April 12 Tuesday
Well we made it Fakarava Atoll. At the skippers briefing back in Hiva Oa in the Marquesas we had an experienced cruiser of the area give us a presentation about the Tuamotu Atolls and the dangers of entering the narrow passes into the Lagoon of an Atoll. He warned us to only enter at slack tide, either high tide of low tide and only enter when the sun is high and behind you so that can see the coral reefs and coral heads. We should not enter if we see standing waves either side of the pass. Also that we must use polarized sun glasses to see the coral heads that will rip your boat apart if we hit one.
He suggested that the North pass of Fakarava was a good one to start with so that we get some experience with this pass before attempting more challenging/dangerous passes into the Atolls. All good advice of course that set the fear of god, coral reefs, coral heads, and Atoll passes in all of us skippers.
The slack tide of the North pass into Fakarava was at 5:19pm on the day we would get there. We were going to arrive at about 2:00pm so we slowed the engine down even further to save fuel, there was not enough wind to sail. We arrived at the pass about 2:30pm. The pass was about half a mile wide and at pretty much full current flow into the lagoon. Andy from Into the Blue had gone through the pass about 20 minutes before us and gave us the heads up on what to expect so we charged on.
It was a doddle. After we were into the Lagoon I called Andy to thank him for the heads up and said that a Blind man with a dog could get through that pass. He agreed and added that dog could be sleeping as well. We both had laugh and carried on to spot on the other side of the lagoon where others in the fleet were anchored.
It was a good thing that we got through the pass much earlier than slack tide because it was 5 miles, about an hour of motoring, to get the anchoring spot. If we have waited until 5:17pm we would have been anchoring around coral in the dark. That is not a very smart thing to be doing. Even by 4:00pm the sun is too low and it is difficult to see the shallow areas and almost impossible to see coral heads.
When we got to the anchoring spot I picked what looked like a nice spot with good clearance away from the other yachts. As we got closer the crew noticed what looked like a marker for a mooring buoy in the water. Blast! I could not use this spot. I reversed away from the marker about 50m into slightly more deep water and started to lower the anchor. The crew said the mooring ball had followed us, we must have hooked it with our anchor. Rubbish I thought. I went to the front of the boat to have a closer look at this mooring buoy marker. Ummm! Does not look like a mooring buoy marker to me. I dived into the water and swam to the mooring buoy marker. Picked it up and threw it back to the boat. It was a floating coconut that was just drifting towards us as we motored backwards. We motored forward again to the original spot and safely anchored.
I could see that the next few days were going to be what I now call Reward days. Reward days are days that you are rewarded for the sleepless nights, lack of showers every day, hot humid weather out of air-conditioning, constant motion, running to close hatches when it rains, etc. etc. The water was clear and the area beautiful with coral reefs around us to snorkel in.
When lowering the outboard engine as part of the procedure to put the dingy in the water I somehow managed to have the dingy engine come down hard on the bone just below me port (left) eye. I felt the jarring right down through my neck. Ouch! That hurt, here comes a black eye for a few days. A tissue was applied to soak up the bleeding from the cut under my eye and an ice pack was put on it right away. No swimming for me for a couple of days.
The next day I rested and had a nice day to myself while the others went ashore and explored.
I felt better the next day and we all went for a cycle ride. Andria and I had bikes with us on the boat so I used Andrias (it was easier to get out through the hatch compared to my larger bike) while the others hired bikes. It was very nice to cycle along the Atoll because it was so flat. In many places it took less than a minute to cycle from the lagoon side to the ocean side. When we got too hot we would stop at a beach and do some snorkeling.
It was a good day, the only down side was my younger every day knees complaining about using Andrias bike which has a frame too small for me.
Today we moved to the south end of the Atoll, a motor sail of about 30 miles ( 5.5hrs). We anchored in water so clear that in 35 feet of water we could see the bottom. It is a good thing that it is so clear. When I got into the water to see more clearly how the anchor was set I could see it sitting nicely on its side on a piece of sand. The anchor chain then passes around one coral head, to the left and under another coral head then to the right and under another coral head, then to the left of another coral head, then to the right of another coral head, then up to the boat. Leaving this place may be a learning experience!. While doing this dive I see several sharks in the water. I have not checked the gopro video yet but I should have one of a shark coming directly at me. I was thinking at the time. I hope this shark turns away now. ok he did not maybe now no! ok fella last chance turn away now oh Sh..t.. it did not turn away this is not good. finally it did turn away.heart rate can now drop back to something less than 250 beats per minute.
To raise the anchor we will need a snorkeler in the water directing us to steer in the direction required to lift the chain from under or around these coral heads.
The crew all know of the sharks in water so I have several volunteers to drive the boat while I get in the water to guide it. I have a bunch of chickens for crew!
Another potentially dangerous event happened while diving to view the lay of the anchor. While down about 15 feet I could hear the noise of an outboard motor. When diving in water, because of the density of the water compared to air it is impossible for humans to detect in which direction the sound is coming from. I looked up and could see that the dingy was going over only about 6 feet from directly above me. Ummmm time to stay down a little longer until it passes, which it did so that I could surface for air.
Later in the afternoon I was diving ( snorkeling ) again and could hear another outboard motor. I looked up and around but could not see it anywhere. I could not hold my breath any longer so had to put my arm above my head and surfaced. The noise was coming from someone towing a skier about 100m away, phew!Tomorrow the crew have signed up for some guided drift dives and snorkeling. This pass is rated as one of the top 10 dive spots in the world. It has what is called the wall of sharks. The guides guarantee that there will be hundreds of sharks on this drift dive through the pass. In the past I have dived with sharks before so will pass on this. I may take our own dingy and do a drift snorkel through the pass. The following day we plan to move on to Toau Atoll.
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