15* 29.5 S 151* 45.6 W
On Thursday, we crossed the 20 nm from Tahaa / Raiatea to the famous island of Bora Bora. According to the travel magazines, this is the most beautiful and romantic island in the world. The center of the island is a tall ragged volcanic mountain and it is surrounded by a coral reef. Many of the big name resorts in the area are thatched roof cabins on stilts out over the water. Entry level is around $400 / night.
The approach to the island and entry through the pass is truely spectacular. We anchored at the Bora Bora Yacht Club, which used to be a funky cruisers' hang out and restaurant. Unfortunately, last February, the yacht club got clobbered by a cyclone (hurricane) and they are in the process of rebuilding. Luckily, they got their priorities right and the first thing they rebuilt was the bar.
This is the last major island we will visit in French Polynesia and we are in our last week hanging out with our dear friends on Mulan. When we head to the Cook Islands, Mulan will turn right and head toward Hawaii and on to Vancouver. "Mystery Ship", the identical Nordhavn 64 we crossed from Mexico with is also here and we did a scuba dive today with them.
This will be a big weekend here as the locals build up to Bastille Day and also celebrate their major traditional holiday which features many nights of Polynesian singing and dancing in the small town.
Sunday morning there will be a rare total solar eclipse that will be visible here in the South Pacific. We are about 60 miles from the 100% eclipse area, but we expect to have about 95%. Sunday is also the final World Cup soccer match which will be televised here at the YC. We will be watching with a couple of Dutch sailing families, so it should be a wild time.
Even while we are enjoying this amazing island, we are starting to look ahead to our next "big" ocean passage. Our 90 days in FP is coming to and end and we must point Oso west in only one week.
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