06/05/2007, Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
Today I completed the trip to the south end of Fakarava Atoll and anchored with five other boats near the abandoned village of Tetamanu. Shortly after arrival I joined the crew of another boar to do a drift snorkel trip through the south entrance to the lagoon during incoming (flood) current. The visibility was over 100 ft. All we had to do was hang on to ropes from the inflatable and let the current take us into the lagoon. There were a couple of huge manta rays swimming below us and a school of about 12 gray sharks just within sight. What a remarkable trip!
Tomorrow I will explore the old village and do another snorkel trip. I am still looking for bonefish but the prospects here do not look so good.
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06/04/2007, Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
The supply ship did not arrive today as of 2 PM so I decided to weigh anchor and head to the south end of the atoll for a few days of diving, fishing and exploring. Lagoon travel is usually a nail biter because of the numerous "bombies" or coral heads that get in the way. Fakarava, however, has a well-marked channel from one end to the other on the eastern, protected side of the atoll. This makes travel much easier. Today I motored 16 miles which is half way to the south end and set the anchor just before sunset. Tomorrow I will finish the trip to the south unless I find bonefish nearby.
I found a fabulous French restaurant on a side street in the village this morning and had a superb lunch there with friends. There is a fair bit of tourism on this atoll and there are numerous pensions and dive lodges. All else is well onboard.
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06/03/2007, Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
High winds today prevented us from diving at the lagoon entrance so, instead, we dove on a reef just inside the pass. No hammerheads were seen, just the usual gray and black-tip reef sharks. The coral gardens were exceptionally healthy and vibrant and the variety of fish life was stunning. I saw many species I had never seen before including garden eels and napolean fish. The visibility was about 50 ft. which is less than normal here because the wind has been stirring up the sand. All-in-all a very good dive.
Tomorrow the supply ship arrives and with it the possibility of fresh vegetables. We will see. In the afternoon I will head down to the southern end of the island where the diving and snorkeling are said to be fantastic.
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06/02/2007, Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
There are now 8 boats in the anchorage, 5 of which are having fresh wahoo for dinner. I was able to give away about 15 lbs of the fish I caught. The rest is in the freezer. For lunch, I joined the crews of two other Seattle boats and had excellent pizza at a local snack bar. This was the first restaurant food I have had since departing Mexico two months ago. For dinner, I had an enjoyable meal with some Italians on a Swan 53 called "Farina".
A Chilean catamaran came in today and, it turns out, the owner and I have mutual friends. He owns a fly fishing lodge on a river in the south of Chile where I have fished and he knows all the Patagonian fly fishermen I have met over the past 20 years while traipsing around that part of the world. Like me, he is searching the Tuomotu for bonefish. We will meet up in a couple of days to compare notes and perhaps wet a line together.
Tomorrow morning I am joining people from the local dive shop to go on a dive on the outside of the pass during slack water. The place is known for hammerhead sharks so I will be on my best behavior so as not to rile them. On Monday Sand Dollar will head south to the other end of the atoll where the snorkeling is said to be superb. All else is well, although the only vegetables I could find were three carrots and a head of cabbage.
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06/01/2007, Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
The early morning sailing en route to Fakarava was fast because of brisk winds from astern so Sand Dollar was allowed to drift the last 8 miles so as to arrive at the lagoon entrance at slack water. Although my timing was correct as far as published tidal predictions are concerned, I found the pass to be extremely agitated with 8 ft breaking, steep seas and blowing spume. I tried to punch through but was forced to retreat wondering if I had miscalculated, but all my figures were correct. After sailing back and forth for two and a half hours to kill time I decided to approach the entrance again for a look. I found a 4 knot outgoing current but no heavy seas and perfectly manageable. The pass was successfully negotiated and I continued on to the anchorage at the village.
In retrospect, I determined that the predictions for slack water were incorrect and, while expecting a slight opposing current draining the lagoon, I found a strong current still flooding into the lagoon piling up against the waves from an 18 knot wind. This is what created the large breaking seas. Once the current reversed, the flow was with the wind and the seas became short. I suspect only the locals know about these things. The published information is based on scant data and generalized over a large area of many islands. There is not much demand for better predictions because the traffic is so limited, a few supply ships each month and a bunch of yachties May through June.
Tomorrow I will go ashore to see if there are any vegetables at the small store.
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05/31/2007, En Route to Fakarava, Iles Tuamotu, French Polynesia
Sand Dollar weighed anchor at 2 PM, sailed the 9 miles through the lagoon and passed through the entrance two hours before the predicted slack current and had no problem. One fish was lost in the entrance but another was hooked and landed just outside the fast water. A 30 lb wahoo, cleaned and cut into about 25 steaks, is now in the refrigerator. It required 20 minutes to boat and another hour and a half to prepare. I think I will be making some new friends at the anchorage in Fakarava.
The moon is full tonight and the wind is 14 knots from behind me. For a sailor, what could be better? However, I have no sails up and the boat is doing 2.7 kts. At this rate I will be at the entrance to Fakarava at 3 AM. I need to "heave to" in order to slow the boat further so that I arrive during daylight. The entrance is wide, deep and well marked but I still prefer a daylight transit.
All else is well onboard. I am just pondering how I might cook the wahoo tomorrow.
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