We made a move yesterday, a day sail from Fakarava to Taou where we are on a mooring for a change in a 'false inlet' between two motus but not inside the reef. The reef is just in front of the boat, so beautiful snorkelling very close to hand in clear clear water. Position 15 48 209 S and 146 09 092 W Just one (fairly extended) family live on the inlet, lovely friendly people who run a small pearl farm and provide meals to order for sailing boats. We are eating there tonight with 3 German boats (all of whom of course speak fantastic English).
Not having caught any ocean fish for ages, we decided to stock up with meat in Fakarava and bought a frozen chicken and a frozen NZ leg of lamb. Then, of course we caught an 18lb mahi mahi en route - one of our favourite fish. It took at least an hour to get it on board, and we were lucky as it was only hooked with one hook through the lip. We now have an excess of protein on board, so have part exchanged the lamb and a chunk of fish for our meal on shore tonight. The store in F. had very little, and we could only get onions and potatoes in the fresh veg line when we arrived. Then the supply boat came in and they had carrots and apples! We did our usual asking of the locals if anyone had vegetables for sale, and were directed to the house of a man who turned out to be Kenyan/NZ married to a local. He started growing veg for home consumption, but is now trying to do it on a larger scale. Not easy, there is next to no topsoil on these islands, and continuous salty breeze. However he makes his own compost as he has a shredder, and is growing hydroponic cucumber and tomatoes, and also lettuce, peppers and aubergines. He didn't have much available as the local 'pensions' buy from him, but we now have enough tomatoes, lettuce an cucumber for a few days, so delicious after a few weeks of tinned peas. And there was a bakery in town so for the couple of days we were there we had fresh baguette, and have brought several loaves with us to crisp up in the oven.
I spent an evening helping to teach English in the local primary school. Two ladies on a boat that we have been meeting up with since the Galapagos, often do an English course for a couple of weeks in the villages they visit. A lovely way to meet the locals. This time they were rather overwhelmed with children, so were roping in volunteers so that the kids could be divided into smaller groups. All good fun - they were practising for a 'show' for parents and teachers tonight, so had to be up to scratch with 'what's your name, my name is .....' and 'the store is down the street on the right'.
We heard today that there are about 100 boats in the anchorage at Papeete, Tahiti, our next stop. There are big celebrations in July leading up to '14 juillet' with dancing competitions, so many people will be staying for that. With a big Carrefour only 5 mins away it will be such a change from these islands.
June 28, 2008
June 27, 2008
Tales from the Tuamotos
We're in the land of atolls and lagoons, quite a change from the Marquesas which are comparatively 'new' volcanic islands, steep and rising straight out of the sea. The Tuamotos on the other hand, though not very far away, are much older, basically old volcanoes that have circular reefs growing around them. The volcanic peaks have sunk under water over the millions of years for three reasons: sea-level rise, the weight of the volcano causing flexing of the crust beneath it (like piling books onto the middle of a shelf), and/or the oceanic crust cooling with age, making the crust contract. As the volcano sinks, the coral keeps growing upwards into the light, so that eventually you just have the reef as an atoll surrounding a lagoon. Parts of the reef eventually become little islets or 'motus' like beads on a string.
The lagoons are lovely calm places to anchor, but not so easy to get into. The passes through the reef can be quite narrow, and the tidal water can move at 6 kts - causing standing waves if the wind is blowing in the opposite direction from the water flow. Catching the pass at slack tide is a hit and miss affair, and we have had some rather exciting entries shooting through like a cork out of a bottle with shallow jagged reefs on both sides. Once in, the water is usually quite deep except for coral heads which grow up to within inches of the surface. Very visible with sun overhead, but completely invisible with the sun in your eyes or if it is raining. Some of our charts are very accurate, and even the coral heads are marked so that it would be possible to steer a safe course by GPS. However, in other places our charts say we are anchored on solid ground, and the only way to sail is with a lookout on the bow.
