0600 position 17-31S 149-51W. At anchor in 50 feet, Robinson's Cove,
Oponohu Bay, Moorea
Tuesday morning was clear and calm, so we weighed anchor and powered out of
Cook's Bay, along the barrier reef, and into Oponohu Bay two miles to the
west. I'd anchored in Oponohu Bay during all three of my previous visits
to French Polynesia, but there were still some anchorages there that we
hadn't explored, so that was the mission for the day. We headed west
inside the reef to the town of Papetoai where we pulled alongside their
first class wharf to look for water. They had taps installed, but all were
disconnected. We continued on along the reef in the small boat channel
until it got too shallow and we dropped our hook there over a beautiful
flat sand bottom thirteen feet deep. We were basically anchored out on the
sand shelf behind the barrier reef. We both went for a snorkel in the bath
warm water. Gorgeous.
We decided to stay there for the day because it was hot and muggy, and we'd
likely have more breeze to keep us cool than deep in a bay. The clear
weather disappeared at noon, and we had a rainy afternoon and evening,
perfect for cribbage, reading, Hinano, and a movie.
The weather started to clear a bit Wednesday morning, so we powered back to
Papetoai, anchored, launched the dinghy and went ashore to buy essentials -
baguettes and garlic. Then we were off to the most famous and picturesque
anchorage in the South Pacific, Robinson's Cove at the head end of Oponohu
Bay. Remarkably, we had the entire head end of Oponohu Bay to ourselves.
That hadn't happened since my first visit thirty eight years ago.
Our adventure for the day was a bike ride, and we rode and pushed our bikes
up to the "Belvedere" in the mountains between Oponohu and Cook's Bay. It
is a magnificent view, and worth the effort to get there. Then a long
coast downhill into Cook's Bay and around the headland back to our starting
point. We looked for our French pal who had been aground in Cook's Bay,
and were relieved to see that he was gone. I figure about fifteen miles of
hilly biking for the day, enough to get our butts and out of shape legs
sore.
Robinson's Cove is right up against a sheer 2500 foot cliff on one side,
the bay and rugged mountains beyond on the other, the "Shark's Tooth"
mountain made famous in the movie "South Pacific" on the left, and the
mouth of Oponohu Bay on the right. It is stunning no matter which way you
look, and the anchorage is protected and calm. The only downside is the
automobile traffic that whizzes by on the coast road. It is as busy as
Kaneohe Bay Drive. During my first visit here I recall a car every ten
minutes or so.
No comments:
Post a Comment