Of idiots and knifemen

“You get out of here now!” And don't show your face on Bora Bora again! “I'll cut your lines now!” The knifeman stands next to me in his boat waving a large knife wildly and wants to cut the lines. “If you do that, I'll go to the gendarmerie,” I replied. When he heard the word gendarmerie, he abandoned his plan. I untied the lines from the buoy and took our Katinka Enjoy to the south-east of Bora Bora, where we actually found a free buoy at such a late hour. The last one, the buoy field is completely full. This is not how we imagined our start in Bora Bora. How did this incident come about?

Mooring in Bora Bora, Society Islands

We are moored in Taha'a and reserve a buoy in Bora Bora via WhatsApp. A normal procedure, because there are only two anchorages left in Bora Bora, which are not really an option for clearing out. One anchorage is far up north, the other is over 20 meters deep. There are three buoy fields that are managed by BBMS. You reserve a buoy using a WhatsApp number, stating your crew, the name of your boat and which buoy field you would like to moor in. You then receive a confirmation or a change of berth. We received confirmation that we could use a buoy in front of the yacht club. Very early in the morning, we weigh anchor in Taha'a and sail through the pass. The initial 10 knots of wind quickly dropped to 7 knots, so we made little headway through the water.

Gennacker on the Katinka Enjoy

Around the middle we get a bit more wind and we sail towards Bora Bora at 5.5 knots. We reach Bora Bora in the early afternoon and find a free buoy in the buoy field at the Bora Bora yacht club. Unfortunately, the ARC is underway and they have reserved the whole field. The last free buoy is taken by a charter boat. We don't think much of it, as we have a booking confirmation. An hour and a half later, the aforementioned scene occurs. The buoys are all reserved and if I wanted to stay, I would have to pay the ARC price, 15,000 XPF. That would be a whopping €140 per night instead of the usual €35. I wave goodbye, which the knife man obviously takes the wrong way. He expels me from Bora Bora and insults me as an idiot. We then head southeast and are lucky enough to catch the last free buoy.

Bora Bora, Society Islands

The next morning, clearing out begins at the gendarmerie. In order to be able to process the procedure, the officer needs a procedure number, which is issued online when clearing in. As we cleared in two years ago and the online procedure didn't exist back then, we naturally don't have this number. So we clear in again online in order to clear out again at the same time. I haven't questioned the sense and purpose of such actions for a long time now. Tuvalu also cleared in using the old procedure and had exactly the same problem as us. Once we've filled everything in, we need some refreshments. It takes a day to process our application. So we have to go back to the gendarmerie the next day to collect our exit papers. In the age of computer technology, everything goes faster, or not.

Shopping tour on Bora Bora, Society Islands

We do some shopping in a well-stocked supermarket and then head back to the boat. It's Gottfried's birthday today and we've been invited to dinner. So we hurry to do all the things that still need to be done. Just before we reach our boat with the dinghy, the boatman heads straight for us. In a much better mood today, he wants to collect the money for the buoy. We pay and he issues us with a receipt. He bids us a friendly farewell and we tick off the previous day as a bad day and are pleased that we can talk to each other again. Last but not least, he gives us three fish.

Birthday party on Bora Bora, Society Islands

In the evening, we pick up Roswitha and Gottfried and head to the St. James patisserie. You can walk straight from the dinghy dock to the restaurant with its fine cuisine. Gottfried has reserved a table and we sit on a terrace next to the water of the bay, which is illuminated in blue by underwater spotlights. I'm glad it's not my birthday, because when we were handed the menu, it was clear that this wasn't going to be a cheap evening. But after all, you only have a birthday once a year and who can claim to have celebrated this one day in Bora Bora?

We are leaving French Polynesia

I can't yet say how things will continue here. Definitely further west. Maybe a short stay in Maupiti or directly to American Samoa. Or maybe a stopover on Suwarrow. We don't know exactly yet. But you'll be the first to know if you subscribe to the blog. Until then, fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.