Jun 15, 2008 - Tahaa - Baie Hurepiti

With building weather and the winds already blowing 25+ and 15+ foot swells, we decided to make landfall at Raiatea through the "All weather" pass, Rautoanui, rather than risk getting to Bora-Bora and having the only pass into the lagoon closed out. All of the advertised moorings were already taken by charter boats, and after several hours of finding only deep and unprotected anchorages, we headed across the Grand Central Banc, still inside the lagoon, to the sister island of Tahaa. ... The good news is that we only encountered this behavior from the chartered sailboats on Raiatea & Tahaa. ... Throughout our travels, we have been warmly received by all the natives, and by all the fellow cruisers, including plenty of non-American sailors.With building weather and the winds already blowing 25+ and 15+ foot swells, we decided to make landfall at Raiatea through the "All weather" pass, Rautoanui, rather than risk getting to Bora-Bora and having the only pass into the lagoon closed out. All of the advertised moorings were already taken by charter boats, and after several hours of finding only deep and unprotected anchorages, we headed across the Grand Central Banc, still inside the lagoon, to the sister island of Tahaa. ... The good news is that we only encountered this behavior from the chartered sailboats on Raiatea & Tahaa. ... Throughout our travels, we have been warmly received by all the natives, and by all the fellow cruisers, including plenty of non-American sailors....