If Papeete is Honolulu and Tahiti is Oahu, then Mo’orea is Kauai. It’s the low-key, easy-going next-door neighbor to Tahiti. We stayed for a month.
Tahiti has about 200,000 residents, and Mo’orea has about 18,000. These two islands make up 70% of French Polynesia’s population. About as many tourists visit them each year.
The Marquesas are young islands, the Tuamotus are old islands, and the Societies are middle-aged. The Society Islands, like Mo’orea, have formed a coral ring and a lagoon around the island but still have towering mountain jungles. The mountains will sink over time (geologic time), leaving the coral ring surrounding a lagoon and looking like the Tuamotus.
We wanted a place to leave the boat for a few weeks while we traveled. I needed to go to Sydney for work. Pam wanted to go back to the States to visit her family and check on our house. Marina Mo’orea in Opunohu Bay had space for us. It turned out to be a great spot. We also rented a car during our stay, allowing us to get around the island easily.
Tahiti and Papeete are a quick 30-minute ferry ride away. That made it easy to get over there for boat parts, groceries, and other errands without having to deal with the hassle of finding a place for the boat. The anchorages and moorings in Tahiti are quite full, and finding space in the marinas is almost impossible.
We were able to knock out a backlog of boat projects and restock the fridge and freezer. Grocery shopping was amazing compared to what we’ve experienced up until now. It was nice to be back in civilization after months of the remoteness of the Marquesas and Tuamotus.
Moorea was a great place for the kids to fly in and meet us for the start of their two-week adventure in French Polynesia. They landed in Papeete from LA early in the morning and caught the first ferry to Mo’orea. We spent the afternoon rejuvenating at the Hilton Hotel spa.
They both work long hours, and this was a much-needed and well-deserved break for them. Having been here for nearly a month, we were able to show them around like experienced guides.
They grew up sailing. It was easy for them to drop into our cruising lifestyle. After playing tourist with them on Mo’orea for a few days, we set sail for the Iles Sous Le Vent–the Leeward Islands of Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora.
Boat Projects
For my fellow boat geeks, here are some of the projects done while in Mo’orea:
- New washing machine — a Winia Mini. I removed the old Candy Aquamatic and donated it to the marina manager. This required rebuilding the laundry cabinet. This required a trip to Polymat, Mo’orea’s version of Home Depot. Getting 18mm marine plywood cut to size using my bad French took a while.
- Port steering hydraulic cylinder — resealed it. It’s been leaking since we resealed it in Mexico. Not bad. But not great either. I don’t think the shop in Mexico got the end cap on the cylinder tight enough. At least that’s what the shop in Papeete concluded.
- Port helm seat — re-glassed and bonded the seat to its pedestal. It broke coming across the Pacific. I’d been in search of a fiberglass guy since we got to French Polynesia. I finally gave up and tackled it myself.
- Rig inspection — sometimes I wish I didn’t go up there and look at everything. Ignorance is bliss.
- New Starlink dish mount–removed the old wind generator pole and replaced it with a rail mount for the Starlink dish. Looks better. Less weight and windage.
- New inflatable fenders—We got rid of the old, nasty PVC fenders. They were heavy and took up a lot of space, so we replaced them with new Fendertex inflatable fenders.
- New Mini Scuba System—This is a great setup from Mantus. Who knew airlines would let you bring an empty SCUBA tank on the plane? We also bought a new nav light for our dingy from them.
- New Dingy Lifting Harness — the old one fell overboard and sank while we were ashore one day in the Tuamotus. I snorkeled all over the anchorage, looking for it without success. John Hansen in Alameda made me another one.
- New shore power cord plugs—French Polynesia is one of the few places on earth with 220 volts, 60-hertz power. Our French boat is wired for 220 volts, 50 hertz power (with a limited 110 volts, 60 hertz system). We needed to swap out the plugs to fit the marina sockets, but I could run the air conditioners once we got connected!
- New Inflatable Standup Paddle Board for Pam—the new one she bought and had shipped to Fakarava started to leak after a few days. Mattieu at “The Board Shop” in Tahiti has been great. He replaced it for free, but now the replacement is leaking. He’ll get another one next month, and we’ll figure out how to ship it wherever we are. It’s frustrating, but it’s nice of him to hang in there with us. Bad manufacturing lot.
Good Eats
I probably gained 10 pounds eating out in Mo’orea:
- Rudys — classic French
- Mo’orea Beach Cafe — Good sushi
- Allo Pizza
- Sea You Soon
- Carmaline — Breakfast (or Steak Frites)
- Coco Beach — spectacular setting
- Aoy Thai Food — excellent take out Thai.
A Few Photos
Updates from our PredictWind log:
Farewell Tuamotus
Thu Jul 04 2024 17:06:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)
15 50.879s 148 18.227w
All is well. We are presently beam-reaching to in 25 – 28 knot winds and 7’ confused seas under a double-reefed main and a full Solent. 1/3 daggers. We are making an easy 8-9 knots. Getting ready for the night watch.
Today, we say farewell to Makatea and to the Tuamotus. We’ve been sailing in this unique part of the world for a month and a half.
Next stop Mo’orea, 135 nautical miles away. And the start of the Society Islands.
Looking forward to it.
Happy birthday, America!
—Jim
Mo’orea Landfall
Fri Jul 05 2024 11:12:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)
17 30.674s 149 51.063w
All is well. We are safely med-tied in the Mo’orea Yacht Club after a blistering overnight broad reach in 18–26 knot winds and 7’ confused quartering seas from Makatea in the Tuamotus. Double reefed main, full Solent, 1/3 daggers.
