July 18-19, 2012

This morning, I (Barry) went ashore in the dinghy to explorer part of the motu we are anchored behind.  There was a shallow lagoon extending into the motu with clear water, a few fish and one 3 foot long black-tip shark on patrol.  This lagoon was Moray City.  I saw these fish 22 different times with multiple sighting of some, I am sure.  The four smallest  ones were about one foot long with the largest 3 feet long.  Most were a very pale gray or beige with sandy speckles.  The largest was a darker gray, but also speckled.  Some were slithering around looking for food under chunks of coral rubble.  Occasionally, they would push in hard and I would see a small fish zip out to the side fleeing for its life.  Some were basically out of the water, slithering across the wet coral and its tiny puddles.  Others were trying to hide next to a piece of coral rubble.  One of the smaller ones was hiding with its head protruding out of a ¾" diameter hole in ½ inch deep water.  When I moved a piece of rubble under which a moray was hiding, I also saw a clam-like mollusk called a file shell.  It had a white shell about 1 1/2 inches long with a fringe of about 50 long bright reddish orange-striped fingers on its mantle waving around.  The "clam" was propelling itself through the water by opening and closing its shell.

I walked into a small coconut tree grove looking for a fresh coconut.  There were many old coconuts on the ground, but no fresh ones.  Eventually, I saw a likely coconut still hanging from the top of a relatively short tree.  It was out of reach, but I flailed away at it with the base of a frond for several minutes until the coconut fell.  To my disappointment, something had been gnawing away at the husk in several places.  Probably a rat.  Although the shell was intact, there was no indication of juice inside anymore.  So no coconut to eat.  The other direction down the motu, there are several houses or shelters and we have seen two boats and at least four men come and go.  We suspect that they are harvesting coconuts, as the copra trade is flourishing here.  Copra is subsidized to keep people on their home islands.  Otherwise, many would move to Papeete looking for work.

JJ on Ocean Echo turned out to be an interesting person.  He came over to share some tide and google earth info and told us he defected from Czechoslovakia 20 years ago when he was a young man.  He was a coach of the Czech ski team that was competing in the Alps when he went for a walk and just kept on going.  He has been in Canada for 20 years and was full of sailing information about British Columbia.  Being a European (dual citizenship), he can stay in French Polynesia longer than Americans so he will be here for years after we leave.  The next morning Cobia 3, the supply boat, showed up a few hundred yards from us.  Toau has changed.  We're out of here.

July 19, 2012  Leaving Toau atoll this morning was the first exciting ride through a pass that we have had.  There were big swells rolling straight into the pass and there was no avoiding them getting out.  This was caused by the wind blowing over 20 knots for several days. (La mer was agitee and even a bit grosse.) Add to that the higher tides caused by the new moon (the moon and the sun both on the same side of the earth pulling together on the oceans). We were well prepared for the bucking and splashing except for forgetting to close the door of the cupboard that holds the dishes.  Fortunately, the spigots on the sink stopped their flying onto the floor. After the boisterous exit we had a lovely downwind sail to Anse Amyot. Anse (anchorage) Amyot is a place we did not visit on Sunrise in 2000 although we did come via their skiff.  It's the place where Pamela screamed, "Dangereux" at the stone fish, where we ate with them and where Barry had so much fun shark fishing with Gaston and where Valentine showed us mementos and photos of her one-time home on  Mururoa.  Being Polynesian and evacuated from her home, Valentine has a bad feeling about France and the nuclear testing.  In 1963 Mururoa and other Tuamotu atolls were chosen by France to be the site of their atmospheric tests.  Between 1966 and 1974,  French made 41 above ground nuclear tests and between 1975 and 1991 they conducted 134 underground tests.  In 1995, the President, Jacques Chirac, announced another series of 8 tests.  The first of the series caused rioting in Papeete and by the last test in 1996 France was suffering worldwide outrage.  We felt this in New Zealand where France invaded Auckland Harbor and blew up the Greenpeace boat.  Greenpeace had been in Mururoa protesting.