July 4th, 2008 - Happy 4th of July and Happy birthday, Ma!

Happy 4th of July and Happy birthday, Ma! (Frank's mom).  Wow, it just keeps getting better – Baie de Cook, on Moorea is extraordinary.  We anchored at the head of the bay for the first few days.  The waters are deep and calm – in fact this is the calmest anchorage yet in our journey.  There are rainbows nearly every day, and we are surrounded by volcanic mountains that are very lush, abundant with plant life and awash in striking colors.  To one side is a pineapple farm which runs up the side of one mountain.  On another side are beach hotels and homes built into the face of the mountain.  It looks like a scene out of Jurassic Park after development.  On July 1, Ken and Wendy on Cop Out invited several of us over for a potluck dinner to celebrate Canada Day.  The only requirement was that we were to wear red and white.  We thought we could handle that.  We brought red beans and rice (get it?  Red and white for Canada!).  The group was comprised of Sandy, Andy and Emma from Imagine, Lauren and Stefan from Cat Coquette, who wore their Denmark flags (pretty ingenious), and then an English couple from their boat Crazy Diamond.  Although Ken is Canadian, Wendy is originally from New Zealand and she prepared a scrumptious NZ leg of lamb for the main course. Ken led us in a round of Canadian trivia; we made them sing, "Oh, Canada" and then, as often happens out here, the topic changed to George Bush and the candidates for the 2008 presidential race.  It seems the entire world keeps up with US politics.  What fun! These guys had us all rolling with laughter throwing out their American puns and stories.  Of course we got our jabs in too. After a few days in the bay, a group of us moved out to anchor just inside the barrier reef of Cook's Bay for snorkeling and internet access.  My gosh, it is beautiful! The snorkeling and swimming were just so great.  And we hear it keeps getting better down the way.  Unbelievable.  One evening several of us got together for dinner and the dance show (yes, another one!), over at hotel Bali Hai.  Everyone but Frank and Jay (from Malachi) got up to dance at some point. So, for Independence Day we brainstormed with Imagine and Cop Out about how to have a 4th of July celebration with all of the boats in Cook's Bay.  Ken, Sandy and Frank all went to recon for a beach spot to have a cookout but there was nothing available for us.  We considered having it on one of our boats but didn't know how large the group would be so Sandy introduced the "dinghy tie-up pot luck" concept which they had done in Mexico. Just about everyone in the anchorage joined in for the fun.  Imagine anchored their dinghy in the shallows between our two boats, then everyone else came along and tied up to one another. We and Imagine provided hamburgers for everyone.  Others brought canapés, hotdogs, popcorn, various dips and crackers & desserts.   We all just passed food around and chatted up a storm.  We are amazed at how even outdoors a decent sized group can turn up the volume when all are chattering at the same time.  The boats represented were: Malachi (Canada), Point Zero (UK), BeBe (US), Free Spirit (US), Imagine (US), Boomerang (US), Cop Out (Canada), Que Barbara! (US), Nomad (UK). I think that covers everyone.  We took some photos, which will go on the website.  It was such a good time – thanks to Sandy for putting it all together. Next day we moved back into the bay to escape the winds and current that were building out by the reef.  Joe (Syren) finally arrived from Papeete and told us that he is getting his crew put together for the next leg.  One of those crew members may be our friend Ryan from Parker!  It would be great to have Ryan out here with us. Our boat buddies began migrating over to Baie d'Opunohu – just around the corner from Cook's Bay, so we followed along and were so pleased to have done so.  This anchorage is nearly as beautiful as the first one over at Vaiare where we came into with the Rendezvous.  Yesterday Frank, Sandy, Emma and I went to swim with the stingrays and the black tip sharks, just in front of the Hotel Intercontinental Moorea.  It was probably the most amazing experience I have ever had.  The water wasn't more than 6 ft. deep, if that, and we snorkeled around with rays and sharks just swimming all around us close enough to touch!  I have NEVER gotten that close to a shark in my life, but strangely felt relatively safe.  We hope to take Jeri Lyn and Jeff over there when they arrive next week.  It is an experience of a lifetime.  The water is crystal clear, and our eyes just feasted on the magnificent colors of blue and various hues of turquoise up against the white sand beaches.  Can it get prettier than this? Our friends, the Martins are arriving next Tuesday, and we have much to do before we see them.  Our Sat phone broke – just sitting there!  It must be taken somewhere for repair - too long of a story to tell, and we need to pick up provisions and our water-maker pump, etc., etc., and Monday is Bastille Day which is a very big deal over here. So, we are pulling up anchor today, Thursday, July 11, 2008, and heading over.  We heard the Maltese Falcon on the radio last week announcing their entrance in to the port in Papeete so we hope to get a glance at it while there.  OK, we're off!  More later… www.frankandbarbgladney.com while at sea: kd0cff@winlink.org Skype ID: frank.barb.gladney