The Voyage of Spectacle

After a very comfortable night in Haamene Bay, we planned our day over coffee and blueberry muffins:  head north to the next bay up, pick up a mooring ball at the Motu Pearl Farm, take their highly recommended tour, continue up over the north side of the island, anchor on the west side of the island near the shi-shi hotel, Le Taha’a, and have dinner at their fanciest restaurant.  Is that a day, or is that a day?

The short thirty-minute motor over to the next bay was uneventful, and we easily picked up a mooring ball (properly appointed with smaller loop to grab with the fish gaffe sans boat hook).  The Motu Pearl Farm is almost as charming and lovely as its hosts.  We received a wonderful tutorial on pearl farming which was absolutely fascinating.  This outfit alone in this particular bat has over 10,000 oysters in various stages of pearl production. 

We left the Pearl Farm and exited the bay to go up and over the north side of the island.  It was a very beautiful afternoon with sparkling blue water, small motus covered in palm trees, and views of Huahine and Raiatea in the distance.  We rounded the corner and once again ran into the Maltese Falcon. 

Taha’a is home to one super fancy hotel which happens to be the only Relais and Chateaux member in all of French Polynesia, which is really saying something.  We have been excited to see Le Taha’a for quite some time!  We dropped an anchor in proximity to several other boats, and I jumped in the dinghy to go to the hotel and make dinner reservations.

As I was tying off to the hotel’s pier, I looked up to find a security guard in quite the official uniform literally sprinting down the dock towards me to cut me off.  Here’s the conversation:

Guard:  Bon Jour, Mademoiselle.  Can I help you?

Melissa:  Why yes!  I would love to check out the hotel and make reservations for dinner.

Guard:  I’m sorry, Mademoiselle.  The hotel is completely booked.

Melissa:  Okay, but I just want dinner reservations for two people at, say, 8 o’clock.

Guard:  No, I’m sorry, but the hotel is very full so there are no reservations for dinner.

Melissa:  So, I can’t have dinner here unless I’m staying here?

Guard:  That’s right, we’re very full.

Melissa:  Can I have one drink at the bar at sunset?

Guard:  No, Mademoiselle.

Well, that’s what we in the business call a swift kick in the ass.  Boat rats suffer discrimination fairly frequently, but this was the worst.  I was also seeking information about a snorkeling site called the Coral Garden which we’ve heard about from other people, but have been unable to find in any of our guide books.  So I asked the guard who informed me that the Coral Garden is located between the hotel’s motu, and the neighboring motu.  When I asked if there was a suitable place to tie up the dinghy over there, he said:

Guard:  Yes, but not on this side because it belongs to the hotel, and we’re very full.

Melissa:  OKAY!  I get it!  Sheesh!  Believe me … I will never bother your hotel again!

On the upside, sans dinner reservations, we had plenty of time to hit the Coral Garden which was quite neat.  We grabbed our masks and snorkels, scuba gloves and boots, and tied the dinghy to a palm tree.  Then we walked the motu to the ocean side, and hopped in.  The tide brings you in while you skim over beautiful coral, fish, shellfish, and sea urchins sometimes with only a few inches of clearance.  It was a very neat experience.  Returning in the dinghy, we went aground twice and bumped the outboard propeller on coral once.  Oopsie!

Denied dinner and happy hour, we decided to peace out the anchorage and head back over the Taravana yacht club since mooring balls would surely be available the day after the big fiesta.  I assumed my position on the bow of boat and started to take in the anchor rode.  Since the boat swings around a lot, it’s important to drive the boat towards the direction of the chain while taking in the chain.  Otherwise, the windlass is working hard enough to pull up the heavy chain and anchor, and it will be overly stressed if it’s forced to simultaneously pull the boat towards the anchor.  Free of the bottom, the anchor came into clear view in probably 30 feet of water, and it looked a little strange.  As it came closer, I figured that it had scooped up a bunch of dirt that I could wash off at the surface.  But then, it looked really weird.  Apparently, we dropped the anchor in a coral head, a huge piece cracked off, and was wedged in the scoop of the anchor.  This was our first major environmental snafu, so I don’t feel too badly about it.  Ugh.

We arrived at Taravana to find plenty of mooring balls available.  I called in to make a reservation, and what unbelievable bad luck we have … the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  As such, we will head back to Bora Bora tomorrow forgoing the infamous gourmet restaurant at Taravana.  At least there’s wifi here.