Sailing into Bora Bora is amazing, really. It’s just another one of those iconic places. The kind of place a well-heeled tourist can fly into, but to sail here in your own home is a vastly different experience. My mom and brother were two of those well-heeled tourists twenty years ago when they visited us here. We laughed at some of our memories from that trip, like taking my mom snorkeling for the first time in her life, and trying to boost my brother back into the dinghy after a swim. We called my mom to tell her where we were and the excitement in her voice remembering that trip was obvious. We wish she could have come along again.
We’d seen some dive moorings just on the outside of the reef as we were approaching the pass the day before and decided to grab our gear to go check it out. There were two dive boats out on different moorings there when we arrived. While gearing up we could see a bunch of blacktips circling around us, and when we jumped in there were probably a dozen or so nearby. They quickly swung over to check us out and then moved on.
Bit of a boring dive, really, but it was good to check out our new regulators. Everyone was happy with their gear.
Reef sharks, but they weren’t bothering to swim around the reefs.
When we arrived back at the dinghy at the end of the dive we found a tour boat had joined us on the mooring. The tourists were all snorkeling, which seemed weird considering the depth was around 50′ and it would be a very uninteresting spot for snorkeling. That’s when it finally dawned on me that these boats were here just to chum the waters and get sharks to swim around with the tourists. I didn’t see them actually chumming, but they had obviously done something here through the years to make reef sharks so eager to circle their boats. I can only assume these small blacktips weren’t there to eat tourists.
Turns out this would be the story all over Bora Bora. It’s sort of like an aquarium without the glass walls. Admission fees were no doubt much higher for a tour boat than they would be for an aquarium, though.
We had cut our dive short since there wasn’t much to see. That left me with plenty of air to clean the bottom of the boat. It’s been about 15 months now since we had the bottom painted. I was happy to find that there were no barnacles. I gave it a super light wipe down, cleared off a tiny bit of grass, but otherwise didn’t have to do anything.
This has to be one of the best dinghy docks anywhere.
Just a block down the street from the dock is the Chin Lee. The place has everything (except our coveted refried beans).
Locals were buying up these doughy balls stuffed with a sort of BBQ chicken. Worked for me, though I’d have loved it if that dough was thrown in a deep fryer, and it was magically converted into an empanada.
Most fruits and veg were available in the store, but there were a few things on the street as well. We’d already spent our very last francs, though, and were confined to credit card purchases in the stores unless we wanted to get cash and play the “spend every last dime” game again.
Sharing the anchorage with friends.
See, I do have a shirt with a collar. And I really do work and sail around the world at the same time.
The color of the sky and the sea was absolutely bonkers this night.
The kids still had at least a 30-minute dive’s worth of air left in their tanks, so I took them to a nearby shelf at around forty feet and let them drop in for their first dive without an adult leading the way. Granted, I was snorkeling above them and was within easy freediving range, but for all intents and purposes they were on their own. Spotted a turtle.
Lowe had a blister on his foot so he ditched one of the fins as the two of them hung out down in the sand. It was great to watch them from above, observe how comfortable they were, and see them communicate and manage their air together. I’m proud of them and their diving skill at such a young age.
15 Comments on “Bora Bora”
Really enjoying watching your children grow up! You are doing a great job of “growing them”! Regarding the refried beans. I have often made my own from dried beans. Refried beans are not really refried. They are boiled and mashed. Lots of recipes on line. Not difficult to do.
Bora Bora was an amazing place. So glad that I had the opportunity to go there. Must be awesome on your own boat.
Love keeping up with your adventures.
I can second that. In fact, we often make “refried” beans from a can of beans. Of course you can mash them and fry them in a skillet too. 🙂 Want to try a different flavor? Mash, and fry if you want, some ranch style beans, or chili beans. 😉
Gorgeous. Now, how can diving with black tips ever be boring, lol? But, aren’t you even going to mention your new hairdo? Is that an Ali-special or an actual barber shop in Bora Bora? Great to see the kids so comfortable diving–such a great skill to have. So many great places to dive in the world–maybe you’ll get over to Palau and dive with the hammerhead sharks. Very cool! Or diving in the Solomons is also great!
**** I’m proud of them and their diving skill at such a young age.****
Parental teaching and trust are best. — 2 wonderful kids from A #one Mom and Dad!!
LUCY! Beware of lightening bolts! Refried beans are cooked beans that are then fried. Traditional refried are easy to make and much better than store/cafe bought boiled mashed beans. My recipe is chop up 4-5 strips of bacon. Fry up in a cast iron skillet. When about 1/2 cooked crisp add half a chopped onion. Finish browning/rendering and add red/pinto beans cooked (pressure canned but stove top is OK or even store bought whole red beans) with…bacon! Mash well and turn frequently, adding you guessed it, more bacon grease as needed. Honestly you can use plain fats like olive or veg oil, but ONLY if you got no bacon, otherwise blaspheme. When the moisture (steam) is nearly cooked out they are ready about 15-20 minutes on stove dial 5-6. They thicken when cooling. Make Migas or sunny side up eggs with two or three strips of……bacon. Can you tell I like bacon? A nurse that worked for me was from Mexico. Her mother kept me in beans, green sauce (so hot it would make your eyebrows fall off) tortillas and tamales. She also fed half the kids in their neighborhood every morning- she was one of the best Abuela I ever met. This was her bean recipe minus the cooked onion. She added raw onion on top after cooking. Give it a try and see the difference.
Yeah if you can whip the stock market you can make your own refrieds.. Maybe there’s no bags of pinto beans to be had in paradise?
I really like Scubapro gear.
Lowe and Ouest look like experienced divers in the pictures. I too am glad to hear they are communicating often and managing the dive well.
If Lowe (and any diver or snorkeler for that matter), were wearing strap-on fins vs. slip-ons, I would suggest wearing a bootie first. Lowe might be able to wear a neoprene sock over his feet before putting on the slip-ons (above the ankle will be better). That will prevent blisters and keep you diving. You might already have a solution though. 🙂
That is FANTASTIC!
Patrick, pardon the boat geek question, but what bottom paint did you use? We are hauling out in La Cruz in December for painting and I’d love to get the result you have gotten.
I can’t remember the name. But since you are hauling out there (same place we did ours), ask Peter (he’s the yard guy, ask anyone who he is). He gave me 3 choices for bottom paint. Cheap, medium, and super expensive. I went with the medium. He seemed confident it would give me at least three years. We’ll see. So far so good. Also used a special paint on the saildrives. Can’t remember what that is called, either. Sorry.
Cool hair-do Pat!! Kudos to t he kids and their diving..it’s a great skill to have with your lifestyle….Would love to see Bora Bora someday…..Take care!!
The doughy balls are “Bao” pow (Trinidad)..steamed and stuffed chinese dumplings.. Probably the first thing our local chinese sell us and we grow up on them (insert place with 20th century Chinese immigrants)..and charsiukai pork is one of the meats
That sunset was magnificent! I can’t remember what you do for internet to be able to run your business in such exotic ports of call? Bora Bora looks stunning, and that grocery store better stocked than anything I’ve seen on any island, ever.
Can you still tour the islands even though you are checked out?
Technically, no.