Bora Bora
Tuesday, 28 May, 2025 | Moored off Bora Bora Yacht Club
The forecast wind was somewhat underestimated for our sail from Tahiti to Bora Bora. The sea state was also larger than expected, but nonetheless, the crew dug deep and we sailed our way through 20 hours to make landfall at 0800 yesterday.
The entrance to Bora Bora is very manageable, with a predicted outflowing current and in the lee of the prevailing winds and sea. We had planned to use a mooring buoy just off the Bora Bora Yacht Club, and there were plenty free when we arrived. As it transpires, anchoring is prohibited here and instead the Bora Bora mooring services manage five different sites, costing just the equivalent of $30 US per night.
The Bora Bora Yacht Club is a separate entity, but for a small fee allows dinghy dockage, showers, toilets, laundry, and rubbish disposal. The cost is subtracted from the bill if you choose to eat at the restaurant, which we did—and it was excellent.
Today the crew spent the morning ashore recovering from our fruity passage before a buffet lunch on board, then headed out to an organised snorkel safari. As I type this, I can hear them regaling tales of their adventure, which took them around the entire island and was seemingly a huge success for all.
Mary is prepping a dinner of fresh tuna steaks and new potatoes with salad as we make water and anticipate another spectacular sunset from Bora Bora.
- Emily
EmilyCaruso
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.