Good, Bad and Ugly

After a rainy week with our guests getting to Bora Bora, the sun reappeared right after their departure…figures. A couple of other boats wanted to hike to the top of the peak on Bora Bora. We excitedly agreed not exactly knowing what we were getting into. The tourist center said we needed a guide, but no one in the group was up for paying a guide to take us up there. From the looks of it, we were going to have to climb a mountain, and that’s just what we did as it was over 2000 vertical feet.

We started the hike following a dirt road that led to a well marked trail. Because it had been raining all week, there was quite a bit of mud but not enough to deter us. However, as we started to ascend, the trail became more of a climb. Using hands and feet, looking for ledges to step on and tree branches to grab onto, we had to pull ourselves up higher and higher. Soon, the need for ropes was apparent, and luckily some hefty ones had been left in the appropriate places. The climb got more and more challenging as we went. Toward the top, we had to pull ourselves up using a rope on an almost vertical (or so it felt like) slick wall with only minimal foot holds. The guys with their long legs had a much easier time with it than I did. There were more than a few occasions where I had to get my foot almost up to my shoulder and just use my arms to pull myself up with a rope or tree branch.

I have to say of all the hikes we’ve done in the last 2.5 years, this one was definitely the most challenging one for me. But, three hours later sitting at the top of the mountain with gorgeous 360 views of Bora Bora, it was definitely worth it. Of course, then we had another 3 hours trek down which was probably more difficult than going up!

The next day our friends on Bare Feet let us know that they were moving to an anchorage on the southeast corner of the lagoon. We were eager to follow them, but the passage looked a bit tricky on the charts. Bare Feet left early in the morning, and we were a couple of hours behind them trying to make our own way down. Our friends are on a catamaran that only draws about 3 feet. We, on the other hand have a 6 foot draft. In looking at the charts, that three feet makes quite a difference. All around the outside of the lagoon along the reefs and motus, it is shallow, starting at about one foot on shore to about 10 feet at its deepest. Inside, toward the main island, the depths are in the 70-100 foot range, but there is a small, narrow reef that separates the two areas.

On the chart, there is a narrow, marked channel to go through the reef so that you can (presumably) stay in the deeper water. We contemplated taking the shallow route but ultimately thought a marked channel would be safer. Unfortunately, we were wrong.

The first part of the trip was no problem, but we came up to the red and green channel markers showing the very narrow break in the reef where you were supposed to cross. We were going VERY slow at this point peering over the side of the boat at the coral and rocks below. It looked awfully shallow and the depth sounder only showed about 1.5 feet under the keel. We put the boat in neutral and coasted as slowly as we could right in the middle of the marked channel when we suddenly heard a crunch and the boat stopped dead.

There was a bit of panic and a lot of curse words as we realized we were on top of the reef. Mike put the boat in reverse and hit the throttle hoping to get us off. Luckily we were off quickly and were able to transit the rest of the channel (not without a few more challenges).

Bare Feet had seen us on AIS and radioed to make sure everything was ok. We gave them the bad news of our predicament, and they met us in their dinghy as we approached the anchorage for some moral support.

We barely had the anchor down when Mike & I both grabbed masks to jump overboard and survey the damage. Worst case scenario would be a hole in the keel requiring some immediate patch work and a quick departure to probably Raiatea to haul out. Thankfully, no such action was necessary. We had a few scrapes on the keel, but mainly it just scraped off some of the bottom paint. If our keel had been six inches shorter, we wouldn’t have had any problems. It might not look pretty, but we can live with it until the next time we have to repaint the bottom.

In 2.5 years of cruising, we had never hit anything or gone aground. So, we’re actually pretty lucky compared to a lot of boats. But, shit happens, and it happened to us in Bora Bora. We’re just happy it wasn’t worse. The lesson learned is to go with your gut about which route should be taken. Even a marked channel may not be the safest route.

We’re still in Bora Bora enjoying the beautiful scenery. There are lots of hotels, tourists, jet skis, etc. that we try to avoid. But, nothing can deter from the view of majestic mountain and turquoise blue water.

~katie