July 30 - Departure plans

Position: S16deg30.64min/W151deg46.08min We anchored on the west side of Motu Toopua to escape the strong SE winds that came thru. We had some gusts in the 20's but the anchorage was secure, and we got sketchy internet (very slow) as well. Yesterday the weather had moderated enough for us to dinghy the 1.5 miles to Bloody Mary's with Slip Away. Bloody Mary's is a Bora Bora iconic restaurant/bar. We had a wonderful lunch there, served, of course, with bloody mary's, and met up with friends who got out of their taxi at the exact moment we had walked up the dock. Talk about timing! We're making plans to depart Monday for Suwarrow Atoll, an isolated island about 700 nm from here where the Kiwi hermit Tom Neale used to live. Much more about that later. Many other boats are either underway, or are in active departure mode, so I expect a crowd there. We've cleaned the bottom, gone over systems, and S is cooking up a bunch of stuff for passage. We'll be off the internet until Tonga (at least we expect to find it there!). All's well aboard; we're having fun, and as our 90 day visa for French Polynesia is coming to a close, it's time to head west. Hope all's well with all of you reading this; we'd love to hear from you via SailMail. Cheers!