We are still in Makemo. Guy repaired the windlass by bridging a gap in the connectors with a rolled up strip of copper foil. It took a few tries of taking apart and putting the motor back together but he made it. He is amazing that Guy.

Luc and his companion Tua came by and invited us to come by their hut on the motu to visit. They harvest copra there. We took them up on the invitation and the next morning Tua showed us the ins and outs of coconuts and took us to an ancient cemetery. Luc had left for the village to get his outboard repaired. Tua works for Luc who owns the land. Together they keep the grounds clear and burn all debris to get rid of varmints that would otherwise eat the coconuts. They harvest the fallen down ripe coconuts open them and dry them for copra. They get $ 1.50 Usd / Kg copra. Tua told us that he arrived to Makemo from Moorea ten years ago to work in a pearl farm. There used to be a lot of pearl farms but I guess the pearl farming is not doing so well in the Tuamotus and a lot of the farms have closed down. And on top of that the water is cold says Tua, he now enjoys working on land instead. Tua pulled down four green nuts from a palm tree with a 30 ft long pole with a hook attached. Then he expertly cut them open with his machete. First a hole on the top of the nut for us to drink the sweet coconut water. Then he halved the nut and cut a slice of husk for a spoon for us to eat the coconut jelly inside. It was the first time for Guy and me both to eat a green coconut and we really enjoyed it. Then Tua took us on a tour to show us a cemetery where an ancient village once was located. He said Luc could tell us more about it. We passed by some nuts that had been gathered and Tua picked up one that already had sprouted. He split it in two �- which is no easy thing if you only use a machete �- and let us taste the spongy mass that had developed in the space that used to hold coconut water. It had a texture like cotton candy and tasted faintly sweet. We had brought some canned food as a gift but Tua told us he would rather have a pair of sunglasses which we happened to have a few extra of on board. So we came back with a pair for him. He was very thankful and sad to see us go. Tomorrow we plan to sail on to Tahanea an uninhabited atoll further west.