#58 NOW June 17, 2005 1810 Tahiti Time = UTC -10 hours Temperature 82 degrees, Wind calm Anchored in the Bay of Povai, Bora Bora (S16’31.6 W151’44.7) Greetings from Bora Bora, Few places in the world conjure up the romantic image of a tropical paradise more than the island of Bora Bora. Perhaps it is the double name. There is something about double names that just seems special. Actually, there is no “B” in Tahitian so Bora Bora is Pora Pora, meaning, “first born.” The island was discovered by the Dutch sailor Roggeveen in 1722 and visited by Captain Cook in 1769. During WW2, the Americans set up a huge shipping and airfield base to serve the war needs of the Pacific. Tomorrow we plan to take the 32 km bus tour around the island. This will be a nice change of pace and a great way to learn more about this lovely island. Sunday morning we are off on a 1272 mile run to American Samoa with a rest stop on the remote island of Suwarrow. Backing up, last Sunday we made an all night run from Moorea arriving on the island of Raiatea. Here we met up with Don Wilson, the Spectra watermaker representative. He came out to the boat and with the aid of some software; we were able to tweak the system a little and discussed the continuing problem of air getting into the system. I finally decided to use 3M 5200 sealant on all joints. That should be a very permanent fix, as I will have to cut the system apart to change anything. This should work unless the air is getting in through the filter housing which of course I cannot seal with 5200. The next morning we departed the marina and headed for the little town of Uturoa where we enjoyed a nice lunch (2 small salads and 1 order of French fries) for $20. It was nice walking around the town and checking out what was available and the unbelievable prices. After lunch we headed North and slowly circumnavigated the sister island of Tahaa. This island can be circumnavigated completely inside the reef, making it a real pleasure to cruise around in the protected waters. Along the way are many wonderful bays to anchor in with a reef nearby that provides great snorkeling or scuba diving. We ended up spending two nights anchored in Tapuamu Bay along with several other cruising sailboats. Thursday, several of us left Tapuamu Bay and under ideal cruising conditions (no wind) motored the 23 miles over to Bora Bora. One thing that has been very apparent is the lack of motor cruising vessels. Done Dreamin' creates quite a stir when I pull into a marina or anchorage. I have had more than one person ask if I cruised over here from the United States. I feel like telling them; no, I flew it over or some other dumb answer to their dumb question. I guess long range cruising in 40-foot motor vessels is still in its infancy. However, when they see all the comforts we have, they go away shaking their head deep in thought about their next boat. Life is a Cruise, Larry and Carol Larry Rick Done Dreamin' Nordhavn 40 #33 Site: http://gricknet.homedns.org/ Email: <mailto:donedream@pacbell.net>donedream@pacbell.net