July 21 - 24, 2012

I've been reflecting on our visit to Toau and decided that, really, we did not value our time in Toau for the snorkeling and birding but for the long social interaction with Pamela and company. Toau hasn't changed for the worse, except for the pearl farm experience. Valentine has a nice modern phone booth but it's "broken" she says. Gaston has a cellphone which worked sometimes if he stood on the roof - that phone is broken too. It is really funny to see a phone booth in such a remote area but the telephone system is a source of technological pride in Polynesia. You can buy phone cards at the Poste and use them in any phone booth.

Waves in the pass

The pass into Rangiroa atoll was the biggest deal so far. We looked at our Tides and Currents program in order to determine the time to leave Toau so that we would arrive at slack current. JJ had given us WxTides which the dive boats use and we consulted that. We arrived 2 hours early and tacked back and forth in front of the pass watching the gnarly maelstrom of fast outgoing current colliding with income wind and waves. We spent our waiting time calculating and observing other boats. The straight shot in was full of breaking waves. The dive boats came out along the east edge, having a relative smooth trip and dumped off their passengers for the wall dive outside the pass. Three sail boats came out after the dive boats and followed the leading line showing the direct route into and out of the pass. They got tossed and turned in a terrifying manner. We heard one boat say that they had not closed all their hatches and their bed was drenched. It was so bad that, in addition to already closing all the hatches and thru-hulls, I even put my computer away in a cabinet. Every possible point of entry for water was blocked and every movable object stowed securely. Time marched on and we decided we better go for it, even though almost the whole pass was covered in breaking waves. Barry deftly steered the boat along the edge (not the straight shot) of the pass where the current was slower and the water calmer and the boat smoothly and gracefully slid in the pass and around the turbulence. I am so glad I am married to Barry!!!

We anchored in front of the hotel where Vince & family will stay when they come on Saturday. Nice easy dinghy dock, wonderful restaurant, laundry service, help with directions and information of all sorts. Lovely.

We left our anchorage in front of the hotel when the wind changed from NE to SE 17 knots. A lovely sail across the 17 miles to the opposite side where we would be in the lee of the motus. We found a beautiful spot all to ourselves with fantastic snorkeling. About 4 pm a giant sailing yacht came and anchored right beside us! Why?! They followed us in Fakarava also. (See info about SY Tamsen. ) A huge sailing yacht with two mast so tall they had red lights to warn off airplanes. They made Sunrise look like a little peanut. Then about 5 pm we saw 2 Polynesian young men with their dog walking along the beach. The presence of dogs puts an end to just about any kind of bird that nests on or near the ground. Off we went anyway at 6 am to search for the Spotless Crake and Blue Lorikeet but saw nothing but Great Crested Terns, Black Noddies, Pacific Reef Herons and Fairy Terns. A family lives in a hut where we beached the dinghy and a young girl (about 11)) came by picking leaves and flowers and making an arrangement. We asked to take her picture and found that she was making the flower decoration for a grave there. Sweet. Because the locals know the birds better that we do, we showed her the bird book and she said no to the crake and the lorikeet. Her family has 3 dogs.



Tamsen



Tamsen has sailed away. This afternoon is laundry day.