So it seems such a long time ago (last Tuesday ) that we left Bora Bora -
for the 700 mile leg to Suwarrow, and are thus finally out of French
Polynesia and into the Cook Islands ( Named after Thomas Cook – the well
know travel company !) – the first of these is Suwarrow – a very remote Atol
- often seen as the ultimate remote desert island – nearest populated
Island 500 miles – It is now a National Park with one resident family/
caretaker ( who’s very friendly – if somewhat obsessed about us not swimming
with sharks .. The Islands most famous resident was Tom Neale who wrote ” an
Island to Oneself” and lived here for circa 15 years.-

The trip down was not so exciting as we motored about 1/3 of the way, and
had 10 -15 knts downwind for the remainder . – thankfully we arrived in
daylight – not a pass to be attempted at night ! Again we were the first
boat to finish – although this time we had Mandy Parker from World Cruising
on board as a guest ( in part because there is no other way of getting to
the island ) so we had no difficulty in raising the WARC official on
crossing the finish line.

Within 24 hours we were joined by 3 other boats – which makes the place
start to look crowded ! but after some fantastic snorkelling ( some say the
best since the Tuomotus – excluding passes) – we headed for the beach where
we helped with some post cyclone clean up and in turn had a fun Bar-b-q -
with international Boules competition – ( England, Italy, Canada , Ireland
and Suwarrow) – Ireland beat Suwarrow – in case the papers don’t report this
! )

So next we leave for Niue the worlds smallest independent nation – (although
supported by New Zealand) at 100 sq miles it is the largest raised coral
island in the world – more reports to follow

After a lengthy Stewards’ Enquiry, Cleone was confirmed as the clear winners
of the Paddy’s Day Quiz.

The Irish Cultural Attaché ( NOD) hailed Cleone as the outright winner of
the St Patrick’s Day Quiz at last night’s World ARC Celebrations in Bora
Bora. “Incisive intellectual rigour coupled with super accurate key-board
work and subject matter focus, set Cleone’s entry in a class of its own”, he
said. “And they knew the rules and stuck to them”. He refused to be drawn
further on this subject, but the word is that complaints followed by legal
representations delayed confirmation of the results. Cleone’s Spokesperson
– the Senior Egghead – also refused to comment, but he said “We are
delighted. We knew we had them from the first question; we crushed the rest
of them. Before tackling the Quiz, the team trained for 20 minutes in
seclusion, drinking Guiness at low altitude and concentrating on Irish
Thought Transfer and Keyboard Control”. Meanwhile, no one from Quasar V was
available for comment, but a statement issued through Sharks, Shafters &
Sheisters, the well-known firm of Quiz Lawyers, said simply “We woz robbed”..

Resplendant in their K8 hat and T shirts, this morning Cleone’s crew were
given an ecstatic ticker-tape reception as they reviewed the ARC Fleet in a
vintage open-topped dinghy.

And our thanks to Nick and all of K8 for organising the quiz, for making it
such fun and for providing such generous prizes.

James, Chris, Elizabeth and Will
Yacht Cleone
Bora Bora
Society Islands=

So firmly in cruising mode we arrived in Raiatea ( hidden French Polynesia) – for a quick run ashore to see the sights , get fresh bread and were back on board by 11.00 to head to Tahaa – a beautiful islands surrounded by the same reef as Raiatea and ringed by little Motu ( islands without a hill/ mountain – where nothing is higher then a palm tree !) – some of which have been taken over and turned into luxuary resorts – but we have no need for Lux resorts as we are on the nicest Holliday resort of them all .. ..K8

Lots of fun and games with our blow up toys – yes we did get them all out – Water skiing , canoeing and high speed rides in the donut – have managed to tire everyone out – with Rebecca teaching us all to water ski properly, A little light fishing with Rebecca managing to hook a big one , ( est 56lbs) similar to a large rock fish , sadly it got away and we were lucky to get any line back at all ! – to console ourselves for our loss we broke out some fresh New Zealand lamb and headed for a tiny Motu which we took over and set on fire – well we had a great Bar-B-Q, and cleaned up some of the beach courtesy of Jens & Adrian’s legendry outdoor cooking skills – coconuts and palm leaves make great fire – all with chilled drinks looking out to huge bay with only K8, lit up like a Christmas tree – celebrating 100 days since the start of the World Arc in January – hard to believe we have come this far.

