After spending 3 days anchored in Rotoava, on the North side of Fakarava atoll, we have departed. An early departure was in order due to our plan to head North for a smaller atoll of Apataki, some 75 miles away. So, after enjoying our morning coffee at 5 am (thanks Fred), we departed yesterday (happy Mothers' Day), for the feared Pass out of the atoll. The Pass was easy this day, and had no trouble. Why Apataki? We heard from other cruisers on the SSB Net that it was a great place with clear, calm anchorages. Since the cruising guide books are pretty dry and generally don't give opinions' regarding the hundreds of possible anchorages, we jumped at the recommendation. As we leave, my general impressions of Fakarava after out short stay are mixed. As I've found throughout French Polynesia, the people are wonderful! But the weather caused a very rough anchorage that resulted in 15 knot winds, a 3 foot chop, and a constantly rolling boat. A couple of nights, sleeping aboard was more difficult than on most our passages. So the water was churned up and visibility was less than 10 feet. And we had a day of rain as well (weather happens), so not ideal conditions. And we just happened to hit another National Holiday, so everything was closed except for the hotel (think beach motel) snack bar. The next day, we did see more people on the street as the schools we out - which was cool. We also found a yacht services business that was run out of a nice family's home with a nice big deck and free internet. Thank you!


We may have missed the supply ship as the stores had no eggs, few veggies, and ran out of bread by 6 am daily. So had to wait a couple days to get baguettes' (ordered in advance) before we could leave. Sounds bizarre, but sometimes you have to wait days to get $2.50 worth of bread here in the Tuamotu's. It does make one appreciate the conveniences we all take for granted back home, however. Cheers from Huzzah!