ADIEU TAHAA
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| The small town of Haamene has become a welcome sight |
Haamene Bay - April 12, 2015
3 mooring balls – Town dock
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| Behind the palm trees, our friends Marcel and Helene watch us moor. If no mooring available, this is also a very good holding anchorage |
NOTE _ Mooring balls have also been installed on the west side of Taha, possibly Hurepiti or Vaiorea Bay, but not at the coral garden. You still have to anchor SOUTH of the coral garden.
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| Haamene Bay - Our favorite hurricane hole in the Society Islands |
With another storm system coming our way and 35-40kt wind forecast, we seeked shelter once more; this time, in the deep Haamene Bay. To our great surprise –and delight—3 mooring balls have appeared close to town!
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| The red roof of Haamene's church is a hallmark. The little ice house to the right is where Marcel hangs out every morning at 6 AM The library is just behind the ice house. Do-mini at the town dock. |
Tahaa is investing heavily in making its bays more attractive to the cruiser. The new boardwalk is almost finished and the library (located behind the ice house) is happy to lend books to cruisers… and accepts books as well!
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| Every morning, JP takes Do-mini to town for fresh baguette |
Our friends Marcel and Helene who run the ice house greeted us with smiles and shell necklaces: no hiding from them since we were moored right in front of their house! We decided to take them for a farewell picnic at Motu Mahaea.
Motu Mahaea - 16°38.327S - 151°25.6 W
Motu Mahaea is the islet bording the northern end of Pass Toahotu. North of that motu is a very large shallow anchoring in good sand. Just make sure you don’t anchor in the path of the seaplane track, although we’ve never seen a seaplane around here, it could happen…
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| Can you say, "blue water anchorage?" |
It’s a lovely place for a picnic, kayaking and just fooling around in the water, and a respite from the bay where the water is always murky.
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| Amethyst Olive |
Our friends and their motuas (granddaughters) enjoyed the day, and Marcel even found some nice shells: marlinspikes and turrids and even a splendid Amethyst Olive.
After a last trip to buy vanilla, it was soon time to say goodbye and it was with heavy hearts, though loaded with grapefruits, coconuts and bananas, that we kissed our friends Nana.
Adieu, beautiful Tahaa… next stop: Raiatea.
Until then…
dominomarie