Bora Bora

We woke up in Raiatea to a calm morning. We had waited for two days for the wind to die down a bit and now we were ready to make the sail. I was a little bit worried, considering my last ocean trek, but I popped a Dramamine and secured my things, went on deck and drank it all in. What a day! Blue skies, calm breezes, gentle water. We approached the coral reef and soon went through the pass out into the ocean.

This day was a little more than sentimental for Jerry as it was his last day to sail Scotch Bonnet. He and Jock have owned this boat for 23 years. They first bought a boat together in 1969, when Jerry was a mere twenty-two years old and now their boat days together have come to an end. Jerry was set to continue the sail with Jock to Tonga and then to New Zealand, but after much thought and discussion, Jerry decided to leave the boat now and return to California to resume his business while Jock will continue on to New Zealand and sell the boat there. Jerry is done with this chapter and book of his life. So thankfully it was a beautiful last sail.

That evening we decided to go into town and eat dinner at the famous Bloody Mary’s! I read that it was a great place for fish, but the guys were worried it was going to be a dumb tourist trap. Well it was a little of both and we all thought it was great. It was a big thatched roof room with sand on the floor. The furniture was all natural wood stools and tables. You are invited to go to a big display of fish and meats on ice that is on the menu and you pick your entrée right then. It was all so fresh and delicious.

The next day Jerry cleaned out all of his things from the boat. He wrote his last log entry while Jock made breakfast and I packed. It was a pretty quiet morning filled with mixed emotions for both Jerry and Jock. We lowered our things into the dinghy and stacked our bags on the dock of the Bora Bora Yacht Club. I sat on a bench trying to finish Pitcairn Island while the two sailors made small talk as we waited for our boat taxi. Finally it came and we all hugged goodbye. Jock waved to us as we sped across the lagoon to a motu and eventually Jock and the boat were gone.

We arrived at the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort. What a change from our last month of adventures. This is a shallow, sandy motu with over the water bungalows. This is the perfect place to end our trip and reflect on all the fun I have had over the last month. The first thing we did after landing was jump into the crystal blue water and swim. Next, we hiked all around the motu, returned for some cocktails, dinner and then we sat on our porch overlooking the pacific and gazed at the sky full of stars.