Thursday, June 2, 2011
Windward Islands
Namaste has been on the move the past few weeks, checking out new anchorages, exploring the islands, and entertaining guests!
We spent May 12-17 in Maupiti with our friends Kevin and Tony. We ran into the dive operators on the island and they casually mentioned that they have giant manta rays inside the lagoon every day! We dove and were so stoked to find up to six rays swimming around a few coral head cleaning stations. The mantas were feeding and circling us, stopping regularly at a certain spot to have small fish swim up and rid them of pesty parasites. We stayed underwater watching the magnificent creatures for over an hour. It was so special to share this experience with our friends, and they were equally awed by their gentle and curious nature. We met a semi-local American, Johnny Coconut, from Davis and he stoked us out with an early morning drop-off - a beautiful albicore tuna he caught offshore the day prior.
Maupiti's Onoiau Pass gave us a wild ride as we left the Pacific jewel island, with 6-8 foot swells crashing all around. We had a beautiful sail to Bora Bora and feasted on our fresh tuna, pan-fried with a panko-macadamia nut crust. Unfortunately, the rest of the night was not as sweet. Around 8 pm, we discovered our dinghy was gone! We searched the area for two hours with high-powered flashlights, hoping to pick up the reflective tape on our motor. We reported the incident to the local Gendarmarie, but there have been no reports to date. It was a huge blow to us - it's like having your car stolen, and all you have left to get around in is a scooter. It's even more devastating when theft happens in such an idyllic locale.
We said goodbye to Tony and Kevin with a heavy heart, but their positive attitude and help made things a little easier to swallow. After a fruitless search, we sailed back to Raiatea and rented a dinghy from the local Moorings charter company. Their representative was extremely helpful and sympathetic to our situation. She also said there had been a dramatic increase in crime over the past year, and expressed frustration that locals would target cruisers.
After picking up our friends, Adam and Jess, we headed over to the Teavapiti Pass, where we taught Jess how to breath underwater. She and I did a nice beginner dive inside the lagoon, finding cool pockets of sea anenome and their symbiotic partner, commonly known as the clown fish. Later that afternoon, Chris and Adam dove outside the reef near the pass, spotting loads of tangs and groupers, and a large grey shark.
On Tuesday afternoon, we sailed across the turquoise-blue lagoon water to Tahaa and anchored up near motu Tautau. We did this amazing drift snorkle in crystal-clear water between two motus, and it was stunning. As we passed over the coral reef, we saw a giant school of black-striped surgeonfish and loads of parrotfish, triggerfish and butterfly fish that were so friendly, they would swim right up to us anytime we stopped to take in the scenery. The fire, staghorn and branching coral were all in excellent condition. Jess even spotted a small octupus - so cool! We woke up to scorching conditions the following morning, so Adam, Jess and I kayaked and paddled over to the motus, while Chris stayed behind and worked on the dive compressor. We dove that afternoon at a reef inside the lagoon, but Jess and I had to abort early on because she was having trouble equalizing due to her sinus infection. We had such an awesome time on the drift snorkel, we decided to drop in again and let the current carry us over the pristine channel.
We sailed to Bora Bora the next day and had a chill afternoon after we anchored up at the southern tip. The following day, we circumnavigated the island in our rented dinghy and 5 HP outboard! Needless to say it was more than "a 3-hour tour", but we enjoyed the beautiful landscape and checking out the long coastline and motus. We went in search of mantas on the eastern side of the island, and we're pretty sure we found the spot, but there was a massive plankton bloom and the visibility was greatly reduced. We weren't able to find them, but we did snorkel around for a bit.
We had dinner at the bar at "Bloody Mary's" and enjoyed sashimi and ribs. The restaurant has been a famous spot on the island for years, and it's often frequented by the Hollywood elite, although all we met was a nice Spanish couple off a megayacht, who were of course, on their honeymoon.
