Day 239, Year 1: Slowing Down in Cook’s Bay

by | Jun 13, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 | 1 comment

Day 239, Year 1: Slowing Down in Cook’s Bay
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Weather: Stormy Morning, Beautiful Afternoon
Location: Cook’s Bay, Moorea (Society Islands, French Polynesia)

We are still in “slow” mode and just kicking back and enjoying the beautiful scenery here. It really is beautiful, even more so now that the sun is shining brightly and the blue skies have returned. The stormy weather is over for now and the locals here are talking about the fact that they never have these kinds of wind this time of year. This is the dry season here and the torrents of rain were also unexpected. I think it is always that way with the weather, but this year seems to be more so everywhere.

We went to the Club Bali Hai Hotel for Happy Hour last night with our friends from Quantum Leap. The hotel is done in traditional style with little peaked huts with thatched roofs all along the waterfront. When we landed at the dinghy dock, we walked through an outdoor bar and restaurant that was closed last night, but went into what looked like the hotel lobby-still partly open to the outside. Hotel guests and yachties were all gathered in a circle with an elderly gentleman as the center of attention. I think he owns the hotel and likes to tell stories at Happy Hour of his many years here. We were a little late and didn’t get in on this, but we were in time for the crab races. Everyone bets on one of four crabs, and then they are let loose in a “race track” of sorts. It was great fun watching how excited people can get over a little crab! Number 4 was definitely the winner last night. We were introduced to Mark and Dana from Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are staying at the hotel, but they went to dinner with the Quantum Leap gang and ourselves. We actually went out to a Mexican restaurant and had enchiladas and tacos. That was fun, but I am looking forward to the Tahitian dance show at the hotel tomorrow night, and maybe some more traditional French Polynesian food.

Stillpoint arrived safely last night. Just minutes after we returned to the boat after dinner, we got their radio call announcing that they were entering the bay. Of course, we were having another squall at the time, but they made it in safely and were very glad to be here. We will commiserate over our passage experiences tonight at dinner aboard Windbird and then put that behind us and start exploring this beautiful place tomorrow.

060613 Day 239 Society Islands, Moorea–Cook's Bay Anchorage

Day 238, Year 1: Arrival in Cook’s Bay, Moorea

by | Jun 12, 2006 | French Polynesia - Society Islands, Sailing Logs Year 1 | 0 comments

Day 238, Year 1: Arrival in Cook’s Bay, Moorea
Date: Monday, June 12, 2006
Weather: Awful!
Latitude: 17 degrees 30 minutes
Longitude: 149 degrees 49 minutes
Location: Cook’s Bay, Moorea (Society Islands, French Polynesia)

We anchored in Cook’s Bay in pouring rain and fog this morning about 11:00 AM. Since midnight, the weather continued to get worse and worse. We had one squall right after another during the night, packing winds to 40+ knots, and as the sun rose, the heaven’s broke loose. It rained so hard that when we passed Tahiti and we saw only a glimpse of land. We were almost in the approach for the pass into Cook’s Bay before we could Moorea. We found someone (a boat named Diva) on VHF Channel 16 in Cook’s Bay, however, who gave us good directions. We entered the well marked pass and immediately the seas calmed down, but the rain kept coming. We chose this landfall because it is an easy bay to enter and lived up to its reputation. Stillpoint will be coming in around 9:00 PM tonight and we will be guiding them by VHF.

We did not realize what a toll the passage had taken on us until we ate lunch and started to relax. Every muscle in our bodies was aching from the constant struggle to remain upright and not be thrown across the cockpit in the tremendous winds we have had all the way here from the Marquesas. We are just grateful that we were able to run with the wind all the way here which made the high winds at least safe. We slept all afternoon and feel much better now . . . so much better that we are heading over to the Club Bali Hai Hotel for Happy Hour! We are truly happy to be here, safe and sound.

The bay here is named for Captain Cook who came here before us, landing here in 1769. We seem to be following his path around the Pacific. His ship, the Endeavor, actually anchored in Opunohu Bay next door and he visited here in his long boat. More history and full report on the beauty of this place tomorrow once the sun comes out and the clouds go away. The rain has stopped and even with the low clouds, you can see that this is a spectacular place.