16 30S 145 27W
Dear Friends
Which atoll shall we visit? A tough decision to make. In the Tuamotus,
part of French Polynesia, there are 77 coral atolls spread over 1000
miles in a NW-SE direction. We have now explored two....a large and a
small one.
After 4 days & nights sailing from Ua Pou in the Marquesas, we
arrived off Kauehi. Inside this "small atoll" there are over 100 sq km
of water and 1 single navigable pass in & out, so even the 2 foot
tidal range creates strong currents with overfalling waves. We tried to
slow down to arrive at low water slack, then the wind dropped. We
turned on the engine for a few hours then a thunder storm rolled past
and the wind blew strong to gale and stayed there. We spent a night
edging on with a scrap of sail up. Strange to sit at night in a rough
sea 2 km deep, knowing that one island is 10 miles downwind, and
another is 5 miles up wind, but neither has land more than a few feet
above the water. The dawn showed us lines of surf with coconut palms
behind just as the map had predicted and the radar confirmed. It stayed
more than 1 km deep until we were less than 1 km offshore. We were 1
hour early but turned on the engine and turned upwind into the pass -
Harmonica's water speed was 5.5 knots as we crept into the lagoon at
0.7 knots over ground.
These were once named the "Dangerous Islands" and we were pleased to
have radar & GPS positioning to help us. Only 30 atolls are
uninhabited. Those inhabited have a small village on the island part of
the reef. The low lying atolls are vulnerable to summer cyclones, with
poor soil and little water agriculture is difficult. Coconut palms
thrive, the copra industry and the dying black pearl industry which has
been revived are the sources of income. Most of the lagoon is
surrounded in a wide coral reef that is awash, half covered by breaking
waves. We sailed the 8 miles across the lagoon watching out for coral
heads and anchored beside the small village of 200 people. We were
welcomed by a gaggle of small children swimming off the dock beside the
tiny church. The village was neat and well kept. We took our food
scraps ashore to feed one of the large pigs owned by a family nearby.
Chickens and dogs patrol the sandy roads.
The one small village shop was owned by the family that also have a
black pearl farm. The owner was an ex policeman from Tahiti. We piled
into the back of his pickup truck, with his wife and three children
joining us, and drove a few miles through coconut plantations along the
atoll to view the pearl farm. We then sat down at a table, a large
suitcase was brought out and bags of pearls were tipped onto the table
for us to look at. Many shapes, colours and sizes. Janet bought 3 and
had another 5 given as gifts! The workers were now finishing lunch and
we were invited to sit down and eat. Each of us had the top cut off a
fresh coconut to drink with a tasty stew and rice which we think was
probably goat. Later, Dave gave our host a copy of a printed photograph
of our visit and was given some small fish in return. Cigaterra (fish
poisoning) is present in many fish in a number of the lagoons where the
coral has been disturbed by building, local people will let visitors
know which fish are safe to eat.
We have been traveling with another Canadian boat, Gavia Arctica, with
David and Mary Robb aboard. Mary and Janet have attended Sunday morning
church services at every opportunity. It is a great way of meeting
local people, and the singing is beautiful usually accompanied by
ukulele and guitar. The women look pretty with a flower worn behind an
ear or a garland of fresh flowers on their head and gaily coloured
mother hubbard dresses. Also, Mary and Janet have spent some happy
hours walking along beaches where we have found some wonderful shells.
There is often competition between the hermit crabs and Janet as to who
will get the shell. On one sailing passage Dave was met by a shell
walking along the deck to meet him as he went forward to adjust sails!
We moved on to our second Tuamotu, Fakarava, the second largest atoll
with 2 navigable passes into a lagoon which is 50 miles by 20. We
entered the wide North pass near the main village, where we wrapped our
anchor chain around a coral head rising to 12 or 15 ft from the bottom
45ft down. Not to worry: next day, Jan took the wheel, David Robb
pulled in the anchor chain for us, while Dave swam with a snorkel to
pass back information on where the tangles were. We walked & cycled
for an afternoon & Jan & Mary went to church.
Next Harmonica & Gavia moved down the marked channel in the lagoon
to the South pass, stopping one night en route, & always watching
for the coral heads which show quite clearly from afar by the change in
water colour from dark blue to an aquamarine colour. There are about 10
small coral islands (Motus) at the south pass and you can wade in
knee-deep water between them. The biggest has a village which boasts
the oldest church in the Tua Motus - 1876 - and it was being lovingly
painted and redecorated with mother of pearl from the oysters. However
only two families live there now.
The South pass was narrow and windy with excellent snorkeling. We would
take the dinghy to the outside of the pass at low water slack water and
drift through into the lagoon with snorkels on and the dinghy in tow.
The steep sides had a wonderful assortment of many coloured reef fish
among the array of different corals with larger fish lurking around. In
the deeper water were wahoo, & baracuda. We found we were being
watched by black tipped reef sharks and grey sharks. Sometimes they
would circle us looking quite sinister but always went there way
without bothering us further. David from Gavia found a large dead fish
and used it as bait to feed the sharks from the safety of Gavia's stern
deck. About half a dozen black tipped reef sharks came and circled the
bait for a while letting the smaller fish eat until a shark was ready
to attack and would take the bait in its mouth shaking it like a dog.
There would be a sudden fury of splashing as all the other sharks came
around to take part in the action then the bait was gone.
The brightly coloured parrotfish feed on coral expelling the
indigestible part as sand. One study estimated that for every acre of
reef parrotfish produce about a ton of sand a year. Put that in a
tourist brochure "Come and bask on miles of white fish excreta". Small
shrimp have cleaning stations where they will eat parasites off the
bigger fish. When not at a cleaning station these fish may eat the
shrimp but they have special signals to use at the cleaning station!
Swimming is like passing through a colourful garden full of creatures.
There are a few small, thatched, holiday cabins near the South pass. We
met a French family who were celebrating a 20th anniversary by taking
their children diving. The parents had sailed French Polynesia many
years ago and are looking forward to getting a boat again.
With few shops selling very little fresh fruit and vegetables we were
glad of our copious supplies of pamplemousse, limes, and bananas
brought from the Marquesas. Janet has been baking bread, muffins, and
cakes now that temperatures are a little cooler we can tolerate the
oven on. We even need a sheet to cover us at night time now! We have
met few other cruising boats in this area. Most have moved on faster
than us. New Zealand friends that we sometimes talk to on the radio are
already in the Cook islands. Our next area to visit will be Tahiti
& The Society islands.
Both the water maker & the wind generator have been very useful
additions. Onward to new things to fix (the gas regulator is giving
trouble, and the anchor windlass need replacing) and new places to
explore while fixing them.
Fond wishes from Jan, Dave, & Harmonica
www.techco.ab.ca/harmonica