French Polynesia

Our next 6 ports will be in French Polynesia. Note from the screenshot below that the Tahitian Alphabet contains only 13 letters.  The strange question about that is why is Bora Bora spelled with a "B" that doesn't exist in their alphabet??  Answer is because the French explorers heard the "B" sound from the polynesian inhbitants, when they were really saying "P" -- Pora Pora.  But the name stuck and BORA BORA is the only word in Tahitian that has a B.

This morning at 4:30am the Captain performed a sailby of Bora Bora, getting within 7 miles, on our way to Raiatera.  We were fortunate to have visited the island in March, 2022, before the authorities put a limit on the size cruise ship they would allow on the island.  Rumor is that this was pressure from the major resorts that kept losing personnel when the big cruise ships come into port.

Bora Bora Sailby

French Polynesia is the size of Europe but in ocean-size and not land mass.  It's comprised of 118 islands, of which 33 are inhabitied.

Below is a replica of a twin canoed wooden dugout that ancient Polynesians used to sail the South Pacific and discover new islands.