Finally, it was time for us to leave Tahiti and begin our voyage East. It is a short passage of 12nm to Moo’rea. The weather was not conducive to sail toward the Tuamotus so we just went to the next island over. However, before we left we enjoyed sundowners (aka happy hour) with our friends Julie and Andy on “Little Wing.”
Julie and I at sunset
Afterwards we were rewarded with a beautiful moonrise over Marina Taina in Tahiti. Perfect for this Halloween night.
The next morning, we made a final trash run and another quick trip to the grocery store to see if they got any pork in stock. For some reason, the island of Tahiti is out of pork products – no pork chops, pork shoulder or pork ribs. So sad for me.
Voyage to Mo’orea
We left the south pass and had light winds of 6-8kts coming north of east. Sugar Shack had a full main and a reefed jib because there was hardly any wind. We were doing a whopping 3-5kts of boat speed – just plugging along. We were not in a hurry and had all day to cross the bay to the next island.
Several local surfers were taking advantage of the great waves as we left the pass. These are short waves that break on a dangerous reef – but they still manage to rock it!
A French War ship was hanging out just in front of Mo’orea. It looked like they were dragging something, but we were not close enough to figure it out.
French warship off the coast of Mo’orea
In the distance we could see white caps. Not a good sign, so we took a reef in the main sail. After 15 minutes we decided to take a 2nd reef in the main sail. Thank Holy God! The winds jumped to 30-35kts and the seas quickly became 2-3 meters! We were bouncing all over the place. We almost turned around, but decided to forge ahead. The weather calmed down to 20-25kts and 1.5-2 meter seas which was a bit better. The boat found her happy place and we were doing 7-8kts.
We turned the corner and had another 5nm to go to Oponohu passe entrance. During this leg of our voyage we encountered lots of beautiful dolphin. They were surfing in the waves, jumping, and having fun. We first spotted some dolphins at the Tahiti pass by the new surf platform (upper left photo), and then we saw dozens more as we got closer to Mo’orea.
Another mile further we ran into a super talented, overzealous foil boarder. He was amazing! He circled around Sugar Shack several times showing off his mad skills! See my Instagram account for video footage. He pumps the board by bending his knees which keeps the board moving forward. He also uses the kite that is in his hand for propulsion. We were going 6-7kts and he was going faster than us!
We were gifted with a grand view as we entered the Oponohu passe.
Sugar Shack at Oponohu Passe
To the left of the pass is the anchorage which is full of other boats. We grabbed a spot on a nice sandy patch in 3 meters of water.
Oponohu Anchorage
Events from this blog occurred over the last week of October 2020. Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.