Here are a few thoughts about sailing in the Leeward Islands of the Society Island Group:

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The buoyage system is exactly opposite for those familiar with cruising the Carribean and the U.S. Intercoastal waterway. Instead of "red right returning", it is "green right returning" in Polynesia. This pattern of buoy markers continues counter clockwise as you enter the lagoon of the island from the pass. Green stays on your right, marking the inner edge of the outer reef, and red stays on your left, marking the outer edge of the inner fringe reef. Of course, the opposite is true as you go clockwise through the lagoon, always keeping the green on the seaward side and the red on the landward side of the lagoon.

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French Polynesia uses Cardinal Markers, and you have to know these well and be alert as there are any number of shoals inside the lagoons marked by these markers.

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Another differance from Carribean cruising is that the Society Islands have large reefs surrounding a given island with only two or three navigable passes. Coming into a pass on a diagonal course will put you on the reef. you must stand off one or two miles offshore, get your bearings, and sail on your compass reading carefully. Sometimes there are distance ranges inside the pass that are helpful.

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Anchorages in the Leeward Islands tend to be deep, ranging between 60 -120 ft. We were not used to this. Fortunately, there are moorings available in the more popular areas, but some of the more atrractive anchorages do not have moorings, meaning one must chose between a 60 or 6 ft depth to anchor, with the depth changing instantaneously. 

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A catamaran has an advantage over a monohull in this respect. Our boat had a 4.5 ft draft, so we could go into a 6ft anchorage and safely stay the night. The Society Islands are geographically in one of the few amphidromic points in the world, which is an area where there is little or no tidal amplitude. Amphidromic points form from interactions between the movement of oceanic gyres and tidal wave propagation, making sailing much simpler.

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The trades blew steadily from the southeast around 7-15 knots; however, they can be higher. We had one day of vigorous sailing at 29-30 knots. This means that one is close-hauled from Raiatea to Huahine and from Bora Bora to Raiatea. Catamarans are not known for their competency close-hauled, so we motor-sailed these routes. Thankfully, Huahine to Raiatea and Raiatea to Bora Bora are beam/broad reaches and present good catamaran sailing opportunities.

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One surprise we encountered was that we were often cold. Our cruise, being in the southern hemisphere, was during the winter, July 15-August 1, with air temperatures in the low 80's during the day and low to mid 70's at night. The water temperature was also in the low 80's. Very pleasant unless you're wet and exposed to air. We were shivering after our skin and scuba dives.