Day 108 Internet

Trip planning
Since we were at the Yacht Club we had a Wi-Fi internet connection so I tried to make the most of it by posting the blog text and starting to post the accompanying photos. Again, this is a time consuming process that eats a lot of Internet time - particularly with the slow connection speed. None the less, I wanted to try to get caught up with the posting before I lost the connection.
The plans for leaving Bora Bora seem to change depending on the weather. Both Liahona and Eaio will make the same trip so we spent part of the day going back and forth between boats to exchange potential courses and expected weather conditions. The forecast calls for a large high pressure to pass to our South as we make the passage to Rarotonga. Weather fronts move in the direction of the rotation of the Earth so they travel from West to East. The speed of the Earth's surface is higher at the Equator so the air around the front spins creating winds that change direction as the front passes. While big storms like hurricanes and cyclones (Southern Hemisphere hurricanes) keep sailors in port, small storms are navigable but can present difficulties for sailboats. For instance, we want to go South but if the wind is coming from the South we will not be able to sail against the wind and the waves. Thus the planning for a passage like this one of over 500 nautical miles requires looking carefully at the weather forecasts and guessing how accurate they will be.
After all that, we picked Tuesday as our departure day hoping that the forecasted winds will be in our favor.
Yesterday when we were walking to the tattoo artist, I noted that Bora Bora is not like the other islands we have seen in French Polynesia. The guide book says that it is the place where the rich and famous go to spend money. Partly because of that and partly because it is the number one honeymoon location in French Polynesia, there are many more luxury hotels than any other island. It is not uncommon for over-the-water bungalows to cost well over $1000 per night.
As a result of this influx of money, the island itself has a much more developed infrastructure than any other we have seen. The roadside is landscaped and there is extensive stonework not seen in the other islands. Where we were walking was far from the main town yet from the appearance of the side of the road, we could have been in Carmel, California. I am sure this wealth will eventually find its way to some of the other islands but for the moment, the charm of the South Pacific is elsewhere than Bora Bora.