August 15th Update

Now back in Bora Bora we are enjoying the moorage at the yacht club. We have been rejoined by old friends on Spectacle (Andy & Melissa), and Nomad (Stewart), and have made some new friends among the cruisers here. The yacht club had been somewhat let go into disrepair, and a young couple (Teiva and Jessica) has purchased it and is pumping new blood into the place with the kind assistance of fellow cruisers. All that remains from the previous owner are the main structure which houses the bar and
former restaurant, a large BBQ grill and picnic area and a couple of out buildings. Where there were once 25 moorings, only 7 remain. Thanks to the efforts of William, the skipper of s/v Fuente , progress has been made to amass a few more. Steve aboard s/v Bliss has gathered old planks and crates to make a stemware hanger for the bar. We haven't been much assistance other than to contribute monetarily by paying a mooring fee, patronizing the bar which serves basic alcoholic and non-alcoholic
beverages but no food, and paying to do laundry. This has been the best bargain for laundry since Mexico! We only pay 500 francs per wash load and then hang dry on the boat.
We have fallen into a comfortable rhythm with this group here. One night we hosted cheeseburgers for Nomad and Spectacle aboard Destiny. Another night Estrellita and Bliss arranged a group dinner at the club wherein everyone brought their own meat for the grill, a side dish to share and we all purchased our own drinks from the yacht club. It was a great mixer! Last night we went to dinner at Bloody Mary's with Estrellita and Bliss. Tonight, our last night here, Spectacle invited us to join them,
Teiva and Jessica ashore for Andy's "world famous lamb stew".
We are once again awaiting Syren's arrival. They left Tahiti, went back to Moorea, are now at Raiatea and plan to meet up with us here today and then take the jump with us to the Cook Islands. Our plan is to leave here Saturday late morning for a 3 ½ - 4 day sail to Rarotonga. Depending on how we like the area we may spend a little while there before continuing westward to Niue, and then onward to the kingdom of Tonga. We have been a little hesitant about this next passage because we will be
going into an area of known erratic weather patterns. Several cruisers departed for the Cooks a couple of weeks ago and encountered a sudden and unexpected gale that caused some of the boats a lot of destruction. We have no firsthand knowledge of the damages but were told from various others that one of them "pitch-poled", meaning that he tumbled stern over bow. Another experienced an accidental jibe and lost their back stays, cracking their boom, and a third encountered a knockdown (turned over
sideways until the mast hit the water), damaging their main and mast. I'm a little nervous about this next one.
Well, well, well! We just got a call on the VHF from Syren telling us they are 6-7 miles out from the entrance to the channel. Amazing! It is midday so we will see them by early afternoon. It is possible this will be the last posting until we see what lies ahead of us with regard to radio communication and access to or lack of internet at the next port. As always, we welcome your prayers and well wishes.