With good reason the Tuamotos used to be called the "Dangerous Archipelago" - these days radar, GPS, and a big investment by the French in channel buoys and markers (as well as basic equipment like depth sounders and engines on sailing boats!) have made the atolls a lot less dangerous to visit. They are very sparsely populated, two thirds of the atolls are uninhabited, and most of the others have very small communities struggling to survive now that the young people tend to go off to the bright lights of Tahiti. The small communities make a living from pearl farming these days - more lucrative than copra and fishing. With so many families starting up small pearl farms though it sounds as though there's a bit of a glut on the market.
As in the Marquesas, the communities are worried about the affect that tourist development would have on their way of life, and on the whole are against Club Med type investment. This means that the few people visiting, mainly on sailing boats, are welcomed most hospitably. It also means that the villagers are fairly self sufficient, and the few stores have nearly empty shelves. However, being French, there are bakeries producing fresh baguette every day, a big plus. Most of the time we have been in anchorages with no settlement nearbye, so have been very dependent on ships stores. We have missed not being able to eat fish most days. The lagoon fish tend to have an accumulative toxin called ciguatera which they get from a type of algae that grows on coral - when bigger fish eat smaller ones they accumulate the toxins from them. As we have been eating reef fish for several years in the Caribbean, we have decided it would be too risky to eat more here. At the moment we are near a village where we can actually buy butter, cheese, eggs and flour, all of which we had completely run out of.
The French have invested huge sums in these islands, most now have air strips (often on an adjoining 'motu' or islet, so passengers then have to be ferried by boat), solar panels for power, large new rain water collection tanks (no fresh water except for rain water on any of the Tuamotos), and well buoyed reef passes. Some say it is to make up for the huge fuss about nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll. Also well built primary schools, though secondary school children have to go away to school - we have heard a lot of critisism, not about the schools, but the boarding facilities only have one adult per 100 children.
We have spent much of our time here enjoying the remote anchorages with clear water, healthy coral, and lots of fish - different species from those we were familiar with in the Caribbean, and many more varieties, so our fish book has been well thumbed after every snorkeling expedition. Clams with brilliant green or blue edges nestle in the coral, and huge schools of tiny blue fish swim around a coral growth that looks like a clump of low growing flowers until we get close when they dive into the 'flowers' for shelter. The colours and shapes of fish surpass imagination, a wonderful sight. There are a few sandy beaches, but in the main they are rather rough coral. The outer (ocean side) reefs of an atoll are wide shallow areas of very jagged rocks, absolute disaster for any ship landing up on them. However a diligent hunt along the water's edge leads to finds of beautiful cowrie shells, lovely shiny shells of various colours and designs - no wonder they were once used as currency in this part of the world.
Next stop will be Taihiti, still French Polynesia, and in a group called the Society Islands. Much more developed and 'touristy' than here, and evidently very beautiful.
The lagoons are lovely calm places to anchor, but not so easy to get into. The passes through the reef can be quite narrow, and the tidal water can move at 6 kts - causing standing waves if the wind is blowing in the opposite direction from the water flow. Catching the pass at slack tide is a hit and miss affair, and we have had some rather exciting entries shooting through like a cork out of a bottle with shallow jagged reefs on both sides. Once in, the water is usually quite deep except for coral heads which grow up to within inches of the surface. Very visible with sun overhead, but completely invisible with the sun in your eyes or if it is raining. Some of our charts are very accurate, and even the coral heads are marked so that it would be possible to steer a safe course by GPS. However, in other places our charts say we are anchored on solid ground, and the only way to sail is with a lookout on the bow.
With good reason the Tuamotos used to be called the "Dangerous Archipelago" - these days radar, GPS, and a big investment by the French in channel buoys and markers (as well as basic equipment like depth sounders and engines on sailing boats!) have made the atolls a lot less dangerous to visit. They are very sparsely populated, two thirds of the atolls are uninhabited, and most of the others have very small communities struggling to survive now that the young people tend to go off to the bright lights of Tahiti. The small communities make a living from pearl farming these days - more lucrative than copra and fishing. With so many families starting up small pearl farms though it sounds as though there's a bit of a glut on the market.
