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.
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