05/27/2007, En Route to Kauehi Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
My opinion of Makemo Atoll is very low at this point. The snorkeling was less than mediocre, there was no evidence of any sport fish to be caught, the anchorage was exposed to the prevailing wind, and a coral field swallowed my anchor and would not give it back. I spent four hours trying to win the anchor, a 44 lb Bruce, including diving on it with scuba gear. I found it in 60 feet of water in a coral hole with a large piece of coral on top of it plugging the hole. I further determined that it was irretrievable without another person to operate the boat and a large crowbar or some dynamite. There were no other boats within miles and I had seen no one since arriving. The good news is that I learned it only takes exactly two minutes to cut through a 5/16" chain link with a hacksaw. There are three other anchors on board but the Bruce was my favorite. I hope to replace it in Papeete.
I departed Makemo at 1:30 PM and rode 5 knots of current out of the pass, bound for Kauehi which is 80 miles to the west. There is very little wind so I am motor sailing at present. All else is well onboard. I sure loved that old reliable Bruce!
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05/26/2007, Makemo Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
The overnight sail from Raroia was very easy, 10 - 12 knots on the stern the entire passage. I arrived at the northwest entrance to Makemo Atoll midmorning when there was only about 2 knots of current pulling me into the lagoon and the pass was well-marked with beacons so the transit was not difficult. However, I did get a little nervous when the depth sounder showed only 12 ft under the boat in the middle of the pass. A bow lookout would sure be handy in cases like this.
Exploration by dinghy revealed little in the way of fishing opportunities. The snorkeling was unremarkable. There were not many fish to be seen and the coral was mostly dead. I probably will not stay here long. All else is well.
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05/24/2007, Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
The weather today consisted mostly of squalls and high wind until about 3 PM, making it a good day for boat projects. I hate to leave this beautiful place but there are other islands to see. Tomorrow morning on the slack tide I will make my exit through the pass and sail to the atoll of Makemo, about 90 miles east. This will be an overnighter and I will make my entry into the lagoon at midday so as to navigate among the coral heads. My friends Reinhard and Marlene on "Adio" are there now but may be gone by the time I get there.
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05/23/2007, Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
It's another splendid day in Raroia with fishing in the morning and snorkeling in the afternoon. I visited the landing site of the Kon Tiki which is infested with small moray eels in water 0-2 feet deep. No bites, thank God. The water visibility for diving is at least 50 ft and the sea life is rich. The reef sharks, said to be harmless, are nevertheless curious and intimidating.
All else is well.
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05/22/2007, Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
Clear skies, light wind and no rain - perfect conditions for fly fishing and that is exactly what I did for most of the day. I concentrated on fishing the drop-offs for giant and blue fin trevally. Although I landed several nice fish the big ones broke off. During the late afternoon black tip reef sharks, which are present all day, became very active and seemed to like a red fly. Imagine that!. They are a real hassle to land and sometimes it is better to just cut the line. After battling two of then I decided it was time to quit and work on the boat.
Tomorrow I may snorkel unless the conditions look especially good for fishing. Sometimes it is hard to make these decisions.
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05/21/2007, Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
Today I set out by dinghy to explore a small part of the atoll and to see if any fish would take a fly. The reef on the perimeter has breaking surf but no sand beaches. The bottom is all old coral with small, palm tree studded islands called motus every 500 yards or so. Between the motus water washes over the reef and forms channels which drain into the lagoon. This is where I concentrated my fishing. I saw no bonefish but did catch and release many 3-5 lb bluefin trevally, some small groupers, and a hard pulling species I could not identify. Several fish broke the line on the coral before I could see them so I can only guess what they were but, of course, they were huge. Enough fish tales.
The climate here is much more to my liking than that of the Marquesas. Being 400 miles farther south it is several degrees cooler and much less humid. The cooling trade winds blow constantly with no mountains to block them making the evenings cool and comfortable and the days tolerable. There are a few flies but no mosquitos or nonos. It has rained a couple of times for about 20 minutes since I have been here.
Tomorrow I work on the boat and maybe explore a little more.
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