Rarioa

We've arrived in Rarioa - the island on which Thor Heyerdahl landed with Kon Tiki. Position 16deg02.316S 142deg28.229W. We are anchored in water but our navigation charts show us anchored on land.....
We were a bit nervous about making our first entry into a lagoon through an atoll pass. Tides can produce 8 kts of current, particularly if there is only one channel in and out, and this is one of those. Slack tide can be calculated from moon rise and set, not necessarily by high and low tide as it depends on the way the water runs over the reef. So as you can imagine we weren't sure we had got it right. We only have tide tables for the major islands in the area. We did get the timing right as far as the sun was concerned, as it was fairly high and behind us, so good visibility. Also we knew it was a fairly wide pass and well marked. It was a bit hairy at one point as about 4 kts of current (with us) was pushing us sideways, so it was full power on the engines, and consequently rather fast as we tried to work out which was the next marker to head to. Once in though it was calm and blue and gorgeous, with channel markers all the way to our anchorage off a small village. It was nice to see that there is one other boat here, we weren't expecting anyone. It's a catamaran from Guernsey with one of the owners and a couple of Kiwi crew on board. The village probably has a population of less than 100, so it was surprising to see a brand new airstrip with smart buildings, lots of new solar panels on the wood and tin houses, and channel markers flashing red green and white after dark. There is no doubt that a good dollop of French investment has been made here recently! The main source of income is from farmed pearls, and we had offers to visit the pearl farm - and to buy pearls yesterday, but were a bit tired to appreciate it, and now it's weekend. No doubt we'll have the same opportunities in other islands, or here on Monday. Today there is evidently some sort of celebration going on in the village, so we'll be going over to have a look. More news tomorrow.