me and Eva went for a bike ride to find the beach. We did find one and had a nice swim although the current was really strong so we didn’t go out far.

Our friends came and collected all the things we brought from Sweden to them. It ended up with five bags in total from Sweden. Eva took one for us. Two Starlinks and that is two bags, one is for us and some other nice things from home. Now we will have easier internet when we are on the boat. Still need to have a sim card to the phone when we go ashore. The last evening we had some drinks with the crew from Misty and Amanzi before we had our dinner.

After breakfast on the 2 of May we got the Marina guys coming over to g help us with all the mooring lines and we are off to the neighbour Island Moorea. It will be a very short trip over. Only 4 hours.

Moorea her we come. We can see the island from the harbour so it is not far but we will anchor on the other side off the island.

Hugs Eva

Fakarava

The rain stopped and we decide to drive in to land and see if there was any shop opened even if it was Easter Day. We found one shop that was opened until 12.00. Unfortunately they did not have eggs but we got some bread (pain rich) and cheese.

Even if our Easter lunch didn’t have eggs we still had three different hearings, gravad lax, Swedish knäckebread, potatoes and snaps. The hearing and knäckebröd have traveled with us all the way from Sweden.

Me ,Chris and Rebecca went diving at the north entrance. It was two fantastic dives. I saw an octopus for the first time and a leaf fish. Would have missed them if it wasn’t for our dive master. The octopus melted in on the coral and the leaf fish really looked like a leaf moving in the water. There was a lot of other different fishes as well, many reef sharks and two mantras. I have seen mantras from land but never when I have dived. It was a WOW moment. The Mantras was huge, majestic, quirios and scared me when one of them came very close up to me. I was told from Chris and Rebecca that I had a two meter reef shark swimming next to me when I was concentrating on the mantra. I am very happy I didn’t see that. Don’t know what I would have done

Me and Edgar have bikes onboard so we decided to make a biking tour together with Chris and Rebecca. They rented bikes from the lady just next to the harbour. First we had a stop at dfhgh to have lunch with Alex and Andy. This was a very nice place . Love the bottles in the tree. Must be really nice in the evening when the lights is on.I will try that when I get home.

Edgar’s knee was hurting from the bike ride so he went back to the boat and me,Chris and Rebecca continued. We wanted to go to the coconut oil fabric but first we had a stop at Hinano Pearls where we bought a few pearls and jewellery. If we knew what we would learn on the trip we would have bought more from them. Price went up and not always so very nice pearls either.

The snorkling is fantastic. Not far from the boat is a coral head that I went with my supboard to explore. Although we could also just sit on the boat and enjoy all the fishes swimming around our boat. There was this strange sucker fishes that normally sticks to the sharks body and feeds off it. We found them on our boat hopefully we get our boat cleaned.

We had some very nice days on Fakarava and would have loved to explore more atolls but it is time to hoist the anchor and sail to Tahiti. Strong current on the way out but nothing that the capten could handel. Saw some windsurfers on the outside of the atoll enjoying the good wind .

When we have the engine on we know that we have to pump out some water that comes in due to a broken seal in the water pump. But pumping enough to cool down the engine. Edgar have already booked maintenance for that in Papeete in Tahiti. Chris went in to the engine room to check our water leak. He saw water on the port side. Which we have not seen before. Why didn’t that water go in to the bilge? Some where is a stop in the draining holes. We ended up emptying the sofa again and found the stop. It is good to have long thin bendable things for these things. The water ran out of the engine room and in to the bilge. Problem solved and now everything needs to go back so we can move around in the boat.

The rest of the sailing to Papeete was okey. Can’t complain about the sunset or the sunrise. Just after lunch we are moored at Taina Marina on Tahiti.

Hard to catch all the stars in the sky. They are there I promise.

Soon in Tahiti

Hugs Eva

Tuamotos island Raroia

We arrived just after lunch and was the only boat anchored outside the village . After a while two more boats arrived but none from the ARC. The afternoon we spent cleaning the boat and just relaxing on the boat. This must be the most magical sunset I have seen so far. The water was so calm and shinning as a mirror and the colours changed during the sunset.

The next day we went in to explore the island and also to see if we could get some grocery and find a restaurant. After been guided in different directions a nice teenager took us to the shop. There was not much fresh fruit and vegetables but we got some potatoes for our herring on Easter and some new fishing gears. Let see if we get some fish.

Looking at you shadow you realise how high the sun is since the shadow is very short. Most off the houses take advantage off the sun and have solar panels we also saw it on top of the street lights. Can you see what’s hiding behind the palm. Lots of them running around free on the island

In the evening we had dinner with Alex and Rebecca from CasiqueV and all 4 from Hoka Hey. There was no restaurant on the Island but the grocery store owners wife invited us to her house where she made dinner for all of us. We had a lovely meal and a great evening. No photos taken accept on the two paintings that her daughter had made

The day after we went across the bay to see if we could do some snorkelling and maybe find the place where Thor Heyerdahl stranded with Kontiki. It was a bit tricky to cross over the atoll due to all the pearl farms bouys that we had to watch out for. We found a nice spot and I pumped up my sup board.

