Diving for black pearls in the lagoons of the Tuam

Hooray! We have reached Tahiti and now have a decent internet connection!

Gipsy Moth IV

We were only in Hiva-Oa for a few days before leaving for the Tuamotu Archipelago on the 15th. We ha some problems with the watermaker on the first day of the trip, which kept us busy for a few hours. On the third day I decided to get the dreaded celestial navigation books out and began to teach myself how to use a sextant and get a position using the sun, all to go toward my next bit of paper - Ocean Yachtmaster. It took a while to get my head around the terms but I was soon on the coach roof, shooting the sun at midday to find our latitude, although until recently my efforts were putting us 17 to 26 miles out! Doh! I think I've cracked it now and am waiting for a clear day to give it another shot (its been rainy and squally for the last 24hrs).

Main Wharf Manihi

We arrived in the atoll Manihi after 5 days, sighting land that consisted of only beach and palm trees. The pass into the atoll (about 20 by 5 miles) was only 30m wide and the tide flew through with a vengeance, making it an interesting entry until we reached the deeper waters of the lagoon. George then piloted us past coral heads that rose from the lagoon floor 25 to 30m vertically to just below the surface of the water, a good thing we had a load of sunlight to pick our way through and to the anchorage. We anchored in 10m of clear water, over dead coral heads (most of the coral in the atoll was dead due to the damaged caused by seasonal cyclones and the rising water temperatures) and opposite a deserted motu, only 50m wide with the Pacific Ocean on the other side. I fell in love with the place immediately! The motu was littered with palm trees, where the locals collected coconuts for the export of copra, the meat of the coconut. It was the first real time that we could snorkel as the Galapagos and Marquesas had poor visibility (also the Marquesas had big sharks!!); whereas this was clear to about 6m. Although the coral was dead the coral heads were home to a load of colourful, beautiful fish so we had a few dives around the boat, found some black lipped oysters, but unfortunately they didn't have any pearls in!!.

Shambhala deck and coral head

We used the dinghy to go to the other side of the lagoon one afternoon to have lunch at the Manihi Pearl Beach Hotel (check out pics on Google Pictures), which ended up being over priced and not all that, but it was an amazing hotel, where a bungalow over the lagoon cost $600 a night, without food!!! The village in Manihi was also very special, two small stores, a school, an infirmary, a post office and houses lining two main streets, lined with beautiful trees and amazingly colourful trees (definitely a place retire to if you want a quiet life!). There were also several 4x4s owned by the locals, which was weird as the motu was only about half a mile from end to end!

View of the motu from the mast

Just before we left Manihi, Gipsy Moth IV pulled up and anchored next to us! This is the yacht Sir Fracis Chichester circumnavigated the globe in 1966/1967, stopping only once in Australia. She has been refitted and bought by UKSA and is sailing around the globe once more, skippered by UKSA and crewed by kids from the UK. We had a look round the boat, which is cosy with the 6 onboard! Check out their website at www.gipsymoth.org to see some pics and info of their trip.

We left Manihi on the 23rd and are on our way to Tahiti. Its going to be a stark contrast to the Tuamotus to be in a city again, although we'll be able to stock up with food and spares and fix a few things (we need to replace the propeller for the dinghy etc.) We're planning on spending a good month in the Society Islands, visiting Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and Bora-Bora. I think it'll be the highlight of the trip as the islands are renowned cruising grounds, with the attraction of fringing reefs and volcanic islands. We can navigate within the reefs of most of the islands which is going to be amazing, so watch this space!