Friday, 20-May-2016
Up at 0700 to make preparations to leave. The outboard and dinghy were brought on deck. Sail cover and tarp are stowed. Coffee is on.
0830 Anchor is up. We are 6 nm from Arikitaniro Pass. We made a goodbye announcement to the fleet at the anchorage with hopes that we will meet up again further down the road.
0845: Through the pass with a 3 knot outflow. There is a standing wave in mid-channel which we should be able to avoid.
0915: Full sail at a speed of 4-4.5 knots with a light south easterly. Course is 250* and heading to Garue Pass on the north end of Fakarava
1555: 16* 05' S 145* 43' W and we are through the pass. The captain used the Guestimator and our timing was pretty good. We had a couple of knots of ebb against us but nothing Confidence could not handle.
We had a very pleasant day of sailing. Although we did not break any speed records we still managed an average of 4+ knots with relatively calm seas. The skies were mostly cloudy which is often a blessing when sailing for hours without much protection! And no squalls!
1730: Anchor was set in 36 feet of water as the sun was setting in the company of four other boats.
Fakarava is the second largest atoll in Polynesia with respect to surface area. The reef crown is rectangular in shape, 60 km long and 25 km wide. The two main villages are Rotoava on the north end and Tetamanu on the south. Fakarava is the Capitol of the Tuomotus. It has been named Natural Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO? Their aim is to accompany harmonious development with human activities while preserving nature.
This is evident throughout the atoll. Mooring buoys are available free of charge to reduce destruction of the coral by anchors. Garbage disposal is available with some attempt at recycling. Clean potable water can be found from the tap at the mayors office. Power and telephone lines are underground. You are forbidden to flush your holding tank in the lagoon. Heads must be equipped with holding tanks and use of biodegradable detergents is required.
Rotoava is a lovely town - very neat with a few good restaurants and pensions - cute little cabins on the beach for rent. Supplies come by ship once a week so fresh fruit and vegetables are limited until Thursday morning. Fresh baguettes come daily on the one flight onto the atoll - guess no one bakes here!
I did manage to score 6 oranges (from US), yellow watermelon, banana and a few lines - which I must save for Judy on Kalabalu! They left for the south anchorage and I promised to pick some up if I should be so lucky.
I was treated to dinner on the town twice while we were here. What a treat. The menus are scarce with only a few things listed - poison cru, steak and frites (fried) and fish, usually Maui Maui or tuna, and chicken Chow mein due to the Chinese influence. I know it sounds silly but I ordered the Chow mein - no fish today - and it was very good - very authentic. Though a little scant on the vegetables they do what they can with chicken, cabbage, carrots and onion. The second dinner was further down the beach. But the people for Yacht Sevices calls the restaurant and they come and pick us up and the. Return us to our dinghies. I had fish and chips which they insist was tuna but I think it was grouper as the meat was very white. But it too was excellent!
We really scored when we found another little snack place on the beach with passion fruit and mango ice cream and free wifi!
I mentioned Yacht Services - a business run by Stephanie and Aldrich. They also provide free Wifi, laundry ($24/ load) OUCH, eggs ($10/20 eggs (OUCH - but free ranged) and bike rentals $5/hour - reasonable. They will also make any arrangements you require, shuttle to the airport, dinner reservations, diving tours, pearl farm tours. So we were able to sit on their deck and get connected, get some blogs posted and send out some emails.
Aldrich getting our bikes ready.
We rented the bikes for an afternoon and rode about 10 km north on a cement paved road. We would detour off to check out some of the pensions and snack shacks along the way. In some areas the atoll is very narrow and you can see water on both sides of you. There would be no safety from even a small tsunami. But the riding was easy as the road is fairly flat - good thing as bikes came with only one gear and breaks on the peddles - old fashioned but relatively new. A lot of transportation is by bike and it seems as if all the kids have them.
Stephanie and Aldrich have two girls in primary school. They ride the 7 km to school Monday to Friday and then back. The school has a kitchen and provides a hot meal every day. The issue comes when the kids get to high school. At this time the kids are sent away to a type of boarding school in Tahiti - government paid with two return air tickets per year.
We also went for a tour of a pearl farm. I never realized that there was so much work involved in growing pearls. It takes over two years to produce a pearl. Of course Gunther also had a shop where you could buy the pearls. It was pretty special to buy something from the person who was instrumental in making the pearl. He had quite a good selection of settings and grades of pearls - something for everyone.
And in case you didn't know - the Tuomotus and the Gambiers are famous for their Tahitian pearls. They come from the Pinctada Margaritifera oyster of the Comingi variety. They are best known for their diversity of size, shape, surface quality and endless natural colors and orient (shade).
We stayed until Wednesday so we could get confirmation on a connecting flight for Armon to Papeete in Tahiti. Air Tahiti is on strike which is affecting the flights to the small atolls. He has a flight booked for next Wednesday so we have decided to head to the entrance at the south end of the atoll where we hear the snorkeling is excellent.
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