Huahine

Amanda at the Helm — Amanda at the helm driving a fast reach from Mo’orea to Huahine.

Huahine lies 78 nautical miles northwest of Mo’orea. It was a fast overnight sail for our crew of four. So fast, we outran our passage plan and arrived off the island in the wee hours of the morning. We spent a few hours motoring slowly back and forth outside the pass into the lagoon, waiting for daybreak.

Huahine is one of eight main Society Islands in this archipelago; it’s the third one we’ve visited. There are two versions of where the term “Society Islands” comes from. Captain James Cook likely named them in honor of the Royal Society to pay homage to their sponsorship of his first voyage. Or, as Cook wrote in his log, because “as they lay contiguous to one another,” he saw them as “social.” The Tahitian name is “Tōtaiete mā,” which nobody uses.

We spent a few days soaking up the peace and quiet of this wonderful, scenic place. The island is comprised of Huahine Nui (Big Huahine) and Huahine Iti (Little Huahine). The two islands are connected by a bridge.

We spent two days snorkeling and paddleboarding on the island’s east side. After a visit to the pearl farm, we left via the pass and motored around the island’s north side and back into the lagoon near the main town of Fare.

The mooring field and anchorage off the town were full. We kept moving south in the lagoon, searching for a suitable place to moor or anchor. It was raining, and the visibility was poor. Without good overhead light, seeing the shoals and coral heads under the water is impossible.

We motored deep into Haavai Bay, which one of our guide sources suggested was a good anchorage. I didn’t have a good feeling about the security of it so we turned around to head back out into the lagoon. In the process, I managed to run into a coral head with the starboard daggerboard. It’s a sound you never want to hear. A horrible crunch. As it turned out, the damage was superficial. Some of the antifouling paint scraped off. No structural damage. We got lucky. Lesson learned. Don’t go roaming around looking for an anchorage in crappy light.

We worked further south in the lagoon and found the last available government mooring off Motu Vaiorea. It turned out to be a great snorkeling spot the next morning in the bright sun.

Other than a visit to the pearl farm, we didn’t spend much time on land in Huahine. We’ll save that for next season if we are still here in French Polynesia. We decided to use the good weather to sail the three hours across to Raiatea.

The Importance of Pursuing Your Dreams

We’ve been streaming the Olympics most evenings onboard Roam (via Peacock via a VPN into our home network back in California via Starlink). Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner had this to say about putting her career on hold and going “all in” on her dream of becoming an Olympic cyclist. I love how she describes her moment of clarity. I can relate.

“I was with my brother, and we were having pizza. I said ‘you know, I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics. I feel like I could maybe do it in cycling, but I’d have to go all-in and give it 100%.’ And my brother…, said: ‘So, is this a goal or a dream?’ I said it was a dream. And he said: ‘If it’s a dream, why are we even having this conversation? You have to go do it. Weigh the pros and cons, but you can’t just let a dream go by. If it’s really a dream, you’ve got to do it.’ And that was a turning point for me, it gave me the courage. I can’t just let this go by. When I’m 80 years old, I don’t want to look back and feel like I didn’t pursue a dream that I had.”

–Allie Garfinkle’s interview with Kristen Faulkner in Term Sheet.

A Few Photos

Snorkeling off Motu Murimahora near Huahine Iti.

Alex spotted the Yellow Edged Moray Eel. The eel poked his head out of his coral cave to check us out.

Pearl Farm — A visit to the pearl farm on Huahine

Pearl Farm Lesson — A lesson in how Tahitian pearls are cultured.

Blue-eyed Eels. It was hard to get a good photo of their blue eyes. I wasn’t game to get in the river to get closer. These critters are 3 to 4 feet long.

Alex looks for a mooring — Alex searches for a vacant mooring. It’s not a good idea to go looking for an anchoring spot in poor visibility. Ask me how I know.

Daggerboard Damage — Once moored, I dove to inspect the daggerboards and hull for damage from the coral head encounter. Fortunately, it was only a superficial paint scrape. We got lucky.

Updates from our PredictWind log:

Fri Aug 09 2024 07:26:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)

16 45.965s 150 57.531w

All is well. We are presently moored on one of three moorings thoughtfully provided by the French Polynesian government in the lagoon just inside Passé Farerea on the island of Huahine.

We enjoyed a blistering broad reach last night under reefed main and full Solent, 1/3 daggers with 6’ beam seas. It was so fast we arrived two hours ahead of our passage plan and had to stand off the pass and wait for daybreak.

I also managed to lose the Solent sheet inside the line tunnel when I came on deck from a dead sleep to drop the main and slow us down as we closed on the island. A project for later today.

Now it’s time for one of Pam’s amazing breakfasts, a shower, and a nap.

—Jim

Line Tunnel Repair — I had to remove the end cap from the line tunnel where all the control lines pass under the boat. The yard in Mexico glued it on so that it would never come off (which it sometimes needs to). It took most of an afternoon with an oscillating saw to get it off. There is usually one boat project per day out here.

Hana Iti Beach, Huahine

Sun Aug 11 2024 18:27:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)

16 46.916s 151 01.662w

All is well. We are presently hanging off a government morning at Hana Iti beach on the west side of Huahine. We motored around the north side of the island this afternoon after a visit to the Pearl Farm.

The moorings and anchorage off the town of Fare were full. So we pushed further south into the lagoon looking for a place for the night.

Unfortunately we tagged a coral head with the starboard daggerboard while checking out a potential anchorage. Fortunately, it was only a superficial scrape on the bottom of the board.