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25th June - 11th July, 2005
used to the change in scenery from the dramatic volcanic Marquesas to the flat palm strewn
atolls of the Tuamotus. However despite the potential monotony of their flatness, we were soon to
find out that the Tuamotus are truly stunning.
These coral atolls are the picture-postcard image of a tropical paradise - a ring of low white sand-
and-coral enclosing a beautiful crystal-clear lagoon teeming with marine life. Parts of the coral
atoll, some of which reach 10-40 miles across, have developed into small islets (known as
‘motus’) covered in short grass and waving palm trees. Historically, these group of islands
were called the “Dangerous Archipelago” because, being only as high as the tallest palms, they
were difficult to see on approach by yacht, and consequently have claimed countless wrecks
over the years! Before the advent of GPS, sailors would go out of their way to steer well clear of
these hungry reefs, but we took delight in navigating not only through the maze of atolls, but
across their shallow and uncharted interior lagoons, using a lookout up the mast to navigate
through the coral heads and reefs.
Our first destination was Toau Atoll, a fairly remote island with only 10 permanent residents. We
sailed through the sole navigable pass into the inner lagoon, where the clear water was calm and
inviting, and discovered pristine anchorages to ourselves. These are shark-infested waters, and
we each dived in with a different level of trepidation: Torben was so wary he scrambled
backwards out of the water and climbed atop a coral head at the first sighting! Barbara was none
too impressed with his frantic splashing… Nevertheless, we did tons of snorkelling, saw a
limitless array of brightly-coloured reef fish, and more than our fair share of sharks close up –
mostly harmless white-tipped and black-tipped reef sharks between 1.5 and 2.0 meters in length
– they were interesting to inspect at 3 feet distance! And after a very long lay-off since the
Mediterranean, we finally dusted off ‘Spike’ the speargun with thoughts of free-diving for a
grouper dinner. Unfortunately Mark managed to break the barb off before we even got Spike into
the water – by shooting it in frustration at a coconut firmly holding on high up in a palm tree!!
Hence our spearfishing efforts on this occasion were unsuccessful. Better luck next time?
We had originally planned to visit the local village (a tiny collection of huts), but instead befriended
one of the locals, Jean, who was on an extended visit from the nearby island of Fakarava to take
care of his coconut trees and copra production. He lived in a remote hut on the beach with his
wife and baby daughter. Unlike in the Marquesas where we were often greeted with the phrase
“trade, trade?”, what ensued with Jean was more of an unsolicited gift exchange. He started by
giving Torben enough coconuts to start his own island (much easier than our efforts climbing the
palms for them!), in return for which we gave him some fishing lures and hooks. At that point,
Jean dipped into his pocket and gave us 4 black pearls – an amazing gift that signaled an
escalating commitment! This region is famous for them, but just to be given them as a friendly
gesture was pretty extraordinary. We quickly learned that scarcity imparts value, because all
Jean really needed was some flour and oil which we brought him later on.
We ended up going lobster and crab hunting with Jean that night in the tide pools on the outer
reef, and pulled in quite a haul: 2 lobsters, 3 groupers (stunned by whacking them with the back
of a machete!), and close to 100 soft-shell crabs. At first we picked the crabs up with some
hesitation, but soon were running around the beach following Jean’s flashlight and collecting them
two at a time, sometimes in one hand! We split our haul between us, and following Jean’s
recipe, made a great dinner the next night in freshly home-made coconut cream!
Next stop was Rangiroa, the largest atoll in the Tuamotus, where we had a date to pick up our
latest visitor Tim Roberts, (Mark and Torben’s friend from San Francisco) who was joining us
for two weeks back to Tahiti.
