Confetti's anchored in front of the Hotel Bora Bora and we are enjoying the amenities after a great few days of cruising.

On Tuesday we sailed about 100nm through the night from Moorea to Huahine, in order to enter the tricky pass with first light. We hoped to show our lovely new crew a star-studded, moonlit night sail, with dolphins shooting through the phosphorescence and the boat gently cutting through the darkness. But as luck will have it, whenever either one of our families visits us we get heavy weather! Doubled-reefed and mostly hand-steering, the night consisted of squall after squall, each bringing pouring rain. Despite minimal sleep (and a little fish-feeding) everyone faced the elements with alacrity.

We arrived at the pass into Huahine late morning. "Nerve-wracking," "hair-raising," "heart-pounding," "white-knuckling," might be used to describe the entrance. We were all set on our approach into the pass, within reach (!) when a final squall came through. We spun the boat around, tacked back to windward in 30-knots, and watched from a safe distance off as the driving rain reduced visibility in the pass to zero. Once it cleared, the pass was deep but dotted with fish traps. As the pass narrowed there were spooky 8-foot rollers that began rising above our heads. To each side the waves, churned up from the squalls, were crashing on the reefs just boat-lengths away.

Inside the pass is a large bay surrounded on all sides by the densest jungle we've seen. The trees seemed stacked on top of each other up the cliff-faced mountains. The ridge lines are conifers that sit atop acacia canopies with scattered palm trees sticking out of the steep hillsides. We anchored as the sole boat in front of the small town and rested from our night out. Later we watched outrigger canoe practice and made tropical rum drinks before seriously crashing.

Photos to follow.

Cheers from what is TRULY paradise!