We leave tonight, around midnight, and will miss the island and its people. We've had a truly great time here: relaxed, productive, and interesting. The pass out of the reef here is the largest in the Pacific so is no hazard. The pass into Rangiroa's lagoon is dangerous and we want to arrive early so that we can wait on the best conditions, and since it's 1-1/2 days, we'll leave at midnight, arriving in early morning in Rangiroa.

Fakarava has about 320 citizens on it. It's a huge atoll but only the north and east sides have motus and can be called inhabitable. Although the east side is only 1/4 mile wide, at the widest, that's enough for a few houses on each side of a more-or-less central concrete roadway. There are lots of coconut palms, lots of breadfruit trees, and other palm, of course. The soil is simply broken coral with a few centimeters of organic soil provided by the rapid decay of the plants. Chickens strut around, dogs bark, kids on bicycles are everywhere, and there's simply no sound other than the ever-present surf pounding on the east side. As I mentioned, we could hear it on the boat!

There's no Gendarmerie here, so the mayor, whom we met, takes what care needs it for policing, although I can't imagine that there's much need. Everyone knows everyone, of course, and they are simple folk.

For the first time, we're using the Wifi at the Fakarava Yacht Services home. It's owned and operated by a French sailing couple who sailed here and fell in love with the place. They decided to stay and started this business on 1 April 2014: and that's their password! They do laundry, some light maintenance chores, and offer the Wifi. I do hope that they survive since they've had to make work where none previously existed.

As I mentioned earlier, Fakarava is a UNESCO Biosphere Park, a special designation for a very pristine environment. There's endemic ciguatera for fish in the lagoon, but it's not from human causes. It does cause the locals to catch their fish outside the lagoon, though.

There are LOTS of sharks! Most are the small Black-Tipped Reef Sharks, but some are the much larger Grey Reef Shark. The photos that I posted yesterday showed what we think is a Grey about 1.75m long.

I'm simply not ready for a such a laid-back life, but if I were, this place might be at the top of the list.

More in a few days. For heaven's sake, watch the Venus/Jupiter alignment if you can!