On Saturday, Chris and Adam scuba dived off motu Toopua, while I tended the boat and let them drift, and they had an amazing dive with 100-feet of visibility, a very alive reef, and thousands of fish. Chris said it's the best dive he's ever had inside a lagoon. This was a huge relief, after the reef devastation we've seen in the Society Islands. Later that afternoon, we cruised into town and met a local Frenchwoman, Isabelle, who's lived there for 15 years and owns her a beautiful gallery featuring local talent. We chatted with her for a quite a while and described the efforts the island is taking to keep their reefs alive, and reduce overfishing. It's a bit of a culture clash, and the locals are having difficulty changing their ways, but strides are being made and she is hopeful the reef will continue to flourish. It was good to return to Bora Bora and leave with a much-better taste in my mouth after our dinghy issue. We did scour the western coastline, checking on all the outboards in the lagoon, to no avail.
We sailed to Raiatea on Sunday and checked in on a used dinghy lead, but the owner was unsure he was ready to part with it. We dropped off our rental Monday morning and sailed out the pass, headed to Tahiti. The wind was stronger then predicted and we opted to duck into Huahine to wait for a better weather-window on Thursday. We hooked up with Doin' It, another cruiser who did the ocean passage a week-behind us. We're stoked that after 6 months of emailing and radio contact, we got to meet in person. It was the perfect detour.
We hauled anchor early in the morning and had a mellow motorsail to Moorea, arriving after dark. We left early in the morning for Tahiti and are currently on a mooring at the yacht Club de Tahiti. We're meeting our agent in the morning to head into town and purchase a new dinghy and outboard - OUCH! But, at this point, we have no other options.
More to come...
We spent May 12-17 in Maupiti with our friends Kevin and Tony. We ran into the dive operators on the island and they casually mentioned that they have giant manta rays inside the lagoon every day! We dove and were so stoked to find up to six rays swimming around a few coral head cleaning stations. The mantas were feeding and circling us, stopping regularly at a certain spot to have small fish swim up and rid them of pesty parasites. We stayed underwater watching the magnificent creatures for over an hour. It was so special to share this experience with our friends, and they were equally awed by their gentle and curious nature. We met a semi-local American, Johnny Coconut, from Davis and he stoked us out with an early morning drop-off - a beautiful albicore tuna he caught offshore the day prior.
Maupiti's Onoiau Pass gave us a wild ride as we left the Pacific jewel island, with 6-8 foot swells crashing all around. We had a beautiful sail to Bora Bora and feasted on our fresh tuna, pan-fried with a panko-macadamia nut crust. Unfortunately, the rest of the night was not as sweet. Around 8 pm, we discovered our dinghy was gone! We searched the area for two hours with high-powered flashlights, hoping to pick up the reflective tape on our motor. We reported the incident to the local Gendarmarie, but there have been no reports to date. It was a huge blow to us - it's like having your car stolen, and all you have left to get around in is a scooter. It's even more devastating when theft happens in such an idyllic locale.
We said goodbye to Tony and Kevin with a heavy heart, but their positive attitude and help made things a little easier to swallow. After a fruitless search, we sailed back to Raiatea and rented a dinghy from the local Moorings charter company. Their representative was extremely helpful and sympathetic to our situation. She also said there had been a dramatic increase in crime over the past year, and expressed frustration that locals would target cruisers.
After picking up our friends, Adam and Jess, we headed over to the Teavapiti Pass, where we taught Jess how to breath underwater. She and I did a nice beginner dive inside the lagoon, finding cool pockets of sea anenome and their symbiotic partner, commonly known as the clown fish. Later that afternoon, Chris and Adam dove outside the reef near the pass, spotting loads of tangs and groupers, and a large grey shark.
On Tuesday afternoon, we sailed across the turquoise-blue lagoon water to Tahaa and anchored up near motu Tautau. We did this amazing drift snorkle in crystal-clear water between two motus, and it was stunning. As we passed over the coral reef, we saw a giant school of black-striped surgeonfish and loads of parrotfish, triggerfish and butterfly fish that were so friendly, they would swim right up to us anytime we stopped to take in the scenery. The fire, staghorn and branching coral were all in excellent condition. Jess even spotted a small octupus - so cool! We woke up to scorching conditions the following morning, so Adam, Jess and I kayaked and paddled over to the motus, while Chris stayed behind and worked on the dive compressor. We dove that afternoon at a reef inside the lagoon, but Jess and I had to abort early on because she was having trouble equalizing due to her sinus infection. We had such an awesome time on the drift snorkel, we decided to drop in again and let the current carry us over the pristine channel.