As in the Marquesas, the communities are worried about the affect that tourist development would have on their way of life, and on the whole are against Club Med type investment. This means that the few people visiting, mainly on sailing boats, are welcomed most hospitably. It also means that the villagers are fairly self sufficient, and the few stores have nearly empty shelves. However, being French, there are bakeries producing fresh baguette every day, a big plus. Most of the time we have been in anchorages with no settlement nearbye, so have been very dependent on ships stores. We have missed not being able to eat fish most days. The lagoon fish tend to have an accumulative toxin called ciguatera which they get from a type of algae that grows on coral - when bigger fish eat smaller ones they accumulate the toxins from them. As we have been eating reef fish for several years in the Caribbean, we have decided it would be too risky to eat more here. At the moment we are near a village where we can actually buy butter, cheese, eggs and flour, all of which we had completely run out of.
The French have invested huge sums in these islands, most now have air strips (often on an adjoining 'motu' or islet, so passengers then have to be ferried by boat), solar panels for power, large new rain water collection tanks (no fresh water except for rain water on any of the Tuamotos), and well buoyed reef passes. Some say it is to make up for the huge fuss about nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll. Also well built primary schools, though secondary school children have to go away to school - we have heard a lot of critisism, not about the schools, but the boarding facilities only have one adult per 100 children.
We have spent much of our time here enjoying the remote anchorages with clear water, healthy coral, and lots of fish - different species from those we were familiar with in the Caribbean, and many more varieties, so our fish book has been well thumbed after every snorkeling expedition. Clams with brilliant green or blue edges nestle in the coral, and huge schools of tiny blue fish swim around a coral growth that looks like a clump of low growing flowers until we get close when they dive into the 'flowers' for shelter. The colours and shapes of fish surpass imagination, a wonderful sight. There are a few sandy beaches, but in the main they are rather rough coral. The outer (ocean side) reefs of an atoll are wide shallow areas of very jagged rocks, absolute disaster for any ship landing up on them. However a diligent hunt along the water's edge leads to finds of beautiful cowrie shells, lovely shiny shells of various colours and designs - no wonder they were once used as currency in this part of the world.
Next stop will be Taihiti, still French Polynesia, and in a group called the Society Islands. Much more developed and 'touristy' than here, and evidently very beautiful.
June 19, 2008
Fakarava
As you see we have made a move at last, and actually had a really nice sail, 15 kts on the stern, blue sky and calm sea. We were amazed as the day before it was blowing 30kts, and was very overcast so we thought the seas would be big. We spent a rolly night anchored off (ie outside) a small atoll, then got going at 6am to catch slack tide at the south pass of Fakarava. En route the furler mechanism for the genoa stopped working, so G has been busy with that. He has got it working but wants to paint the metal parts and it keeps raining. It is beautiful here, a small village and a few palm thatch cottages for tourists. The tiny church is festooned with strings of shells, and cowries and mother of pearl decorate the alter and pulpit.
Best of all is the snorkelling. Evidently a drift dive through the pass is a must, but when we went this morning the sun was a bit low and it was too gloomy in the depths. However when we drifted over the shallows inside the pass it was great, we were zooming along, and there were lots of unicorn fish with long spines on top of their heads, a first for us. Today has been an 'April' sort of day with sun then showers, so we have been out three times and fairly briefly each time. The coral heads along the sandy coast of our nearest motu are beautiful with lots of fish and very healthy coral growths. Clear clear water which is great too.
Hope we have a nice sunny day tomorrow so that we can 'do' the pass as we really need to get up to the northern end of the lagoon where there's a larger village with a couple of stores and hopefully some fresh fruit and veg.
Best of all is the snorkelling. Evidently a drift dive through the pass is a must, but when we went this morning the sun was a bit low and it was too gloomy in the depths. However when we drifted over the shallows inside the pass it was great, we were zooming along, and there were lots of unicorn fish with long spines on top of their heads, a first for us. Today has been an 'April' sort of day with sun then showers, so we have been out three times and fairly briefly each time. The coral heads along the sandy coast of our nearest motu are beautiful with lots of fish and very healthy coral growths. Clear clear water which is great too.