En route we had the good fortune to hook up two large Skipjack tuna simultaneously – after a fair
struggle (and the loss of our gaff hook!) we landed the two beauties, weighing in at a combined
total of 43lbs – that’s a lot of sushi!! You can guess what was on the menu for the next four or five
days… initially a real treat, but without a freezer onboard we were beginning to test our endurance
by the end! Entering the pass into Rangiroa lagoon is none too easy, and requires careful timing
to avoid the peak current flow at high and low tides, which can cause dangerous eddies and
standing waves in the narrow pass through the reef. Despite plenty of the latter and the threat of
squalls, we powered through on arrival, welcomed by dolphins jumping out of the standing
waves at our bow, and with just enough time to make a safe anchorage off the luxury Kia Ora
Hotel before sunset on the 1st July. The next morning the welcoming committee set of by dinghy
to meet Tim at the airport, while Q went in search of the only internet café on the island and a
suitable cocktail bar in the hotel!
Keen to experience the legendary ‘shark dives’ around Rangiroa, we booked ourselves in and
weren’t to be disappointed. We had time for two amazing dives in crystal clear water, and the
visibility was a good 40-50 meters!! We started along the outer drop-off where the atoll drops
sharply to the ocean floor, straight down to a depth of some 3 kilometers! Just staring out into the
'deep blue' and watching large schools of big pelagic fish such as tuna and barracuda was pretty
amazing, while close by we followed 3 sea turtles (within touching distance!) and were
surrounded by thousands of iridescent reef fish. Next was a drift dive with the incoming current –
we zoomed along at 3-4 knots through the main pass from the 'deep blue' ocean into the lagoon,
passing tons of sharks circling around us as promised – white-tipped, & black-tipped, & the
larger grey reef sharks, but thankfully no tiger sharks! The abundant underwater life was
spectacular to witness in such clear visibility, with the coral formations very much alive and
vibrant, and we all concluded the day exhilarated from the experience.
We then sailed across the lagoon (being the 3rd largest atoll in the world, this was some 15
miles!) to the uninhabited coconut ‘motus’ (islets) on the other side of the atoll. Time for us to play
Robinson Crusoe for a while: collecting coconuts for our regular evening sundowner cocktails
(chop the top off and add a splash of pineapple juice and a good dose of dark rum!), exploring
the rock pools and outer reefs on the windward side with their wild weathered lava formations,
and discovering another slice of paradise. This one seemed a surreal gem of nature: a tranquil
place called the “Blue Lagoon”, 1 mile across, surrounded by its own reef and motus, set within
the main lagoon. Once again we were the only yacht there, so we anchored a safe distance
away, and carried the dinghy across the inner reef to spend two days exploring the crystal-clear
shallow waters in all shades of blue and turquoise: we kept stumbling across baby sharks and
stingrays in foot deep water, and found an octopus, sea snakes, moray eels, coconut crabs, etc
all basking in the sun.
It was a beautiful place, and the perfect setting for.... an engagement! Yes, Torben proposed to
Barbara at sunset on our second night there. He had pre-planned it, waiting for the right moment
(with grey clouds and rolly anchorages having delayed matters for a few days), but couldn’t
have picked a better opportunity: we selected a little isolated motu (normally used as a base for
day trippers from the luxury resort!) brought supplies ashore, and popped a (hidden) bottle of
champagne after Torben had gone down on one knee and Barbara had accepted! We then
revealed the extra supplies of wine, made a fire out of coconut husks, cooked up a barbeque on
the beach for dinner, and spent the evening counting shooting stars and sleeping on the shore –
a wonderful experience, and one we’re sure they will never forget.
En route back across the lagoon the next day we hooked a ferocious 20lb Barracuda who came
up all flashing sharp teeth and menace – sadly he gobbled our prize ‘alien’ lure and bit right
through the 120lb test leader, but I doubt we’d have been keen to handle him close up in any
case! Thence onwards towards Tahiti, making swift progress sailing the 205Nmiles to Papeete –
the capital of French Polynesia – in 40 hours. Our first impressions of Papeete reflected it’s
sudden contrast to the low-lying tranquility of the Tuamotus: a wonderful harbour-front setting
backed by dramatic green mountains, a beautiful view of jagged Moorea in the distance, and a
vibrant French colonial city to explore... fresh baguettes, croissants and coffee for breakfast on
arrival set the tone perfectly!
a large
barracuda
