The wind was around out of the southeast and blowing close to twenty knots yesterday morning, perfect for a quick downwind sail to Bora Bora, so we pulled the hook just after the sun came up and headed out. With two reefs in the mainsail and a full jib Van Diemen made the twenty mile passage in just a couple of hours and we were inside Bora's lagoon before noon. Rob's cedar plug continues to scare the fish away from my lure.
Toopua is a high island on the western side of Bora Bora's lagoon that offers a shallow anchorage and good protection when the trade winds are strong so we headed there. As we approached the anchorage we could see a thirty five foot sailboat that had sunk on the reef next to the island. Its mast and sails were sticking up out of the water. After we got settled in we inspected it closely with the binoculars. It looked like it had gone down just a few days ago because there was hardly any scum or growth near the tide line.
After a beer, nap, and lunch, in that order, we headed over to dive the wreck. The mainsail was still on the boom and the jib still rolled up on the head stay. Most of the deck gear was in place, a lot of it quite valuable. It didn't look like the owner tried to salvage anything after she went down. I couldn't find where the hull had been holed or determine why she sank. What a shame. Somebody's cruising dream ended abruptly on the reef at Bora Bora.
The sunken boat is apparently the most interesting attraction on Bora Bora because every cruising or charter boat that comes to this part of the lagoon has been diving the wreck like we did. We've seen at least six other parties dinghy over to check it out. I suspect they, like us, are all trying figure out why it went down.
It is technically winter down here now, and the front that passed the night before last brought cool weather with it, the first we have seen since departing California. It is great sleeping weather and I am wearing a sweatshirt as I type this.
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