Hope we have a nice sunny day tomorrow so that we can 'do' the pass as we really need to get up to the northern end of the lagoon where there's a larger village with a couple of stores and hopefully some fresh fruit and veg.
June 16, 2008
Tahanea
We have been in Tahanea, a (now) uninhabited atoll for the last week. Crystal clear water, but unfortunately rather cloudy skies, and now strong winds and rain too. Spent a few days in a beautiful spot between several small motus or islets (position 16 57 458 S and 144 35 032 W) where there was actually a bit of sand rather than the rough coral rubble that most of the islands have. Very quiet and wild, and we spent our time collecting and identifying shells, and snorkelling around the reefs. Enjoyed the company of a couple of American marine biologists from Alaska and their 20 month old son.
Now it is time to make a move. We came back to the pass yesterday - badly timed as there was a complete white-out rainstorm en route. Not a hope of seeing the coral heads in the lagoon. Luckily we had already worked out that the computer charts are very accurate here, and the shallow spots marked were spot on - but you never know if there are more than are marked! We explored the abandoned village near the pass which has a very smart little church, a graveyard with quite recent graves, and a few tumbledown shacks. There is hardly any soil on the motu, just coral rubble, so apart from a few coconut palms they must have found it very difficult to grow any food. No wonder the very small population moved elsewhere.
It looks very rough outside the pass so we have decided to postpone our trip to Fakarava, where there is a larger village and a couple of shops. Our fresh food supplies are now extremely low - and we have run out of white flour, thought I had another bag somewhere. Made bread just with wholewheat flour but it tastes like sawdust - normally I use a mixture. Only onions and potatoes left so we are having to be very inventive with tinned things. Plenty of stores though, packets of juice, dried fruit, UHT milk. We are not on the way to malnutrition!
G spied one cockroach the other day, so we've had a big drive to put a special gel round all the through holes between lockers. No sign of it again or of any others, so hopefully it was a one-off. As I think I told you we had a few weevils in the rice so put it all in the oven at a low temp for a while which certainly killed them off and doesn't seem to have affected the rice. The joys of being in the tropics!
G is busy today making a new rain catcher from a reinforced plastic tarpaulin we have on board. We will tie it over the front deck, attached to the rails, and have an attachment for a hose fitted to the middle. The sun awning that we have used for the purpose up to now has never been very efficient and leaks like a sieve. Of course once finished we probably won't see any more rain for a while. He has also been making candles. We found a large chunk of wax washed up on the beach, and he melted it down in a tin and poured it into jam jars with a birthday candle as a wick. Pretty good - he's a beach comber par excellence!
Now it is time to make a move. We came back to the pass yesterday - badly timed as there was a complete white-out rainstorm en route. Not a hope of seeing the coral heads in the lagoon. Luckily we had already worked out that the computer charts are very accurate here, and the shallow spots marked were spot on - but you never know if there are more than are marked! We explored the abandoned village near the pass which has a very smart little church, a graveyard with quite recent graves, and a few tumbledown shacks. There is hardly any soil on the motu, just coral rubble, so apart from a few coconut palms they must have found it very difficult to grow any food. No wonder the very small population moved elsewhere.
It looks very rough outside the pass so we have decided to postpone our trip to Fakarava, where there is a larger village and a couple of shops. Our fresh food supplies are now extremely low - and we have run out of white flour, thought I had another bag somewhere. Made bread just with wholewheat flour but it tastes like sawdust - normally I use a mixture. Only onions and potatoes left so we are having to be very inventive with tinned things. Plenty of stores though, packets of juice, dried fruit, UHT milk. We are not on the way to malnutrition!
G spied one cockroach the other day, so we've had a big drive to put a special gel round all the through holes between lockers. No sign of it again or of any others, so hopefully it was a one-off. As I think I told you we had a few weevils in the rice so put it all in the oven at a low temp for a while which certainly killed them off and doesn't seem to have affected the rice. The joys of being in the tropics!