We dropped our mooring line in Makatea just after 4pm, spun the boat around, raised the sails, set them, and never touched them the entire passage. Boat speed ranged from 8 to 10 knots. It was a bit rough and loud as it often is in these conditions. The boat was at full gallop.
Pam took the first watch. We swapped at midnight. I got a quick nap after sunrise before landfall.
Our good friends on Chaos and Fundango are anchored here, and they came over to help us get tied up. Help I was grateful to have.
We will be here for a few weeks, checking out Tahiti and Mo’orea. Pam is going back to the US for a few days to visit her family and I have a work trip to Australia. Then the kids will join us and we will head out to explore the Society Islands together.
For now, the marina restaurant has a cheeseburger. That, a nap, and a shower are all I need.
—Jim
Wow! What an adventure. So glad that Alex and Amanda could join you…I know you had a blast and made such incredible memories with them. It seems like no matter what you need to fix the boat (or really anything), you’re able to find the parts and someone to help! I think that’s so cool. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for your post, it’s been awesome to spend time with them and to see them slow down from the craziness of their lives. We have tried to leverage every opportunity to bring MANY parts down in suitcases from the US which has been helpful, and so far we are keeping up with what’s breaking down lol :). Look forward to catching up soon!
I was just looking at the site this morning thinking I hadn’t seen anything in a while. And two hours later it’s there!
Glad you enjoyed Moorea, it was our favorite spot. Looking forward to returning there some day. Enjoy your time with the kids!
Hello Miguel! I can see why you both loved Mo’orea. We enjoyed our time here immensely. It was a great place to leave the boat. We successfully made it up to Huahine and are having a great time. After a dive in the morning we may head across to Raiatea.
Glad you enjoyed Mooarea. A great island. We swam a lot from the boat to the reef. I’m with Pam. Don’t like those sharks and like dogs, they know your fear. Ugh!!!
Hi Debbie, so glad I am not the only one that truly could do without ever seeing another shark while IN the water with them! I know the blacktip sharks are supposedly not a threat to humans, but you never know on any given day what mood they may be in…or how hungry they are LOL! Because I love to snorkel (but not with sharks), I ordered a sharkbandz- it looks like a watch, goes on your arm or leg. Sharks are very sensitive to electric fields and this band creates a signal that deters them. I especially enjoyed looking at the YouTube videos of how they tested the bands effectiveness- with raw fish tied to a dummy’s legs dangling from a surfboard! Very effective is all I have to say 🙂 https://www.sharkbanz.com
So exciting and fun to follow your adventure. Beautiful. We love the pictures. So glad the kids made it to spend time with you. You are making great memories!! We miss you but all is well at the homestead!!
Thank you Julie! We are so enjoying spending this special time with the kids, it’s been a nice mix of remote anchorages with snorkeling and watching sunsets, combined with a little on-land sightseeing of the islands. We miss you guys too and are so grateful for all your support, look forward to seeing you in a few months!! 🙂
Did you arrange for a long stay visa or will you be heading out soon from French Polynesia?
Hi Jeffrey! Yes, we are here on a long stay visa. It’s good through April of next year with the option to extend it with a “carte de sejour” for another year. The boat can also stay in French Polynesia for two years without import duty.
It was quite an involved process getting a long stay visa. Pam led the effort back in San Francisco. It took about 10 weeks and we had to surrender our passports to the French consulate as part of it. We got “duplicate” passports from the San Francisco passport office which allowed us to continue traveling internationally while the French were processing our visa. That was helpful but also complicated things a bit. When I leave French Polynesia for work I have two passports I’m using–one with my French long stay visa and the other with my visas for New Zealand and Australia. With some patience it all works out.
The bigger question is whether we will leave French Polynesia any time soon. THAT has been the dinner discussion for several weeks now.
The first question is whether to continue cruising or whether to take a break during cyclone season. There are implications to each. If we keep cruising what is our strategy for cyclone management. If we take a break, where can we leave the boat that is secure from cyclones (and acceptable to the insurance company).
We’ve decided to take a break for a few months during cyclone season and go back to the US for the holidays. That will give me some time to do some work projects and allow us to spend time with our family over the holiday.
We’ve been looking for a place to leave the boat. The yard in Hiva Oa can haul us out. That’s 830nm from here and it will require some artful weather planning to sail it off the wind.
There is an outside chance that Raiatea Carenage can haul us and store us. We’ll visit them in person tomorrow to check on it. Long shot. They report being full but we are trying to work an angle.
Hauling here in Raiatea is our preference. They’ve got a good reputation. We could start season 2 right here in the societies next March.
Sailing all the way back to Hiva Oa has pros and cons. I love the Marquesas but Pam is indifferent about them. We’d have a chance to sail through the Tuamotus again. They are a magical place.
Outside of those options, we have reserved space in the new Marina in Nawi Fiji which was designed to withstand a Category 5 cyclone. But that is 1,700nm of sailing through the Cook Islands and Tonga.
First world problems to be sure.
Jim, Thanks for sharing. I knew that you would wind up with a boat and sailing when I knew you 40 years ago. I am so joyful for you and Pam enjoying and really living your life together. God Bless!
Wayne! Great to have you sailing virtually with us! Yes, that was a long time ago but those were the seeds of this adventure to be sure.