Leaving Huahine sprung another surprise on us - one of the plates that supports the rigging on the mast was broken, so on an ideal sailing day, we were forced to motor the 20 or so miles across to Raiatea. Fortunately the town of Uturoa is a hotbed of marine services, so we were able to find a shop that can fabricate a replacement.
To fill in a couple of days while the part was being made, we headed to the south end of the island and anchored of the motu Naonao. Due to heavy rain squalls, the water was very muddy, making the normal spotting of the shallows very difficult. Therefore we anchored using the depth sounder a on a shelf that was about 20ft deep. Once secured, we went snorkeling with our friends off Oso Blanco. Not long afterwards fellow cruisers dinghied over to say we were dragging - a major wind shift with another squall had dislodged us. Actually, Mulan was adrift rather than dragging - the water off the shelf was 100 feet deep, so the 'hook' was suspended in mid air. Once we reboarded, Mulan was only feet from the motu, but still in deep water. Fortunately, no damage was done. It's the first time we've dragged anchor the whole trip, and obviously we made it a good one!
The snorkeling was spectacular between the motu and the outer reef - probably the best since the Tuamotus.
Cheers, team Mulan.