July 2 - 4, 2008: South Pacific

Tahaa and Raiatea (S 16 39’ W 151 31’), (S 16 44’ W 151 25’) http://maps.google.com/maps

It was a short run back to Tahaa and we anchored in one of our favor spots near the village of Patio have re-entered the reef thru Paipai Pass.

It was well protected in about 30 feet of water although surrounded by coral shelf on three sides.There was great snorkeling just a dingy ride away in one of the most colorful coral gardens we had ever seen.

Our next stop was to do a tour of a vanilla plantation, which proved to be one of the highlights of the trip. The plantation was at the end of a picturesque bay called Hurepiti Bay. We were able to tie up to a buoy belonging to the company Vanilla Tour owned by Alan Plantier. Alan was a former yachtie himself having sailed to New Zealand. He and his wife decided to return to Tahaa and start a vanilla plantation from scratch in the tropical jungle. He and his plantation were right out of the movie South Pacific.

Here we are anchored in bay. The plantation was just on the shore at the base of the picture.

During that 4-hour tour Alain not only taught us all about vanilla and other plants but drove us to the top of the island.

This is Alain preparing a little `refreshment for us. He really knew his horticulture!

After that we did a little snorkeling in a “ Sea Coral Garden”. The water was only knee deep and all you had to do was drift with current

Our next stop was Marina Iti a delightful little hotel and restaurant that catered to the yachtie crowd. We liked it because it came with mooring balls and had good shelter. Mooring balls are habit forming because it is difficult to find water less than 40 feet deep in the South Pacific and they’re so convenient to tie up to.

Next door there was a local pearl farm that helped advance our black pearl selection knowledge.

Next door there was a local pearl farm that helped advance our black pearl selection knowledge.

We were looking for more pristine isolation so after provisioning again in Uturoa, we headed to a place called Motu Noa Noa on the southwest corner of Raiatea.

We found what we were looking for….

We found what we were looking for….along with other things we thought we’d never find. Sam took this picture was well as other exotic creatures of the sea that most of us just swam by without even noticing.

We were now into the second week in July and approaching the end of our visas for French Polynesia. We had enough bagets for a lifetime and not enough money to keep us in the life style we had become accustomed to, so it was time to move on to more affordable ports. We set a course for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands some 600 miles from Raiatea.