French Polynesia, Bora Bora: Unsettling Incident with a Mooring Buoy
Ralf Reiter and his partner Gaby have been cruising French Polynesia for two years and found the people to be very friendly and helpful. So they were all the more surprised when they experienced threatening behaviour over a mooring buoy on the island of Bora Bora, where they intended to clear out of French Polynesia.
Published 3 weeks ago, updated 2 weeks ago
Mooring Buoys Must Be Reserved
As Ralf explained (on his website blog and reprinted with permission) – to get a buoy in Bora Bora at a reasonable price, you have to reserve it. When making the reservation, you have to specify the buoy mooring field you want to go to.
Reserving a Buoy from Taha’a
While we were moored in Taha’a we reserved a buoy in Bora Bora via WhatsApp. This is the normal procedure, because there are only two anchorages left in Bora Bora, which are not really an option for clearing out here. One anchorage is far up north, the other is over 20 meters deep.
There are three buoy mooring fields that are managed by Bora Bora Moorings & Services (BBMS). You reserve a buoy using the WhatsApp number, stating your crew, the name of your boat and which buoy field you would like to moor in. You then receive a confirmation or a change of berth. We received confirmation that we could use a buoy in front of the yacht club. So, very early in the morning, we weighed anchor in Taha’a and sailed through the pass for Bora Bora which we reached in the early afternoon.
BBMS – BORA BORA
Mooring Services
WhatsApp: +689 89 440 888 / VHF 9
dockmaster.bbms@gmail.com
Finding a Free Buoy
We found a free buoy in the buoy field at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. Unfortunately, the World ARC was underway and had reserved the whole field. The last free buoy was taken by a charter boat. We didn’t think much of it, as we had a booking confirmation.
An hour and a half later, when I approached the manager of the buoys, he reacted aggressively and claimed he hadn’t received my WhatsApp booking. I showed him the message in question and he replied that if I wanted to stay I would have to pay the ARC price (see footnote below). I waved him off and wanted to untie the lines.
He probably interpreted my waving off as a condescension towards him. He took a knife and wanted to cut the lines. “You get out of here now! And don’t show your face on Bora Bora again! I’ll cut your lines now”, he yelled at me.
“If you do that, I’ll go to the gendarmerie,” I replied. When he heard the word gendarmerie, he abandoned his plan. I untied the lines from the buoy and we took our catamaran to the south-east of Bora Bora, where we actually found a free buoy at such a late hour. The last one in a buoy field that was completely full. This is not how we imagined our start in Bora Bora!
The next day, we proceeded to clear out. Because we had arrived into French Polynesia before the new online form came into use, we did not have an online number. After we had filled out the form online, thanks to a helpful official, we were told it would take a day to process our application and we would have to go back the next day to collect our exit papers and have our passports stamped. So we got some refreshments and shopping and then headed back to our boat.
A Friendly Farewell!
Just before we reached our boat, the same boatman from the day before heads straight for us. In a much better mood, he wants to collect the money for the buoy mooring buoy. We pay and he issues us with a receipt.
Such conflicts involve two people and I certainly had a part in it, although unintentionally of course. I was annoyed at the way things were handled, but he gave us a friendly farewell and we ticked off the previous day as a bad day and are pleased that we can talk to each other again. Last but not least, he gave us three fish!
Ralf Reiter
SV Katinka Enjoy
Footnote:
Paul Tetlow, Managing Director of World Cruising Club confirmed that the World ARC are does reserve sufficient moorings in Bora Bora to support the requirements of their itinerary and this is paid from the overall Rally fees.
“Our itinerary is publicly available on our website www.worldcruising.com/worldarc and is often monitored by independent cruisers who choose not to be in the same places as World ARC. We are aware that the price paid in advance is higher than the price paid on the day, by around 30%. However, it is not 140 euros per night. ”
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Related to following destinations: Bora Bora, French Polynesia, Society Islands, Tahaa
Related to the following Cruising Resources: Pacific Ocean South, Piracy & Security, Routing, South Pacific
Bora Bora Mooring Balls at the yacht club. We followed the instructions to secure a ball but our reply from Bora Bora mooring services on WhatsApp was a thumbs up. We queried this and asked if our ball was confirmed but this received another thumbs up. We were at Taha and decided to take the chance and sail over. Fortunately there were 5 balls available ( non numbered) and we chose one and secured to it. Shortly after the Bora Bora Mooring Services launch approached and asked us how long we wanted to stay, we paid, they issued a receipt and off they went. Next day they returned to collect our garbage. So for us it was a pleasant experience albeit very confusing regarding booking confirmation.