Taou
14 June 2013
We left Fakarava North anchorage at 7 am to make it to the north pass at slack tide enroute to Taou. After an uneventful trip through the pass we settled in to a comfortable sail of about 40 miles to Anse Amyot on the Northwest side of Taou. We had pleasant 15-18 knots of wind on our aft quarter and were making about 6-7 knots. The sun was shining. Life was good. By lunch time we were in the middle of a large squall with 25-30 knot winds that had shifted to forward of the beam. This combined with 9-12 foot seas, and a horizontal downpour changed what started out as a perfect day into an "interesting and challenging" day on the water. We spent part of the passage near a large motor yacht named 'Dr. No', who Kim chatted with on the radio. She asked them how the weather was on their boat as we knew they would be inside and much more comfortable than we were! Later that afternoon we tied up to a mooring ball in Anse Amyot. 'Dr. No' had arrived earlier and came over on their launch (the upscale equivalent of our dinghy, but over half the length of our sailboat) to chat. They are a private 'world exploration' vessel with a submarine on board and spend their time observing and filming sea life. Their submersible is very spaceship-like and actually "flies" through the water. (Sadly they didn't offer us a ride).
Anse Amyot is a small bay with two permanent residents and a number of relatives who live there more transiently. Gaston and Valentine maintain about 8 mooring buoys and make dinners 2-3 times/ week for cruisers, usually waiting for a commitment of 8-10 people before committing to cooking a meal. We were treated to a wonderful spread of seafood including parrot fish and lobster. Valentine also baked bread and cake for the occasion.
The next morning I was lucky enough to play 'dodge the bommies' with a true professional!! Gaston asked 3 of the cruisers in the bay to come fishing with him and picked us up in his small runabout with a large outboard motor. He then proceeded across the atoll at high speed dodging coral heads - often by inches. I think local knowledge is a huge advantage in this game!! We ended up at his fish trap and then after he located a school of parrot fish we literally herded them into the trap by slapping the water and shuffling our feet as we slowly moved forward and converged from the two sides into a line. We continued to move forward until the fish were into a wire mesh trap or corral that Gaston quickly closed. I estimated that there were at least 50-60 parrot fish in the trap. There was also one small shark so Gaston climbed over the fence of the trap, picked up the shark and threw him out. (That is why he is the boss!) We then went for another hair raising trip back to the anchorage. The fish will stay in the trap until the supply ship arrives at which point fresh fish will be traded for supplies. (Trading is a common form of commerce in the Tuomotus).
One morning I decided to clean the barnacles off the bottom of our boat, using mask, flippers and a spatula from our galley (Kim doesn't want the spatula back). I noticed that the dropping barnacles attracted a large group of fish who saw them as free food. I also noticed that the group of fish attracted three midsized reef sharks who drifted through the center and then disappeared. When the sharks came I cautiously headed for the surface and waited for them to leave before carrying on with my cleaning. On the third of these episodes one of the sharks decided that this many fish was too good to be true and began feeding (shifting from casual drifting to aggressive pursuit). I watched this from the surface until one of the other sharks decided to head straight for me. He veered of once and then came at me again. That is when I decided that the rest of the barnacles would have to wait!
We spent 4 days in Toau and then headed to Tahiti, a 220 mile sail. We left at dusk, and planned to arrive a day and a half later at dawn. By mid-trip we found that we were actually going too fast, and unless we slowed down we would arrive too early (before sunrise, which is never a good idea). We initially put a third reef in the main and used our staysail. Still too fast so for the last 120 miles, we dropped the main and used only the staysail, still averaging over 5 knots (we had lots of wind!).
We are now tied up at Marina Taina in Papeete across the quay from 3 super yachts. Our neighbour is 'Mazu', who we hadn't seen since Nuku Hiva. We plan to take a one month holiday from our adventure and come home. We leave this evening. Looking forward to seeing a lot of you in the near future!