May 19 to June 2, 2011
Fakarava/Rangiroa
We left Toau Atoll on May 19th and went over to Fakarava Atoll. We went through the North Entrance and anchored down in front of the little village there. It was a wide open entrance, for a change and so we had no problem getting into this atoll. While we were there 7 canoe boats came in with sails and the wooden paddle steerage that the original ocean canoes in the early 1500s to 1800s had. They were designed to cross oceans and the purpose was to get awareness of the ocean environment. They had no modern day electonics to navigate or steer with and there were from 14 to 16 crew members (both men & women) on each of the boats. It was a wooden craft with wooden planks for flooring and only a galley (kitchen for you landlubbers:'} up on top for cooking. The bunks were single (and very tight) down below deck, as was the head (bathroom) down below. So when the ships hit 25' waves and 35 knot winds as they came over from New Zealand to Fakarava, they had to steer and handle the sails, etc. completely from the top deck and in dangerous conditions, to be sure!! But they had trained for at least a year for this adventure and, tho the 25' seas weren't to be desired, they all were having a wonderful adventure The canoes are called wakas and they have a website you can go on : http://www.pacificvoyagers.org/voyage/track-the-voyage/. . "On the waka, they will have no running water or fossil fuel-burning engines, apart from natural gas which is used for cooking. Solar power is used for energy and the crew navigate by the stars." Their purpose is "to raise awareness about the problems facing the ocean with a scientific focus on acidification, dead zones and noise pollution and how they affect marine life." Don and I were lucky enough to get a ride on one of the canoes as they were giving the islanders rides and we 'just happened' ;>) to be on the docks and got to go on one. It was a ball! There are between 14 & 16 crew members from all over the South Pacific and even one capitan from Europe. A German fellow is sponsering the event and the boats and we heard it was a multi-million dollard project. The crew are all volunteer and each do a leg of the journey. They will eventually, end up back in New Zealand where they started. But they are hitting Rangiroa, Nuka Hiva, Hawaii and then San Diego before heading back across the ocean after the hurricane season. Anyway, we felt very lucky to have been in Fakarava when they arrived and left to see them. They left April, 2011 and traveled to Fakarava, Nuka Hiva, Hawaii and are now on their way to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego in November where they will winter for a few months and wait for the hurricane season to break so they can head back across the Pacific via the Galapagos. Anyway, it's a great site to go to and see what they all about, if you're interested.
We stayed in Fakarava almost a week and then head for Rangiroa, another atoll. There was a rain/wind squall when we arrived so going into this atoll was a little scary. The currents going in/out of the atolls into the lagoons are most always tricky and you have to be on your toes and watch the charts very carefully when enter or exit them. With a squall, it was even more so as the winds were pushing Storm Haven around some and the visibility wasn't very good. But, my hero, Capitan Don, got us through with no problem!! Our friends, Jan & Rich on S/V 'Slip Away" whom we haven't seen in 5 years since they left on their great sailing adventure from Mexico, were in Rangiroa and we had a great time catching up on the wonderful places they've been and what they've been doing. Their nephew who just graduated from High school, flew into Rangiroa and we all went diving together with a dive master. Though both Don and I have been certified for 15 years, I am just not a very confident diver and Chad was a new diver. With the currents the way they are in the passes, we thought it would be a very good idea to go to a dive shop and have a master guide for us. It turned out to be a wonderful time and we got to see a lot of really neat stuff. We (Don and the others did 3 dives, I didn't do the pass dive;>( chicken that I am) did get to see porpoise up close and personal and feed a sea turtle and when the others went on the pass dive, they saw a bunch of sharks. It was a lot of fun!! I'm sending more pictures, so be sure and go to the Gallery to see them;>)
Well, I'll write about Tahiti and our adventures with Lisa, our daughter, her husband, Drew and our granddaughter Fiona next!!
'Til time!
Don, Paulie & Bootsie (meow)