Huahine: Paradise Found

We departed the Apataki Carenage at first light on Saturday, May 14th in a blinding rainstorm. I was very reluctant to leave so early when it would tough to spot the bommies and pearl farm buoys in the water. Luckily we had marked the buoy locations on our electronic charts on the way in and we used our new SAS Planet software (shows Google Earth photos) to spot the larger bommies. 

We were pleasantly surprised by slack water when we arrived at the Apataki's South Pass instead of 3 to 4-knots of current against us that was predicted.

We needed to leave early so we could transit the South Pass as close to slack water as possible, which was scheduled for 6:30 am. We arrived at around 8:15 am expecting a three- to four-knot flood but were pleasantly surprised with slack water. Maybe all the water pouring into the atoll over the last two weeks needed to go out and delayed the flood current. We’ll take it anyway we can get it.

We began the long 589-mile passage to Huahine in the Leeward Islands with squally southeasterly winds. Luckily the dark grey squalls were mainly rain with manageable wind not requiring any sail adjustments, but later in the day when the wind died we would have welcomed some squalls. In the lighter winds we had to sail a lower course that would take us 90 degrees south of our destination — not good. We had many sail changes from wing-on-wing to a poled out genoa on a light wind beam reach. When combined with the heavy cross swell we were averaging only four knots. The continuing “wapping” of the sails as the waves rocked the boat nearly drove both of us nuts. 

As you can see, we're headed about 80 degrees south of where we wanted to go ( the red line to the left of the boat). That's Tahiti in the bottom left corner and our destination of Huahine in the upper left).

On Sunday night we were headed so high the other direction (now towards Tahiti) we were almost going backwards so we decided to do my least favorite activity, a complete rig change from wing-on-wing to a jib set in the dark. We’d now done it so many times it went better that I anticipated, but we are both still very tired with the frequent course and sail changes. Luckily a squall system behind us provided some much needed wind and we made good progress on our rhumb line at six to seven knots throughout the night.

Huahine exemplifies everything a cruiser wants in a tropical island.

 Monday found us with light winds again so we bit the bullet and motor sailed most of the day so we would get in to Huahine by afternoon. I am always trepidatious about entering new islands but Huahine proved to be very easy with a wide, well defined pass. Two beautiful surfing waves famed the northern Avamoa Pass and we first looked for mooring buoys along the city shore but ended up anchoring on a sandy plateau behind the reef. The problem was we were very tired and I could feel the anchor skipping on the hard coral bottom as we tried to set it. I finally got my snorkel gear on and checked the anchor, finding it was not set but just up against a piece of coral. I debated about just leaving it as it was getting dark, but luckily the crew from Huzzah came over and showed us a better place to anchor where we got a good bite in some soft sand. Thank you Huzzah for giving us a peaceful night’s sleep.

Huahine is in the Leeward Islands about 100 miles northwest of Tahiti. It’s is nestled together with Taah’a/Raiatea and Bora Bora forming the Golden Triangle of tropical cruising. Cruisers from all over the world come to Raiatea to charter huge cats and cruise the island group. It’s a different group of sailors with 1-2 weeks to see it all so they seem in a hurry, sometimes have limited boating experience, and they know how to party. We are more accustomed to full-time cruising boats as neighbors and usually get to know the boats in the anchorage. 

You can see a bit of our anchor chain leading to our securely buried anchor. We are in about 14 ft of water.

Where we are anchored we can see our anchor in the crystal clear water underneath the boat in about 12 feet of water. Large mountain peaks shelter us from the prevailing easterly to south easterly trade winds and a huge reef protects us from the west. It’s about as perfect as you get in blue water cruising. For every sailor who has sat in front of a computer screen bored to tears at work, this is what you dream about and here we are.

Boats anchored right off the Hauhine Yacht Club (which is really just a bar).

Adding to the perfection is fairly fast Internet (accessible from the boat), a huge, well stocked grocery store, lots of cool shops, and a seaside bar with a great Happy Hour. Nothing could be finer that Huahine on a clear day.

From L to R: Ken, Walter, Gerry, Fred, Lili, and Steve

We ended up meeting the crew of Huzzah, Gerry, Ken and Fred at the Huahine Yacht Club for dinner. Sitting there sipping cold Hinano beers and watching another incredible sunset I began to realize that all the sacrifice, risk, and hard work getting the boat ready was all for this moment. As I tell Meryl, you got to go through a lot of tough days to get the perfect ones like this. The fresh tuna (thon in French) with a vanilla sauce made from locally grown vanilla was to die for (as the Valley Girls say).

The next day we went into the Super Marche and marveled at the breath and selection of foods, many of which we hadn’t seen since Tahiti last year. We stocked up on all our favorites, as well as the rare fresh fruits and vegetables (Meryl hadn’t seen broccoli for over a year in a store). As usual we had trouble just carrying it down to the dingy dock. 

We ran into Steve and Lili off of LiWard outside the grocery store. I had talked with Steve on the net but never met him in person. He mentioned he would be playing at the Yacht Club the next night and he reserved a couple of tables for us and his other friends. Sitting with the crew from Huzzah and Lili we throughly enjoyed a wide rendition of songs from Steve and his fellow musicians, singing everything from Jimmy Buffet to The Stones. What a great night with friends!

A perfect end to a perfect day.