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.