Fakarava Atol

16* 30' S   145* 25' W

 

We have been inside the Fakarava Atol for about one week.   Yesterday, we moved from the northern portion, where there is a small town, 30 mile south to the southern passage.   This area is known for it's diving and snorkeling.   The atol is 30 miles long and 15 miles wide - almost like an inland sea.

 

Yesterday and today we have been snorkeling along the edges of the pass in very strong currents.  It is like flying through the water.   We take a dinghy out to the ocean end of the pass, drop in the snorklers, and one person stays in the dinghy following the swimmers as they shoot along in the current.   When we get well inside the lagoon, the small boat picks up the swimmers and we go back for another "flight".  The coral formations and variety of fish here are beyond belief.   There are also lots of large swimmers with vertical dorsal fins floating along with us in the currents.   At one point yesterday, one of the other kids with us counted 42 grey reef sharks 20'-30' below us!    Most of the sharks ignor us, but on occasion, one gets curious and floats along within 10' - 20'.   Any quick movement from us and they take off.   A month ago, it was hard to imagine being comfortable swimming along with our large finned friends, but it is almost starting to feel "normal"!

 

We were the only boat here when we arrived, but there are now 5 others - 3 of them with kids - so we plan on spending another week in this atol before heading the 240 miles to Tahiti.

 

E 

 

 

 

Bear's First Scuba Dive

Fakarava Atol

 

For my early birthday present I got to go SCUBA diving with an instructor.   He taught me on shore and then took me in a fast boat out to a reef.   Our friends on Mulan also went.   We got into the ocean and put on the gear.   Then he and I went down and around the reef.   I went to about 10' - 20' below the surface.   I saw lots of big fish including 3 big sharks, a huge grouper, and many small fish.    I felt like a fish and loved it!   I want to become a dive master.

 

Bear

 

 

 

Photos

More photos have been added to our Blog. There are now two slideshows: the Tuamotos and the Crossing & Marquesas. New photos have been added to both slideshows.  Take a look!

Pearl Farm Visit

After the exciting morning dive, we visited a pearl farm in the afternoon and learned all about how pearls are made and, of course, got some souvenirs.

The pearl farming business is fascinating. The Japonese figured it out by studying the natural process. They then created a way to replicate and optimize the process. Essentially, farmed oysters are surrogate mothers to implanted nuclei (from a certain mussel in the Mississippi River) and graft (the gooey part that produces the color coating) from a favored colored oyster shell. Once inserted, nature resumes its work for eighteen months after which the pearl is harvested and a new nucleus of the same size as the removed pearl is inserted. Each oyster can withstand this process 3-4 times. Then the oyster meat can be eaten and the oyster is retired. The result of this is the "black pearl" which can range from almost white to almost black with tints of green, blue, purple, etc in the spectrum. Pearls are rated based on their uniformity and priced accordingly. After learning about pearl farming, it made pearl shopping more interesting and enlightened so we feel more connected to our lovely souvenirs.

Fakarava Dive (North pass)

Eric and I went out with a local dive shop to a spectacular reef for a one hour (!) dive. The coral itself was worth the trip! I've never seen such healthy and colorful coral and so full of life. Truly overwhelming! We swam along the reef surrounded by thousands of colorful fish, big and small. They appeared totally unaware of us and some were even curious enough to come for a closer look. Several Grouper and a meter long, olive green fish new to us called a Napoleon showed up several times to check us out. At a depth of 50-60 feet, we came upon a group of gray sharks halfway through the dive. The dive master had prepped us they'd be there. It's mating season so the males are here too, biting their way to intimate relations with the females. These were gray sharks - 6-8 feet long who made close passes and, although not concerned that we were there, they certainly were not shy. At one point, I counted fifteen sharks on all sides of us. But I wasn't nervous. There were enough divers (8 in total) and they do this dive everyday so the sharks are used to seeing people. The slight increase in my pulse just added to the thrill of the experience. This dive shop's motto is: "If you don't see a shark, the dive is free." Hmmmmm......

Ann

Coral Reef in Tuamotus

 

The underwater life in the Tuamotus is all we were led to believe and more. Visability is pristine to a hundred feet and beyond but most of the colorful fish and coral can be found in less than twenty feet. With only two snorkels under our belt here, we are ready to declare this rivals the best in the world.  At a coral reef with a two hundred foot circumference yesterday, we saw meter-long sharks hovering before we bravely lowered ourselves in. As we were told and Bear now so fervently quotes, "We were more interested in the sharks than they were in us." Besides a half dozen sharks, we saw literally thousands of brillantly colorful fish and coral. A school of hundreds of football-sized black fish meandered aimlessly in one direction, then another. Oysters with florescent colored lips of blue, red, purple and black were embedded in the coral - fueling our desire to learn more about these intriguing shellfish that are famous in this area. Every color was represented and it's difficult to estimate the number of species cohabitating there. After an hour, we reluctantly climbed back in the dinghy and shared our awe and private discoveries. It was truly an event to remember

 

 