We sailed to Bora Bora the next day and had a chill afternoon after we anchored up at the southern tip. The following day, we circumnavigated the island in our rented dinghy and 5 HP outboard! Needless to say it was more than "a 3-hour tour", but we enjoyed the beautiful landscape and checking out the long coastline and motus. We went in search of mantas on the eastern side of the island, and we're pretty sure we found the spot, but there was a massive plankton bloom and the visibility was greatly reduced. We weren't able to find them, but we did snorkel around for a bit.
We had dinner at the bar at "Bloody Mary's" and enjoyed sashimi and ribs. The restaurant has been a famous spot on the island for years, and it's often frequented by the Hollywood elite, although all we met was a nice Spanish couple off a megayacht, who were of course, on their honeymoon.
On Saturday, Chris and Adam scuba dived off motu Toopua, while I tended the boat and let them drift, and they had an amazing dive with 100-feet of visibility, a very alive reef, and thousands of fish. Chris said it's the best dive he's ever had inside a lagoon. This was a huge relief, after the reef devastation we've seen in the Society Islands. Later that afternoon, we cruised into town and met a local Frenchwoman, Isabelle, who's lived there for 15 years and owns her a beautiful gallery featuring local talent. We chatted with her for a quite a while and described the efforts the island is taking to keep their reefs alive, and reduce overfishing. It's a bit of a culture clash, and the locals are having difficulty changing their ways, but strides are being made and she is hopeful the reef will continue to flourish. It was good to return to Bora Bora and leave with a much-better taste in my mouth after our dinghy issue. We did scour the western coastline, checking on all the outboards in the lagoon, to no avail.
We sailed to Raiatea on Sunday and checked in on a used dinghy lead, but the owner was unsure he was ready to part with it. We dropped off our rental Monday morning and sailed out the pass, headed to Tahiti. The wind was stronger then predicted and we opted to duck into Huahine to wait for a better weather-window on Thursday. We hooked up with Doin' It, another cruiser who did the ocean passage a week-behind us. We're stoked that after 6 months of emailing and radio contact, we got to meet in person. It was the perfect detour.
We hauled anchor early in the morning and had a mellow motorsail to Moorea, arriving after dark. We left early in the morning for Tahiti and are currently on a mooring at the yacht Club de Tahiti. We're meeting our agent in the morning to head into town and purchase a new dinghy and outboard - OUCH! But, at this point, we have no other options.
More to come...
Friday, May 13, 2011
Society Islands
Namaste and her crew have had some ups and downs over the past few weeks as we left the Tuamotus and sailed to the windward Society Islands.
We were shocked to see the amount of development and growth, as well as anchoring regulations, in the last 10 years in Tahiti and Moorea. We were disappointed with the changes, especially underwater outside the pass at Opunohu Bay, where we found the reefs to be 90% dead. The fish population has been decimated and it was tough to find any larger that the size of your hands. There were a few sharks lingering around, but nothing like it used to be. I guess that's "progress" for you.
Moorea still provides stunning vistas and we enjoyed checking out Afareaitu Bay. We hiked to a barely flowing waterfall and did some awesome kayaking and paddleboarding.
We returned back to Tahiti and Pointe Venus, one of Chris' old stomping grounds, and had a great experience. The black sand beach is still beautiful, and the peninsula is exploding. We continued southwest and checked out Tahiti Nui, where the towns are still small and loads of canoes filled the lagoons. Tautira was a magical little town, where we were greeted warmly by the locals and the water was crystal clear and very inviting.
We said goodbye to Uncle Bill after his 16-day stay, and picked up our friends from California, Kevin and Tony. They were game for an expedition, so we packed up Namaste and headed 100 miles northwest to Raiatea and Tahaa. We endured some horrible weather at anchor inside the Teavapiti Pass, five days of rain and wind, very unseasonable weather for this time of year.
We braved the elements to dive outside the pass and were rewarded with a stellar dive, although the reefs were mostly dead. We did have some great shark activity and were hounded by blacktips, whitetips and a large, bold gray that circled us constantly. We did a stellar hike reaching a peak above the town of Uturoa, which provided insane vistas of the lagoons and islands.
