0800 Position 16-38S 151-29W. Anchored at the head end of Haamene Bay, Tahaa
I had a wonderful week at home with Lori. I arrived in Hawaii early Sunday morning and after stopping at home for a shower and a haircut, headed off to the last event of my 45th high school reunion, a picnic in Hakipuu valley. Hakipuu, is one of the spots I mentioned last week on my list of the most beautiful places on earth. How lucky I am to get to spend time at two spots on that list in the same week.
My at home to-do list was long and I wasn't sure there would be time to get it all done, but I did and still had time to socialize at the yacht club, go out to dinner with friends, and play tennis. Lori and I even carved out a day to take Moku pe'a out to the sandbar. It certainly helped that Lori had everything ship shape at home. The yard was in better shape than when I am home and taking care of it myself. Perhaps I should let her take over that responsibility permanently? What do you think, gentlemen?
On Saturday morning Lori, Kara, and I got together to watch the first two races of the America's Cup finals on TV before my afternoon flight to Papeette. I really love that stuff, and wanted to watch the next two races Sunday morning. I thought I had a chance because I had to overnight in a motel near the airport and hoped that the races might be on TV here. Apparently the French weren't interested after their boat got eliminated from the series though because it wasn't on TV in Papeete. I did have WIFI in the motel though, so I called Lori on WhatsApp over the internet and she put her phone next to the TV so I could at least hear the commentary from the racing.
In the meantime, Van Diemen has been busy. A week ago Sunday she sailed from Moorea to Huahine and spent a couple of days anchored in the lee of Motu Muri Mahora on the windward side of the island. This is an idyllic seldom visited anchorage with great drift diving and relaxing. From there they headed around to Huahine's western or leeward coast where they spent a couple of more days anchored in Avea Bay at the southern end of the lagoon. On Huahine's leeward coast they ran into Paulo Schaeffer, the brother of one of Mike's roommates from years past. Paulo and his wife Charlotte were there on a charter catamaran and they ended up having dinner aboard Van Diemen one evening. Rob said that Huahine is currently winning the "Best Island of the Voyage" award.
Raiatea's airport runway is built out on the reef on the north end of the island. The terminal is right on the water and the best way for visiting yachts to meet or deliver passengers is to take the dinghy right into the dock there. The dinghy dock is even closer to the terminal than the taxi cabs are. It is also a lot of fun. Where else do you get to dinghy in to baggage claim? Rob had planned to pick me up there yesterday with the dinghy, so at my scheduled arrival time he took Van Diemen in to the end of the runway and sent the dinghy to fetch me. Now, one is not supposed to take vessels with tall masts anywhere near either end of the runway. It is clearly so stated on the charts and there are standoff buoys off the ends of the runway to mark the restricted area. Van Diemen's intrusion into the restricted area got a predictable response. An official in a large red truck with flashing lights appeared and he gestured wildly for Van Diemen to vacate the area just as Renee and Mike were departing to pick me up. He had binoculars and it looked like he was trying to see the name on Van Diemen's stern. Fortunately, the swim step was down so the ship's name was illegible. By the time the three of us had returned in the dingy Rob had taken the boat outside of the restricted area, but the Gendarmes may be looking for us. This morning Rob switched the red Australian ensign, which was flying on the stern during "the incident" with the green fighting Kangaroo ensign to throw them off the scent.
As soon as the crew was back aboard yesterday after "the incident", Van Diemen powered north to Tahaa and anchored at the head of Haamene Bay. This is my favorite spot in all of French Polynesia, a two mile long fjord like bay that cuts right into the middle of Tahaa. Lori and I had a number of great times here on our 2011 and 2014 cruises. After getting settled, we dinghied in to the Tahaa Maitai restaurant to see if they were going to be open for dinner. They weren't, but Chef Bruno was still there cleaning up from Sunday brunch and I got to speak to him for a few minutes. We will have to come back and have dinner there later in the trip. A hike up to the pass in the hills above the valley seemed like a good idea, but we didn't get going until 430PM. At 515 we decided to turn around so we wouldn't find ourselves stuck out in the wilderness after dark and made it back to the village just before it got too dark to see where we were stepping. Another great day in paradise.
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