G is busy today making a new rain catcher from a reinforced plastic tarpaulin we have on board. We will tie it over the front deck, attached to the rails, and have an attachment for a hose fitted to the middle. The sun awning that we have used for the purpose up to now has never been very efficient and leaks like a sieve. Of course once finished we probably won't see any more rain for a while. He has also been making candles. We found a large chunk of wax washed up on the beach, and he melted it down in a tin and poured it into jam jars with a birthday candle as a wick. Pretty good - he's a beach comber par excellence!
June 10, 2008
Tahanea
We had a good 24 hour sail to Tahanea - 16 50 980 S and 144 41 571 W This is a now unpopulated atoll, but the snorkeling is supposed to be good for coral as well as fish. At the moment it is rather overcast and blowing 25 knots, so we are having an odd job morning. One other boat came in this morning, and there are evidently a few boats at the southern end of the lagoon but out of sight. Didn't catch a single fish en route, even though we were going at the right speed and there was no moon. Had to have tinned tuna pie last night. Rather frustrating that there are lots of good sized grouper and other fish on the reefs, but the locals don't eat them because of ciguatera which is a pretty good warning for us. G misses his evening trawl in the dinghy.
The entry through the pass here was fairly straightforward, though we had to wait for a couple of hours (trawling up and down the drop off of the outer reef hoping for a fish) until the outward flow had calmed down a bit. The combination of good sunlight to see the reefs, and suitable tides, is a tricky one.
The entry through the pass here was fairly straightforward, though we had to wait for a couple of hours (trawling up and down the drop off of the outer reef hoping for a fish) until the outward flow had calmed down a bit. The combination of good sunlight to see the reefs, and suitable tides, is a tricky one.
June 4, 2008
en route again
We have spent the last couple of days on the other side of the lagoon from the village - the wind came up and the coral heads right behind us looked a bit close for comfort. It was about 6 miles across, mostly deep water but with large coral heads that come up from 30m to just a few inches from the surface. Luckily very visible as long as the sun is well up and behind you. G stood at the bow the whole time. We anchored off some pretty little 'motus' or islets which were actually nicer to look at than to walk on as they are made of very rough coral, and even the sandy beaches are too sharp for bare feet.
A short dinghy ride away they were building a new pearl farm. We went to have a look, and as it was Sunday afternoon, were welcomed warmly by the construction crew. They took us to their main building, and invited us to share their lunch - shark curry, rice, fried fish, rice, and dumplings made from flour and coconut milk. All quite tasty. We were shown around with great enthusiasm. The whole of the very small motu has been cleared, and various buildings are under construction - a Japanese project, and most of the lads are from Tahiti, with just 4 local boys from Raroia village. They insisted on giving us half a dozen little birds eggs when we left - very sad that they are collecting them to eat, 20 people there for 12 months could do a lot of damage to the bird population.
Snorkelling was good, with quite a lot of clams nestled among the coral growths. Some have brilliant blue edges to the wavy closing edge. They snap shut as you get close, certainly wouldn't want a finger anywhere near, and G. had a diving knife strapped to his leg just in case. Also picked up a couple of pearl oysters which we opened on board, but no pearls of course.
This morning we headed out, miscalculating the tides a bit so found ourselves zooming out with the outgoing tide at a very hairy speed. I was keeping an eye on the range poles behind us while G. steered, a bit too exciting. We're not quite sure which island we are going to next, it depends on our speed and tide times. Will keep going through the night anyway, so will let you know where we are tomorrow.
A short dinghy ride away they were building a new pearl farm. We went to have a look, and as it was Sunday afternoon, were welcomed warmly by the construction crew. They took us to their main building, and invited us to share their lunch - shark curry, rice, fried fish, rice, and dumplings made from flour and coconut milk. All quite tasty. We were shown around with great enthusiasm. The whole of the very small motu has been cleared, and various buildings are under construction - a Japanese project, and most of the lads are from Tahiti, with just 4 local boys from Raroia village. They insisted on giving us half a dozen little birds eggs when we left - very sad that they are collecting them to eat, 20 people there for 12 months could do a lot of damage to the bird population.