We circumnavigated Tahaa and found some amazing snorkeling off the town of Patio. Stingrays cruised along the shallow waters and triggerfish, parrotfish and loads of brightly colored clams surrounded the coral heads. Cabbage coral was everywhere and we found a few seahorses hiding. We anchored at the picturesque Baie Hurepiti, surrounded by dramatic hillsides and lush vegetation. We dove outside the Paipai pass and found some cool anenomes.
On Thursday we hauled anchor and sailed overnight to Maupiti, an unexplored and remote gem, just 25 miles west of Bora Bora. Onoiau Pass is narrow and shallow, and breaking waves surrounded Namaste as we entered the emerald lagoon. This place is amazing and feels very untouched. The locals have resisted building large resorts here and have maintained their small island. We dove outside the pass today with 100-plus feet of visibility, and found a huge outcropping of beautiful plate coral, as well as schooling triggerfish and yellowtail.
The island has one of the nicest sand beaches I've ever seen and we played frisbee and soccer this afternoon on our dinghy circumnavigation. All is swell on Namaste and the adventures continue...
We were shocked to see the amount of development and growth, as well as anchoring regulations, in the last 10 years in Tahiti and Moorea. We were disappointed with the changes, especially underwater outside the pass at Opunohu Bay, where we found the reefs to be 90% dead. The fish population has been decimated and it was tough to find any larger that the size of your hands. There were a few sharks lingering around, but nothing like it used to be. I guess that's "progress" for you.
Moorea still provides stunning vistas and we enjoyed checking out Afareaitu Bay. We hiked to a barely flowing waterfall and did some awesome kayaking and paddleboarding.
We returned back to Tahiti and Pointe Venus, one of Chris' old stomping grounds, and had a great experience. The black sand beach is still beautiful, and the peninsula is exploding. We continued southwest and checked out Tahiti Nui, where the towns are still small and loads of canoes filled the lagoons. Tautira was a magical little town, where we were greeted warmly by the locals and the water was crystal clear and very inviting.
We said goodbye to Uncle Bill after his 16-day stay, and picked up our friends from California, Kevin and Tony. They were game for an expedition, so we packed up Namaste and headed 100 miles northwest to Raiatea and Tahaa. We endured some horrible weather at anchor inside the Teavapiti Pass, five days of rain and wind, very unseasonable weather for this time of year.
We braved the elements to dive outside the pass and were rewarded with a stellar dive, although the reefs were mostly dead. We did have some great shark activity and were hounded by blacktips, whitetips and a large, bold gray that circled us constantly. We did a stellar hike reaching a peak above the town of Uturoa, which provided insane vistas of the lagoons and islands.
We circumnavigated Tahaa and found some amazing snorkeling off the town of Patio. Stingrays cruised along the shallow waters and triggerfish, parrotfish and loads of brightly colored clams surrounded the coral heads. Cabbage coral was everywhere and we found a few seahorses hiding. We anchored at the picturesque Baie Hurepiti, surrounded by dramatic hillsides and lush vegetation. We dove outside the Paipai pass and found some cool anenomes.
On Thursday we hauled anchor and sailed overnight to Maupiti, an unexplored and remote gem, just 25 miles west of Bora Bora. Onoiau Pass is narrow and shallow, and breaking waves surrounded Namaste as we entered the emerald lagoon. This place is amazing and feels very untouched. The locals have resisted building large resorts here and have maintained their small island. We dove outside the pass today with 100-plus feet of visibility, and found a huge outcropping of beautiful plate coral, as well as schooling triggerfish and yellowtail.
The island has one of the nicest sand beaches I've ever seen and we played frisbee and soccer this afternoon on our dinghy circumnavigation. All is swell on Namaste and the adventures continue...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Rangiroa
Namaste returned to Rangiroa after more than a nine-year absence from this phenomenal atoll, and we had a fantastic 10-day stay.
The past three months have been pretty solitary for Chris and I, but that all changed last week when we pulled into this popular place, and spotted flags from the US, Australia, Denmark, and French on the neighboring cruising boats. Then Team Namaste grew by one member on Sunday when Uncle Bill flew in for a 16-day stay. It's so great to have him here, sharing these great adventures with us.