After 2 days of such activity we needed a rest and found the most idyllic bar/ restaurant on the shore with a picture perfect view of Bora Bora – where we had to rustle up the owner Louise – who with great aplomb happily served us cocktails as we watched the sun go down over the most famous island in the south pacific.

After more water sports ,including Rebecca demonstrating how to mono ski! we finally set off for a pleasant day sail , checking out the new heavy weather spinnaker, and sealing a genuine message in a bottle we barrelled down to Bora Bora – the place of legends – ( and overweight Americana) ,to a fun night ashore as Rosie managed to get a booking in Bloody Mary’s –( think Pier View in Cowes , Soggy Dollar in BVI’s Ads in Antigua) – this is place for sailors – ( thanks David & Diana for dinner) – it is a unique format where you order your food prior to sitting down – ( we’d only seen in that well known Scottish restaurant that spans the world) .

Now peacefully at anchor , where the only disturbance is either a passing honeymooning couple on jet skies , or the neighbours taking off and landing with the helicopter from their aft deck !

Apologies to all for the lack of reports in recent days – we have simply been having too much fun in the South Pacific! Rosie & Nick got engaged on Rosie’s Birthday – he even had a ring! (Been hidden away onboard since St Lucia apparently) – so followed a lovely evening champagne dinner and birthday/engagement cake -

Diana & Rebecca arrived safely without delay and with their all important baggage , containing all sorts of boat goodies ( including new fleet 33 dome J ,and new fruit cake form David’s Mum, just in time as the last one was just been finished and thus we set off from Tahiti for what was planned to be some picture book cruising – skipping the WARC rendezvous at the town quay.

First Moorea to Opunohu Bay – much nicer then Cooks Bay , shared only with Maltese Falcon –( seems to be following us around) – and briefly a huge cruise ship – Lovely clear water , good snorkelling , lots of Rays and some sharks in shallow water, and lots to explore including an evening at Tiki Village also easy access to Papetoai – a good place to start island tours We went with Albert Tours – Albert very informative about local life as well as the visiting ships We started off at an innocuous inland stream but on producing a tin of mackerel, he was surrounded by 3 large fresh water eels.Apparently they had blue eyes but we didn’t get that close to see! Onwards and inland to Belvedere- spectacular views of both bays. Visited Marae (take your mosquito spray) where they used to sacrifice males to feed the village and keep the skulls inside the temple as momentoes, agricultural school to learn about all the fruit they grow, especially pineapples and sample freshly squeezed juice and marmalade. Further inland we stopped at the heart of the volcano for more great views – where they filmed The Bounty with Mel Gibson. En route back one further stop at a place to sample the local tipples – variations on coconut/ pineapple liquers.

Briefly to Cooks Bay which seems positively crowded – mostly with BWR ( blue water rally) yachts – so with the onset of rain we decided to head off for the overnight 90 mile leg to Huahine – a great island with lots of anchorages as the reef circles a lot of the island – again clear water – not so much fish activity – and wait for it…. 2 days of solid rain, with squalls of up to 40 knots – so we will remember this place for different reasons – that said Fare is a nice small village, as ever filled with friendly locals ( great supermarket – looked cheaper then Carrefore ! – Post office for stamps and postcard for the traditional writers ) – if somewhat geared up to the cruise ship business ( there were none in port while we were there ) although a great little beach restaurant, Te Marara where we had a wonderful fish lunch, we got to raid the games locker and eat like kings courtesy of Jens magic in the kitchen and we got to use our newly fixed washing machine (well done Adrian – no more $100 laundry bills!) And view some our newly acquires DVD’s along with some old favourites..(How can you not like “The Breakfast Club”??? ) – we would have stayed longer but looking at the weather, figured if the unsettled phase did not pass we needed to have more options on land – and frankly after 2 days of rain it felt a little like a wet Sunday in Yarmouth

So after card games, dice and rain watching – we finally pushed off to head for Raiatea, as we left the sun came up for what looks like a lovely day – so maybe it was not meant to be – we all feel sad for Diana & Rebecca – to travel over halfway round the world and get 2 days of rain – who would have believed it – some say they bought the British weather with them.

We are now focused on landing big fish so Rebecca can outdo her husband Mark who could not join us and upping the fun factor: so out with the toys, doughnuts & water skies.