April 17 Sunday
We made it to Anse Amyot on the Atoll of Toau and got a mooring ball which is good because anchoring is not permitted. The water was clear and I dived down to inspect the mooring line. It was typical of mooring lines in places like this a 3/8 inch chain wrapped around a large coral head. The 3/8 chain is good, what was not so good was the 1/4 shackle holding it all together. I got out the diving compressor pump to dive down and have a closer look at the rope and how it is held. I was considering adding another line down to the chain. On closer inspection it seemed ok. Also checking the weather grib file it indicated there would be little of no wind overnight so I decided to leave it as it was.
We watched the first half of the movie Longitude and had a quite night. This morning we were intending to go to Apataki but when talking to Steve on Blue Summit he told us that he had heard that the Northern Pass into the lagoon was the better Pass. It was too late to get there in good light so we decided to skip it and go directly to Rangiroa. This would require us to leave between Noon and 2:00pm and sail overnight to arrive in good light for the passage across the lagoon after entering the pass.
It was getting very hot so it was time for a swim. I got quite a nice surprise when snorkeling in the water. The tide was coming into the lagoon bringing fresh crystal clear water with it. The visibility was fantastic.
I swam over to a fresh trap that the local couple living in the Atoll had constructed. It was a simple arrangement of a netting fence in a Vee shape that directed fish through a small gap into a large holding pen. Once through the gap the fish could not find their way out. They could get out quite easily if they knew or could remember how they got in. This does not reflect well on the intelligence of fish.
There were some very nice fish in the trap and also about three sharks. Even being in the trap with the sharks did not seem to provide enough motivation or intelligence gaining for the fish to find their way out. I guess that Darwins theory of natural selection did not have enough time here to be of any benefit to the fish.
Yesterday we saw the local owner of the fish trap floating around in the trap with a spear. It must be like shooting fish in a barrel. We also saw the local owner hanging a pig up on a stick and emptying it insides into the lagoon. There was no prizes for guessing what was on the menu tonight. Port and fish.
Some of the other cruisers had booked for the evening meal. The requirement is that you must book a day in advance and there is a maximum of 10 places.
I guess they only kill a pig when several boats are moored at any one time. One of the crew from the other 7 yachts that were moored there said that they walked over to see the pig pen. From the pig pen he could see all the yachts moored. He reported that the pigs looked very nervous.
Here is something else that is fascinating. The local inhabitant of the Atoll said that when the large Tsunami hit Japan most of the water in the Atoll was sucked out and later returned. On this occasion and with two other large Tsunamis that happened in the pacific all the crabs that normally live in the sand climbed the trees hours BEFORE the Tsunami hit. What is it that crabs can sense that we cannot?
After returning from the snorkeling to see the fish trap I could see that Zoom’s hulls were getting a brown marine growth on them. With a large sponge and a good hour or more of work under water the hulls were again a lovely light blue color.
We are now motoring slowly to Rangiroa with an ETA to the pass into the lagoon of about 8:00am 9:00am local time. This should give us good sunlight when crossing the lagoon where we have to keep a good look out for coral heads. These are easy to see in the day between 9-10am and up until about 3:00pm. Outside these times it is very difficult to see them so it is dangerous to travel between them outside of these times.
Tonight we will watch the second half of Longitude.
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