Beautiful Bora Bora!

July 15, 2013

So here it is Monday afternoon, and no sign of our missing part in Papeete.  Coralie, our agent, has the freight forwarder looking for it, and they think it’s in, but no definitive word yet.  In any event, our weather window has fallen apart, so we are back to the waiting game……Waiting for parts….Waiting for weather…..Bit of déjà vu, oui?

So immobilized here off the MaiKai Marina, and starting to feel a bit of ennui set in, we’ve occupied ourselves with the end of the Heiva and diving.  The diving outside the reef was so-so, as the coral was in very poor condition.  The cyclone they experienced several years ago was a bit like a bomb going off in the coral, as there were 10 meter breaking seas crashing into it, but, you can see that recovery is taking place, albeit very slowly.  Interestingly, the fish life was very good, with a great variety of reef fish and many juveniles in evidence.  There were also more sicklefin lemon sharks diving with us, but they did not get (quite) as close as the ones in Moorea did.  All in all, we enjoyed the dive, but were really looking forward to the second dive, as it was inside the lagoon at the Manta cleaning station. 

And we were not disappointed!  In the lagoon, the coral was quite lovely and alive, and the fish were many and varied, but the real stars of the show were the Mantas.   Beautiful Manta Rays drifted around us as we watched motionless, suspended in 50’ of warm saltwater.  We saw various sizes, from smallish to several that were quite large, probably 10’-15’ across, wingtip to wingtip.  We watched, being as still and quiet as we could, and allowed the Mantas to swim towards us.  As they slowly passed and moved away, we would continue our tour of the reef and fish until we spotted them coming back our way, and then we would once again stop and remain stationary, silently watching them approach us.  It was a very cool dive and well worth it!  It appears to me the divemasters here have done a good job of respecting the rays as the animals approached quite closely, apparently unafraid of being harassed.  In fact, I read that the research on the rays has been on-going for some years, and the scientific and diving communities have a united and vested interest in keeping them content in the lagoon.  Interestingly, the various dive shops have all agreed to dive the site only in the morning hours and leave the Mantas to themselves and unstressed in the afternoons….Very heartening, indeed!

We also celebrated Bastille Day yesterday by being asked to join in the local parade with the MaiKai Marina team.  So, per their request, all us cruisers dressed up in our best pirate attire and paraded past the dignitaries in the grandstand, displaying pirate scowls and aarrgggg-ing our hearts out….Yes, you may think we have lost it a tich, but the locals loved it and we got many thumbs ups and smiles from them….The parade was followed by a potluck and the usual pirate debauchery at the MaiKai…. J

Bastille Day Parade in Bora…

Pirates from the MaiKai on parade!

Pirate plundering the ATM!

So, what else do pirates, sailors, and cruisers do while passing time in the South Pacific??  Come on….You know this!  Of course you do!! 

They get tattoos!!  Really….It’s a time-honored tradition that goes back to the first arrival of Captain Cook and his crew in O’Tahiti.  They were enamored with the intricate tattoos that the Marquesans and Polynesians sported, and promptly requested that their hosts tattoo them as well.  In fact, “tattoo” is one of the many Polynesian words that have been adopted in the English language….

So, John and I had talked about it and thought we might get a tattoo while in the Marquesas to commemorate our Pacific crossing.  But, we just couldn’t decide where on our bodies we wanted to put the tattoo (I mean, really, at my age where do you put a tattoo that won’t sag??), we couldn’t decide what sort of tattoo we wanted, and honestly, just weren’t really in the right mood…It seemed the timing was all wrong.  So, we let it slide, and I’d bring it up again and we’d both waiver in indecision.  Remember in my last blog I mentioned the crossroads of cruisers?  Well, it has given me an opportunity to admire many other cruisers’ tattoos, and sure enough I developed tattoo regret.  Lamenting to Nicole (s/v Bella Star) and Cindy (s/v Bravo), who by the way both sport really cool tattoos, that I’d missed my opportunity and was a bit sad about it, they assured me that there was a well- known artist right here on Bora Bora.

Meet Marama….Quite the artist!!

And that’s how just this morning, with John in tow, I ended up at Marama’s Tattoo, getting my Polynesian tattoo….No kidding….I did it!  And what’s more, while we were there, John saw a very cool tattoo in a book of Marama’s work and got one also….True story!!  Marama did a really great job, and both of our tattoos are totally unique and very special to us!

Under the needle…Whoa, baby! That smarts!

You did know that needles are involoved, right, honey??

What do you think? I love it!!

And wow…who knew?  We really, really like our tats!!  J  They are both very cool, as they both have meaning and tell a story.  Mine tells the story of our cruising and voyaging, and includes the symbols for the journey, the moon, the Southern Cross, the sea, and whales.  It even has the symbol for the Polynesian protector of those who venture across the ocean. 

Traditional Polynesian tattoo with much meaning… Very cool, Captain!!

John’s is a traditional Polynesian fish hook, with the Tiki representing power and strength, a shark (John says it’s a happy shark, as he didn’t want a mad shark! J ), the symbols for longevity and health, and finally the Polynesian protector.

And yes, I can just hear what our kids are saying!  But really, guys…We figure it’s okay for us, since we (hopefully!) don’t have to worry about getting hired on anywhere in the future, and since we don’t have that much time ahead of us anyway to get tired of it! J  And no, by the way, don’t worry, we are not losing it (yet), and yes, it really, really hurt!

In any event, we are both very happy that we finally got it done!  It’s something that we’ll carry with us always to remember our special journey across the largest portion of the Pacific Ocean, and as we move westward out of these very special islands, we’ll also carry a bit of Polynesia and her lovely people with us!

UPDATE July 17….Oh happy, happy day!!  Late on Monday afternoon, Coralie emailed us that our part would ship out of Papeete Tuesday morning.  Sure enough, John picked up the part at 9:30 yesterday morning, and we had it installed, bled, and tested by 4:00.  Quick showers, happy hour at the MaiKai with other cruisers and then a celebratory dinner at the restaurant with Bravo and Bella Star.  LIVVG!!  Still we wait on weather, but now can at least move about to another anchorage and relax before we take off for Suwarrow…