I paddled in to land and the guys took the dinghy. We took a walk along the shore and saw lots of eremites crabs and really huge ones and some very tiny . Look closely to the video and you will se the tiny seashells moving..

An other lovely sunset and a moon rise and once I can take a picture of the moon. It is very bright and give us good light in the night. Which is extra nice when we are night sailing and have this extra light.

Next morning an others snorkelling tour at the beach and this time I brought my go pro so I can take photos and film under the water

Next Island is longer than a day sail so we decided to leave in the afternoon to arrive early in the morning..So after our snorkling and a lunch we hoist the anchor. Just before that we get some small lemon sharks visiting us since Edgar gave them som leftovers. On the way out we meet Amanzi.

The opening is tricky but gladly we can follow our old track coming in and we are safe.

On the outside the dolphins are waiting for us and joins for bit. It is the same dolphins that greeted us when we arrived. Or at least one of them since it had a big spot behind the eye

Hope you enjoyed the reading and the pictures. Hugs Eva

Marquesses Island Nuku Hiva

In the morning we left Oa Pua to go to Nuku Hiva where we there will be the gathering with dinner and price giving award for leg 4 from Galapagos to Hiva Ou. It is a short sailing and we arrived around lunchtimme and decided to fill up the diesel. We had to wait for a while since there was two boat before us. It was a new way of docking to fill up. We had to drop the anchor revers back and through a line to land. It was a bit tricky but we managed it between the three of us.

We missed the welcoming gathering during the day since it took a while to fill up . In the evening we went up for the dinner, prize giving award and performances organised by the World Arc. First the locals danced for us and after that it was time for the men and then the ladies. We had a nice evening and was the one that had the closest answer on the total width of all boats.

A day to do some maintenance and shopping was on the schedule. I went for the shopping and took the opportunity to look around the village and to use our gift card we recived from the prize award. Lovely view around the village. In the evening we went over to Cepa to say bye to Ebo that is going home to Germany. We where many people from the boats around so when we wanted to go in the dinghy it was little hard to clime over to our dinghy.

In the morning we had a rain shower and after that a lovely rainbow appeared. We had planned to leave the day before in the afternoon to Tuamotos island but we had to stay one more night to make some paperwork in the morning with the gendarmeri since Chris need to be registrated on our boat . Best was that we then also had time to apply for our Esta since we fly via USA when we fly home. It took a while to fix that. When it was done we took up the anchor and started our three nights sailing.

Hugs Eva

Marquesas island Hiva-Oa

Wow what a view to wake up to. These volcano island has a fantastic scenery. More or less half of the fleet had already arrived and a few of them also left for the next island. The anchoring area is not that big and there are a few others boats as well here that is not part of the Arc. Our gathering after crossing the Pacific is first on the 29 in Nuku Hiva. Here on Hiva-Oa we have to register us in to the country before we can sail around on the others islands.

We plan to stay here for 4 nights to relax, clean the boat, a bit sightseeing fill up with some fresh groceries (which was not easy to get) . The next morning we start with the registration that takes the hole day divided up in a morning meeting and an afternoon meeting in town, where we managed to get SIM card so we can communicate with the rest of the world. I am so looking forward to Starlink. Then we will at least have internet all the time on the boat. Will still continue to buy a sim card I guess when we are arrive in different countries so we can have internet access on land when we are on excursions. In the harbour we saw Paladin the boat that rescued our friend on Cepa and took him to hospital in Nuku Hiva. The harbour have a shower but don’t think we will use it.

The hull was very dirty and full with soft creatures don’t know what they are called, also lots of barnacles and this green thin grass . The hull really needed to be cleaned. I started to do a bit but it took so long time since it really was stuck on the boat.

After that work we spent the next day up at the lodge having lunch with Clare and Mark from Amanzi and enjoying time by the pool. In the evening we had dinner with many of our boat friends.

The day after we went on a guided tour with our fantastic guide Jon together with part of our boat friends. We had a great day driving around on the island. We saw the smiling Tika that was well hidden in the forest. After that we went to Ilpuna on the north west of the island. There was a big place (previous village)with lots off Tikas and also the biggest Tika in the world. They have built roof over the Tikas to protect them from natural erupted and not letting people touch them. This is part of a process to get them be acknowledged by unesco. After that we had a fantastic lunch before we turn back towards the harbour

First we did a stop where they make the Tikas out of wood and was showed the tools and procedure. I do regret that I didn’t buy one but they was a bit big though.

In the evening we had dinner at the lodge again with a dance performance off the inhabitants. It was a great evening and fantastic dance and music. I am so impressed by all of them working so hard in the heat. Even if the sun is gone it is still very hot.

Next morning we got very sad news from Edgars brother. Their mother had passed away. She has been getting weaker and weaker rapidly in the end of her more than 90 years life time but it’s always sad when it finally happens. We will miss here dearly and she will always be in our hearts. The next couple of days we took it slowly and made the arrangements we need to be able to fly home for the funeral and a last goodbye and thank you. Feels very good to come home at this time and hug you family for a week.

The picture is when she visited us on our boat 5 years ago

Hugs Eva