After sitting for days in the Marquesas waiting for some wind we finally departed on 30th May for the Tuamotuas. We were excited, looking forward to some great snorkelling in the crystal clear lagoon waters, anchoring in calm water and visiting a pearl farm. The Tuamotuas waters produce the best black pearls in the world. The Tuamotuas are atolls, basically low lying rings of barrier reefs that once surrounded an island, connected by palm tree motus (land/islands). It was once called the Dangerous Archipelago avoided by yachts on account of their treacherous currents and lurking reefs in the days without radar, GPS and plotters. Even with all the electronic devices onboard, negotiating the passes into the lagoons is still a difficult operation because of the strong currents and entering should only be considered at slack water. Once inside the lagoon a constant watch is needed to avoid hitting the columns of coral heads (aka Bommies) which are difficult to see unless the sun is behind or overhead. For novices like ourselves we chose our first atoll carefully and headed for Kauehi (we can't pronounce it either) considered to be one of the easiest to enter and navigate. We had no difficulties entering the pass and with Bill at the helm and me at the bow Bommie watching, we headed down to the south anchorage. It was a beautiful uninhabited area where we chilled out for a couple of days. We then navigated our way up to the north end of the atoll and anchored off the village. Life on this island must be tough, it is very remote and with no natural springs, rain water is collected. There were a couple of small shops with basic items only, no fresh fruit or veg. In such a small community there is probably only one doctor/nurse and certainly no vets. The Polynesian people were extremely friendly but I did get upset at the number of freely roaming emaciated dogs but I suppose with no vets there is no control over breeding. Our next atoll was Fakarava, and in contrast to Kauehi, is much larger being 17 miles long, more sophisticated with a couple of good restaurants catering for the diving enthusiasts who flock here for its pristine waters. We watched with our jaws on the floor as local children paddling in the waters with large reef sharks would suddenly grab a shark and hitch a free ride! After that we decided not to be afraid of any future shark encounters and were really looking forward to drift snorkelling in the south pass. Alas we never got to experience the amazing snorkelling, nor a visit to the pearl farm on Fakarava as the weather forecast wasn't looking good. We had to be in Tahiti for the 21st of June as Neil and Alex were flying out to join us. We had to leave immediately before the strong winds came in otherwise we may be stuck in Fakarava and not get to Tahiti in time for our visitors.
Although our time in the Tuamotuas was brief, just 7 days, we are glad to have experienced them and we must console ourselves that there will be excellent snorkelling still to come.

On the chart picture, the yellow is land and green is reef.
I will post some photos at a later date.