Trying to Reason with Rainy Season

After spending the last 14 years in mostly the dry desert of Baja Mexico, we are now dealing with rain on a daily basis. Some times harder than others. We thought we we had all the leaks fixed, until the really hard rain. One night it dumped unbelievably. Sounded like we were under a waterfall!! A 100 year record was broken in Papeete January 22 with over 200mm (almost 8 inches) in one night! Dinghys that had been left overnight at the dock were almost completely filled with water!

We have sailed back and forth between Mo'orea and Tahiti several times now, depending on which direction the weather is supposed to come from. We are currently (Feb. 17, 2017) watching the second depression forming this season.

When the first one was scheduled to blow 35+ from the NW, we decided to head over to Mo'orea and hide in a Southerly anchorage.

This is what it looked like from Tahiti the day before. Squall is coming from the NW! And Mike is checking the anchor.

A wild looking cloud over the Intercontinental Resort which is to our North.

The sun makes amazing rays of light coming through the clouds.

And when it is raining on Tahiti and the sun is setting in the West, we often get a rainbow over the island. This one just happened to be complete and spectacular!

Sometimes even after the rain the most amazing sunsets show up!

These clouds over the resort turned fuchsia pink in the setting sun.

For the predicted depression, we sailed to Viarapa Bay on the very Southern tip of Mo'orea. Our friends on Calypso were anchored under this cloud in Viare Bay where the ferries normally land. But on this day they were canceled!

As we approach Viarapa it is raining pretty hard in the bay.

But again, the lighting from the sun and the rain can be spectacular!

From the South side we see a pinnacle rock, not normally seen from the North side.

The skies were black and a large tree is stuck on the reef.

This bay is protected from the West to the East through the North. This point is the Southern most tip of Mo'orea and you can see the lighthouse on the reef in the distance, with a black black sky behind.

It turned out to be perfect spot behind those big mountains. We saw 40 knots at the max. So with it over, we sailed back to Tahiti to finish our project. It was Chinese new years and the mall was duly decorated.

With nice weather forecast and wanting to find some dolphins playing,

And children on toys, in the shadows of Mount Rotui, we spent two lovely weeks with good weather over in D'Openeau bay on the North side of Mo'orea.

While we were there a bunch of fish made our prop and rudder crack into their homes.

As we cleaned the bottom of the boat (mowed the grass), several of these puffer fish came by to see what we had to eat.

I found this beautiful heart/bird shaped complete clam shell on the bottom in the sand.

One morning, unannounced, a strong squall came around the headland. It blew 30 knots and rained hard.

But luckily no one in the anchorage dragged and the waves were not too big because of the headland.

Once again amazing sunsets seem to follow. It was reflecting in our dorade vent.

It was time to sail back to Tahiti because some parts were ready to be picked up. But as we sailed past Cooks bay, a big gust came out at 30+ again and we were down to just the staysail.

Mike did not seem to concerned once we got the boat under control again.

It was Mr. Toad's wild ride as we rounded the corner of Mo'orea.

The wind out of the South was pumping again and the seas got a bit bumpy.

Several splashed right over the bow and onto the deck and dodger.

Finally about half way there it laid down and cleared up and Tahiti was in view.

The sunsets have been beautiful again.

And you can see Mo'orea in the distance again, not covered in rain.

Rainy season ends April 1^st!! (we hope!)

Dia de Los Muertos

November 1^st is Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico, but they also celebrate here in Polynesia. It is not quite the same, no festivals or big parties. But they do decorate the graves of their deceased. My friend Corinne McKittrick, who has recently retired from the Department of Tahitian Culture, took me around to see a few of the grave yards and beautiful flowers.

First stop was the Catholic graveyard. It is on a hill in Fa'a'a above the airport.

Many of the graves are white and have a sand covering.

The beautiful tropical flowers were so lovely.

This is a very old unknown grave, but still someone put a plant there.

Next stop was the downtown Papeete graveyard. This one is not of any particular religion, but many of the important historical figures are buried here.

Some of the gravestones go back to the 17 & 18 hundreds, like this one.

This was for some of the French military who were killed in the take over of the islands.

The gravestones is this yard vary in style tremendously depending on how much money the family has.

The flowers are still spectacular, even if they are not in a mausoleum.

This grave site is made in the style of a traditional marae. Apparently the man's wife died and he carried each of these stones on his bicycle to the graveyard and built it by hand himself. He is now buried in there with her. It was my favorite!

More white with raked sand and lovely flowers.

A big family grave made with pink marble.

Even the older gravestones are marked with flowers this day.

Many of the graves around the islands we have seen have rooftops built over them to keep the rain from eroding away the stones.

Women placing flowers on family graves.

This is Corinne's family, including her grandmother.

This guy obviously like to drink Hinano beer and must have been a fisherman or sailor.

The split leaf philodendron plant is lovely with the sand and other flowers.

This was the last King of Polynesia, so it is also somewhat like a marae.

The last two Queens were both named Pomare, but the princess is buried with her husbands family as well.

A big family marble covered gravestone. Notice on some they put a photo of the person above them. That is kind of nice.

This main graveyard is huge and we only saw part of it.

Marlin Brando's daughter was buried with her boyfriend's family.

Such a sad story. He was killed in a car accident before they got married and she could not live with out him, so she took her life. Mr. Brando ask special permission for the boyfriend's family to allow them to be buried together. He had several Polynesian wives and many children here after making the film the Bounty. This version of the Bounty seems to be the favorite of all the locals. (the film was made 3 times). Marlin Brando bought the atoll of Tetiaroa near Tahiti, which used to be the island of the King's family. The Pomare's bequeathed it to their dentist Dr. Williams, who was the British Consul to French Polynesia from 1916 to 1935. Marlin Brando bought it in 1965 and used it as his private family island until he died. He then gave it back to the Polynesian government. It is now a day trip tourist destination and you can take a catamaran there from the down town marina. Maybe we will someday, since there is no pass into the lagoon and no place to anchor.