Back in Moorea

After an extended period in Les iles sous le vent (aka the leeward islands) of Raiatea, Bora Bora and Tahaa we are now back in Moorea. We also have a guest onboard and another guest coming next week. We're moving back and forth between Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay for a change of scenery and access to either Sylesie's patisserie, or the great snorkeling near the northwest corner of the island.

The weather has been much more unsettled this year with longer periods of rain and a steady series of lows passing to the south. Yesterday was flat calm, absolutely glassy, as a huge low to the south pushed back on the trade winds. We took advantage of the conditions to make the long trip by dinghy to the northwest corner of Moorea, across from the Intercontinental Resort, and snorkel with the sting rays and black tip reef sharks.

Then when the area became too crowded with hotel guests on jet skis, tour boats, kayaks and even paddle boats, we swam out towards the reef and enjoyed the tropical fish in the coral. This photo shows a bit of everything with two sharks, a sting ray, and even a remora tucked under the shark in the foreground. All these fish were in about 5'-6' of water as you can tell from the reflections off the surface.

Today that big low has not only pushed back the trades, we have about 15kts of wind out of the west which is fairly unusual. As the low passes the wind will back into the southwest, then the south and finally the south west trades are forecast to return Thursday or Friday.

Our current guest will leave on Saturday as our next guest arrives. Then in about two weeks, Dan (whom we met in the Marquesas) will arrive and a few days later Fay will return to San Francisco. Dan will be my crew for the Hawaii leg of the trip to San Francisco..