Tuamotus

On Friday we arrived at the atol of Kauehi in the Tuamotus after an easy 520 nm run from the Marquesas.   It is hard to imagine we are in the same ocean when you contrast these two island groups.   While the Marquesas are up to 3000' ft tall, green lush tropical mountains, the Tuamotus are only as high as the tallest palm tree growing out of the coral reef.    This island group consists of 79 atols spread over 1000 miles of open ocean.   Each atol was once a volcanic crater.  As the crater eroded into the sea, it was replaced with a ring of coral.   Today, there is no sign of the crater, just coral rings that form "lakes" up to 30 miles across.   Many of them have narrow passes through the reef that a boat can get through.   Once inside, we are sitting in calm smooth water as we look over the palm trees and the reef to the crashing waves on the outside.   Some of the atols have small villages and black pearl farms, but many of them are completely wild.   The water is as clear as it can be - our anchor is resting in 40' and we can see it and the fish swimmng aournd it.   There is spectacular diving and snorkeling all around with lots of coral and critters, including many sharks.   Yesterday, we were wading in the shallows and there were numerous little (2-3') black tip sharks all around.   Bear was carrying a stick to poke them if they got too close.  We are gradually convincing ourselves that they are well fed and not interested in us, but we are not quite there, yet.  

 

The Tuamotus were historically known as the "Dangerous Archipelago"  because they were so difficult to see from a distance and the currents can be strong in the passes and between the islands.   Many ships and boats have been wrecked on these islands, but our modern GPS and radar have taken much of the mystery out of finding the islands.

 

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On the road again ..

 

It is early evening on Wednesday, May 12.   Oso Blanco is 292 nm from our destination in the Tuamotu Islands and 230 nm from Nuku Hiva, where we left yesterday afternoon.   It has been a perfect passage, so far, with 10 - 15 knots of wind and gently rolling 4' - 6' seas pushing us along.   The sun has just set, not with the blazing glory of many ocean sunsets, but, like our day, it gently slid over the horizon behind some distant clouds.   The darkness comes quickly at sea and soon we will see the Southern Cross pointing at the southern pole star and in the other horizon the Big Dipper, but Polaris is not visible from here at 12* south latitude. 

 

Since our landfall in the Marquesas 3 1/2 weeks ago, we have been in a blur of new islands, new friends, hikes in beautiful valleys, hours snorkeling, and reconnecting with our cruising friends that also came over from Mexico.   The Marquesas have been our goal for the last 2 years' planning.   It was hard to look past the islands far out in the Pacific, as we focused on the "crossing".   It seems strange today, having left what had seemed like the destination, as we move on to the next South Pacific paradise.    French Polynesia is a huge area larger than all of Europe.   For some reason, the French limit our visas to only 90 days.   It would have been easy to spend months in the Marquesas, but our adventure continues as we look forward to 3-4 weeks in the Tuamotus and then on to Tahiti and the Society Islands.

 

We expect to arrive in the Tuamotus early Friday morning.

 

E

Manta ray photo

Look back on the blog posts for the one written by Bear called "Swimming with Manta Rays".  I've added a photo of our friend with one of the rays. To give you perspective, when Jamie is stretched from fin tip to finger tip he is about 8 feet long. Those Manta were BIG! 

Photos

We were able to put 120 photos onto our Shutterfly sharesite in the album called "South Pacific". To view, click on "Photos" on our website and enter the password "osoblanco".

View the Tattoos

Eric got a ring of Marquesan sea symbols imprinted around his left ankle. Our friend and crew member, Karl, got a Marquesan turtle put on his left shoulder to symbolize his shellback status. Both look great!

A Night to Remember

 

We are curently anchored in a small bay on the north side of Nuku Hiva.   There are 5 sailboats here with us, all with kids.   3 of the boats are our friends from Mexico and there is a one from Switzerland and one from Australia.  

 

After a day where we all swam with giant Manta rays in the bay, we arranged for a traditional Marquesan dinner at a small neighboring village.   They roasted a whole pig in the ground wrapped in bananna leaves.   The dinner included roasted breadfruit, tapioca, and fresh fish.  The village is approximately 5 miles away in a different bay, so Oso served as the mother ship and we took everyone in the anchorage, 14 adults and 13 kids, over to the other bay.    After the cocktail cruise, we then had to ferry everyone to the beach in dinghys. The town is set against the steep cliffs of an ancient volcano and there are archeological ruins and remnants of stone tikis everywhere.   It was a wonderful adventure with new and old freinds!  

 

PS   We have not had wifi or internet for a while.   We'll post photos soon.

 

E

Swimming with Manta Rays!

Early this morning we went snorkeling in the bay. On our way back, my friend spotted a fin flapping in the water. We got closer and it was a group of seven Manta rays. We all got in for a half hour to swim with them. They were huge! Their wing span was bigger than my dad. They were very curious and playful. I followed one in a complete circle. My friend, Nile, even went down and held on to one of the big ones for three seconds. Then it darted away. There was one Manta that had no tail. It was a once in a lifetime, extraordinary experience! Written by Bear

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Slideshow

Check out the slideshow on the left side of the Blog. There about 40 photos there from our trip. To enlarge, double click on the photo. Enjoy!