Tuesday, June 17, 2008

On the reef!

No, not literally....well not quite anyway! Today we moved out of Cooks Bay to a spot just inside the pass through the reef; just off to the side as you enter the bay. Unlike the end of the bay where we have been anchored for a week now, the water here is crystal clear and has that beautiful turquoise colour you expect in these kinds of places.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, yesterday we rented a car and drove around Moorea and this morning after coffee; we hiked up the road and around the point to visit the 'juice factory'! They have a large production processing plant where they make pineapple, coconut, papaya, orange, banana and various blends of juices. They also make some with booze in them and have a sampling bar.....so we hiked up to check it out. It was very touristy and in fact as we tried to get near the bar to have a sample,
we would be overwhelmed by a truckload of folks fresh off the cruise ship anchored in the next bay! But we had a nice walk and when we returned to Toketie, it felt like time for a change so we dragged the anchor out of the mud...with great resistance...must have been those 40+ knot gusts....and moved to the head of the bay.
Completely different world out here! After setting the hook in the deep part, we backed down onto the sandy surface inside the reef. Here it is only about 10-12 feet deep but our anchor is over the hill into the deep part so we should hold ok...as long as the wind keeps blowing from the bay! The winds seem to have settled down finally and the forecast is for light wind tomorrow. We are hoping for a quiet night!
On arriving at the new anchorage on the reef shelf, we immediately donned snorkelling gear and jumped into the water! The plan was to scrub the waterline, which we accomplished, but with many distractions as we swam off to view the stingrays and other sea creatures around us!
Much more relaxing out here!

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