Snorkelling was good, with quite a lot of clams nestled among the coral growths. Some have brilliant blue edges to the wavy closing edge. They snap shut as you get close, certainly wouldn't want a finger anywhere near, and G. had a diving knife strapped to his leg just in case. Also picked up a couple of pearl oysters which we opened on board, but no pearls of course.
This morning we headed out, miscalculating the tides a bit so found ourselves zooming out with the outgoing tide at a very hairy speed. I was keeping an eye on the range poles behind us while G. steered, a bit too exciting. We're not quite sure which island we are going to next, it depends on our speed and tide times. Will keep going through the night anyway, so will let you know where we are tomorrow.
June 3, 2008
Rarioa
Took the dinghy to the cut and drifted with it, snorkelling over the drop-off. The coral is pretty dead unfortunately, but the fish are fantastic. Lots of new ones to look up now that we are in a different ocean, and different varieties of familiar types. Plenty of sharks, mostly black tip, cruising along but luckily not too inquisitive. One reason why we swim with the dinghy - it allows us a quick exit if necessary! I saw a large octopus sitting on a lump of coral. First time I've seen one so wasn't sure what it was to begin with. There was a big blobby eye staring up at me. Unfortunately, couldn't get G's attention and then we had drifted past.
Also went over to see what the Mayor's celebrations were like. As we had seen in the Marquesas, the women had been busy decorating the meeting place (just a large roof, no walls) with plaited palm leaves. We arrived in time to see the welcoming ceremony for the dignitaries; some lovely music and singing, then young girls with flowers in their hair presented the guests with leis (garlands to hang round the neck). We then wandered along the ocean side of the moto (little island) as the tide went out looking for cowrie shells. Found four types which G is now trying to identify. When swimming G dived for a beautiful large shell with long spines, alive, so we put it back, but will be looking out for one of those on a beach. Have a feeling that we're not allowed to take shells into NZ, so will give P a select sample to take back with her.
The people on the other sailing boat said that they had caught a tuna in the cut from their dinghy at sunset, so we went with them (in 2 dinghies) yesterday. The tide was ripping out at its full 8kts, so we wouldn't have wanted to go out there with only one dinghy. Our new outboard is wonderful, faster, quieter, and much more economical. Makes such trips feasable. We returned as darkness was descending minus two lures and sans fish. Not sure what we hooked but they were both too big for the line!
It sounds from F as though he's getting very detailed charts?/satellite photos? of our position. We tried to get a look at the blog in Taiohae, but it was just too slow. Will have to wait until we get to Taihiti.
Also went over to see what the Mayor's celebrations were like. As we had seen in the Marquesas, the women had been busy decorating the meeting place (just a large roof, no walls) with plaited palm leaves. We arrived in time to see the welcoming ceremony for the dignitaries; some lovely music and singing, then young girls with flowers in their hair presented the guests with leis (garlands to hang round the neck). We then wandered along the ocean side of the moto (little island) as the tide went out looking for cowrie shells. Found four types which G is now trying to identify. When swimming G dived for a beautiful large shell with long spines, alive, so we put it back, but will be looking out for one of those on a beach. Have a feeling that we're not allowed to take shells into NZ, so will give P a select sample to take back with her.
The people on the other sailing boat said that they had caught a tuna in the cut from their dinghy at sunset, so we went with them (in 2 dinghies) yesterday. The tide was ripping out at its full 8kts, so we wouldn't have wanted to go out there with only one dinghy. Our new outboard is wonderful, faster, quieter, and much more economical. Makes such trips feasable. We returned as darkness was descending minus two lures and sans fish. Not sure what we hooked but they were both too big for the line!
It sounds from F as though he's getting very detailed charts?/satellite photos? of our position. We tried to get a look at the blog in Taiohae, but it was just too slow. Will have to wait until we get to Taihiti.
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