Rangiroa is an absolute divers paradise and we took full advantage of the spectacular surroundings, including 150-feet visibility and 81-degree water. We made fast friends with four French cruisers and were able to hop into their dinghy for some drift diving. We'd drop outside the pass and descend quickly to about 150-feet, where we'd be surrounded by gray sharks waiting at the pass for breakfast. Chris spotted several schools of eagle rays as well. We'd reach the current pretty quickly and then it was a free-flow float traveling between 1.5 and 2 knots. On our dives, we saw giant Napoleon wrasse, whitecheek surgoenfish, titan triggerfish and pacific double-saddle butterflyfish, just to name a few. There was an awesome cave about halfway into the pass that usually sheltered schools of black-striped surgeonfish and soldierfish, as well as several blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. If you could hold on against the current, it was quite a show!
On Wednesday afternoon, we dropped in with our French friends and Liz, a single-handed American sailor we just met. The groups got separated and we ended up having an amazing dolphin encounter. The Tiputa pass dolphins are legendary and often play and visit the divers cruising in the current. "Touch me", as this dolphin has affectionately been named, swam right up to us, circling very close and showing off its underwater acrobatic skills. It stayed with us for two of its mammal breaths, and took our breath away in the process! What an incredible experience, truly once in a lifetime, and Liz got it on videotape!
Bill got his feet wet this week and started to scuba dive. He's a natural at breathing underwater and we took him outside the lagoon for his first real dive on Thursday. We dove to about 60-feet and checked out all the amazing coral and reef fish, as well as a couple gray sharks that were scoping out the new visitors. Kayaking, paddleboarding, swimming and Chris kiteboarding filled our days with fun, followed by awesome mahi-mahi dinners.
We pulled anchor Friday morning and sailed southwest en route to Moorea. We pulled over at Tetiaroa, the island that was once owned by Marlon Brando, but there were no tenable anchorages so we continued on and pulled into Opunohu Bay last night at sunset.
The past three months have been pretty solitary for Chris and I, but that all changed last week when we pulled into this popular place, and spotted flags from the US, Australia, Denmark, and French on the neighboring cruising boats. Then Team Namaste grew by one member on Sunday when Uncle Bill flew in for a 16-day stay. It's so great to have him here, sharing these great adventures with us.
Rangiroa is an absolute divers paradise and we took full advantage of the spectacular surroundings, including 150-feet visibility and 81-degree water. We made fast friends with four French cruisers and were able to hop into their dinghy for some drift diving. We'd drop outside the pass and descend quickly to about 150-feet, where we'd be surrounded by gray sharks waiting at the pass for breakfast. Chris spotted several schools of eagle rays as well. We'd reach the current pretty quickly and then it was a free-flow float traveling between 1.5 and 2 knots. On our dives, we saw giant Napoleon wrasse, whitecheek surgoenfish, titan triggerfish and pacific double-saddle butterflyfish, just to name a few. There was an awesome cave about halfway into the pass that usually sheltered schools of black-striped surgeonfish and soldierfish, as well as several blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. If you could hold on against the current, it was quite a show!
On Wednesday afternoon, we dropped in with our French friends and Liz, a single-handed American sailor we just met. The groups got separated and we ended up having an amazing dolphin encounter. The Tiputa pass dolphins are legendary and often play and visit the divers cruising in the current. "Touch me", as this dolphin has affectionately been named, swam right up to us, circling very close and showing off its underwater acrobatic skills. It stayed with us for two of its mammal breaths, and took our breath away in the process! What an incredible experience, truly once in a lifetime, and Liz got it on videotape!
Bill got his feet wet this week and started to scuba dive. He's a natural at breathing underwater and we took him outside the lagoon for his first real dive on Thursday. We dove to about 60-feet and checked out all the amazing coral and reef fish, as well as a couple gray sharks that were scoping out the new visitors. Kayaking, paddleboarding, swimming and Chris kiteboarding filled our days with fun, followed by awesome mahi-mahi dinners.
We pulled anchor Friday morning and sailed southwest en route to Moorea. We pulled over at Tetiaroa, the island that was once owned by Marlon Brando, but there were no tenable anchorages so we continued on and pulled into Opunohu Bay last night at sunset.
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