It was a glorious sunrise in Bora Bora
One more for good measure
We eventually made it to the dock and onto our boat chartered by Bob. My confidence was starting to ebb when I read the sign on the captain’s consule that read Romantic Tours Bora Bora. That seems like an odd name for a fishing charter but it was booked and payed for already.
Bob was actually a great guy. He was born right here in Bora Bora. Says he was born on the beach and I think he might be telling the truth.
Our team did not have their A-games today. Kari and Katie were steal dealing with sun issues from the snorkeling excursion. Ashley appeared annoyed that there was no WiFi almost as soon as we pulled away from the dock. Grace sat in th middle of the boat pretty much like she had all vacation . Usually, I need another person on board to make this work and it did not look good from the start.
We dropped our lines in the water and began trolling. This is actually pretty boring especially if the fish are not biting. I held one line and so did a combination of Kari, Grace and Katie. The other 2 lines trolled off the back of thof boat . Ashley looked on indifferently.
We finally hooked on from the back and Katie reeled it in. A little grouper was our catch pretty, but small. All Katie could muster was a smile. At that point I knew we were screwed.
Just a happy idiot trolling the lagoon
Katie trying to reel in her grouper.
The grouper.
This is the most excited Katie got the entire 4 hours. We trolled some more and landed on more fish. This time Gracie hooked on to a little Jack. We were all a little surprised she didn’t just run to the middle of the boat or cut the line with her scissors.
Gracie trolling for fish
She wouldn’t touch it.
From here, we trolled around for about another half an hour before Kari caught a fish on another one of the trolling lines.
Kari reeling in all the lines and her grouper. The fish was pretty but small we didn’t even get a picture of it.
Now with the lines all tangled Bob drove us to a little island to untangle the lines and we could wander around drinking Cokes or Orangangis. We did get a couple of good pictures.
On the island, one happy family???
One more for good measure.
We wandered around for about 10-15 minutes while Bob tried to untangle all the lines.
Here is a Palm tree in the wind
Gracie by a coconut tree.
Shortly after this picture, I saw Ashley raise a coconut over her head to smash it. I was hoping she was trying to smash it open and not over Katie’s head. Worried that this was devolving into a Lord of the Flies situation, I quickly guided everybody back to the boat and we were off again.
Bob could sense he was losing his crew so he drove us by the island that Bieber and Nicole Kidman have rented when they come to Bora Bora. Some poor dude was out raking the sand on the beach. Three people were sitting on ththe dock hanging out, none of them looked famous to me.
From here we turned and headed towards the main pass where ships can enter the lagoon. Mind you, we do not have a single line in the water and have not had one for 30 minutes. I am perplexed. Grace is snuggled up next to Kari. Ashley is complaining that “this is dumb and we should go back to the resort” and Katie has completely given up. She is laying down in the shade of the boat.
Kari makes small talk with Bob. He was born on the beach. His house is on the northwest corner of the island very close to a WW II bunker and battery. There is a public school on Bora Bora but only till 14 then you need to go to Tahiti. There is no hospital on the island which now currently has a population around 11,000. There is a private doctor if you need/can afford one. If you are injured it is 15 min for a plane to get her from Tahiti and 15 minutes back so depending on your injuries maybe you make it maybe you don’t. If you are pregnant, most women leave the island after 7-8 months and live on Tahiti until the baby is born. This discussion mercifully killed some time. We are still not fishing, once again we are not fishing during this entire time.
When we get to the pass. Katie is almost asleep, Gracie is almost asleep and Ashley is sitting quietly with her sunglasses on staring off into the distance, probably trying to replay Office episodes in her mind.
Then it happens we encounter a large school of dolphins swimming in the pass they swim around the boat and lift everyone’s spirits.
Plotting a Mutiny?
This is just one of the many dolphins that salvaged this trip
All three at the front of the boat. Yeah enthusiasm!!!!
It was short lived. The dolphins went on their merry way leaving us sad and not fishing in our boat. On the other side of the main pass we saw several black tip reef sharks and watched for a little bit.
At this point Bob decided to go outside the barrier reef into deeper waters maybe we would find a wahoo or a tuna. We cruised for 10 minutes kind of skirting the breakline of the barrier reef. The water got a little rough near the point where the fishing was suppose to be. Grace ran to the middle of the boat and began crying afraid that we would capsize. Ashley looked indifferent but mouthed something like “ This is dumb can we go back to the resort. Kari comforted Gracie. Katie had completely given up and now had her head on the bench and her legs in the arms of my swimshirt to keep the sun off of them. At this stage, I told Bob the crew had lost it’s enthusiasm and we should just head for home. Let’s not forget we still haven’t put a hook or a line in the water for almost an hour or more.
We start cruising and get back inside the barrier reef and head for home. Oh Lord let this trip end soon please Lord.
Gracie stopped crying once we were back inside the lagoon.
Smiling about the possibility of being done.
Ashley is done on the bench. Katie is completely done on the floor she had one shirt covering her head and neck and my swim shirt is covering her legs. Yes she has one leg in each sleeve.
We finally dropped some line in to troll the lagoon and I caught this little Jack. It was a beautiful blue.
No one could muster the energy to even take a decent picture at this point.
We finally arrive at the dock around noon. 4 hours in a boat, 4 little fish. Most would say a pretty miserable time was had by all. We did however get to see the beautiful island of Bora Bora. We did learn what it was like to live on Bora Bora as a citizen. We did get to see the waters of the South Pacific from turquoise to powder blue to the deep blue of the sea. We had some shade, a little sun and a little ocean breeze so ee certainly could do worse.
Our bungalow from the water
After this we grabbed lunch at the resort. More tuna sashimi for me and a couple of Himanos. The afternoon was spent relaxing. That night Katie, Ashley, Kari and I all did the tasting menu at the resorts nice restaurant. I thought the he food was generally really great. While we did that Gracie ate about 2 pounds of Swordfish.
In the pool at Sunset
Mussels with a Mango cannelloni. Which is stuffed with crab
Scallops with curry and a dumpling
Steak
The sunset was ridiculous last night
Here’s another one
One more for good measure. I sat outside for 20 minutes watching a paraglider circling around Bora Bora at sunset. It was amazing to see from my standpoint.
Not much planned for Good Friday. Maybe everyone will get some rest.
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