Port Havannah, on the north west corner of the island of Efate is a large sheltered area with many possibilities for anchoring and exploring. We anchored off a village called Ulei which proved very sheltered and we comfortably sat out the strong winds that continued for several days.
Ashore there is a small community with both a primary and secondary school. The road side stalls sell fruit and veg in the afternoons and in the evenings there are various cooked food and snacks. Everyone is very friendly and were happy to chat when we went ashore for a walk. The snacks were enjoyable too; from fresh skewered nuts to samosas and rotis. You could also buy entire cooked meals, but the snacks were sufficient for Derek since it was almost dinner time when we went!
A short walk along the road from the stalls is the ‘American Pool’ fresh water swimming pool enjoyed by the locals, which was labelled as a potential resort location in the past; presumably the local kids gathered there will hope that never comes to be.
Amidst the stalls selling the snacks and food is a World War 2 memorabilia stall, filled with items from an aircraft that ran out of fuel and landed nearby.
Leaving Port Havannah
A short sail out of the bay and around the north to Pele Island gave us a beautiful anchorage and protected spot between the islands surrounded by reef. We spent a few days here doing boat maintenance and enjoying snorkelling. The afternoon sun descends over the old volcano, which can be walked up from the beach and sets over the sea just to the south.
Sunset looking towards the volcano
It was a slightly extended stay in the bay and now we head back to Port Vila to collect a new Balmar alternator which is on its way from New Zealand, replacing the one that failed last week after many years of good service. We could have bought one locally but although we do have a generator providing a second source of power, we would rather wait and get the ‘Rolls Royce’ of marine alternators for peace of mind. Lesley is of course happy because its a good opportunity to reprovision and visit the market again!!
After a little over 3 days at sea we arrived at Port Vila in Vanuatu. The check in process was relatively easy but took time, not aided by the additional boats and Cruise ship that was there due to the unrest in New Caledonia.
We spent a few days on a buoy in the harbour doing jobs, shopping for provisions and catching up on some sleep before heading out to a sheltered anchorage, Port Havannah, on the north west corner of the island of Efate to ride out some breezy weather that is now coming through.
Vuda Marina has two areas for berthing. The original basin is called the East Basin and the newer basin is known as the West Basin. In the East basin, which is roughly circular, its “med-style” mooring with fixed docks. In the west basin, there are modern floating pontoons. There are good facilities here including a restaurant and bar area, small shop, yacht services and chandlery. Gas bottles can be easily refilled (at the gas depot next door), and there is a sail maker across the road from the marina.
The marina offers cyclone pits; effectively holes in the ground that the keel and rudder are lowered into, with the hull supported on tyres on the ground. Once strapped down the boats are far more securely stored than if they were on normal props. Cyclone season is 1st Nov to 30th April. For us its time to return to work; it has come around far too fast this time.
With Ocean Blue safely tied down in a cyclone pit, we left her to stay on land for the first night in many months. We travelled back to South Africa for work via Hong Kong.
Ogea We finally found a weather window to head to what people who have cruised Fiji extensively regard as the jewel in the crown – The Southern Lau Group of islands. Unfortunately at the time we were enjoying the Yasawa Islands which are in the north west corner and the Southern Lau are in the south east corner so we sailed and motored for a couple of days. We were trying to get to Ogea but were not going to get there in the light so did a quick overnight stop at the lovely Numuka Island just 24 miles short of Ogea then moved on the next morning.
The anchorage was stunning and we were surrounded by tiny lava motos anchored in beautiful soft sand. As is Fiji tradition the first steps ashore are to give and present the village chief with Kava for a ‘Sevusevu’ ceremony which was a 40 minute walk through the woods to the other side of the island. At least the path was relatively well defined and we didn’t get lost. We were met at the village by two young girls willing to show us the way to the chief’s house. Afterwards we were give a guided tour of the their village.
As with everywhere we have been in Fiji the locals are super friendly and the experience was thoroughly pleasant. Rituals over, we could now explore the island. To finish the day off last night it was another cruiser’s birthday so we met up on the beach at sunset for drinks and a bonfire. Another opportunity to meet and make new friends.
The sun came out today so we took the opportunity to explore this beautiful place, above and below the water. The colours are just magic – no wonder people enthuse about it so much. Corals, beaches, caves, sharks, eels and many other types of marine wildlife. Absolutely stunning
Fulaga Close by to Ogea is the beautiful Fulaga with a narrow pass and several options for anchoring. When you do your Sevusevu (presenting your Kava) there you are allocated to a ‘host’ family who take you under there wing, show you around the village and answer any questions etc.
Fulaga is one of the few Fijian islands where they carve all their own woodwork and it’s pretty cool stuff. We were treated to a tour, followed by lunch at their house before being accompanied back to the anchorage. Whilst eating lunch, they picked us fruit and veg then made us a basket to carry it all in back to the boat.
The generosity and friendliness of Fijians is a real treat.
After a few days of snorkelling, diving, kitesurfing and spending time making and chilling with new friends we had to leave to start making our way back to Vuda to lift the boat out.
Hopefully we will have another opportunity to return to the southern Lau group of islands since they have been an amazing experience and one we will always cherish.
We sailed across the Koro Sea again this time around the south side of Viti Levu and through the Navula passage. We did stop over night at Malumu Bay on Beqa and Natadola bay on the south of Viti Levu to break up the 4 day passage.
We left Musket Cove to sail north through the Yasawa Group which is made up of about 20 volcanic islands that cover approximately 135 square kilometers.
We found lovely small islands including the one used in the Tom Hanks film ‘Castaway’.
The pass between Drawaqa and Naviti is famous for manta rays. The mantas come to feed here and can most often be found at the NE side of the pass. We were there with several local trip boats and snorkelled with the mantas.
Somosomo-Naviti-Yasawa
The last 24 hours has been about sheltering from some pretty strong winds, with plenty of rain thrown in for good measure. Despite the conditions, the locals were out fishing and came by offering us lobster. Slight change of plan for dinner tonight saw Lesley enjoying fresh lobster tail in white wine and garlic butter, whilst I stuck to fajitas!
After several days of miserable weather, the wind has gone and the sun is back out. We moved up to Nanuya Lailai island, or ‘The Blue Lagoon’ as it’s known since this is where the movie was filmed back in 1980. Actually it’s the adjoining island where the filming took place but we can’t anchor there. Lo’s Tea House is across the island and Lo serves freshly made doughnuts and refreshing lemon drink, amongst other things. It’s a lovely walk with great views and good to see Lo still serving food from her house despite losing her tea room to the weather a few years back. Her new tea room will be up and running in a month or so and looks cool. Hopefully loads of cruisers will support her by buying more doughnuts!
Amazingly and unusually we had a good weather window to return to the southern Lau islands, a trip against the trade winds, so we picked our way through the shallow waters of the pass for a 3 day passage to Ogea Levu crossing Bligh Water and the Koro Sea.
There was a rally going from Tonga to Fiji and the organisers had arranged for the boats to check into the northern Lau group at Vanua Balavu which is situated, to the east of the two main islands of Fiji. We were able to join them for the check in saving us the trip west to Vanua Levu. The Lau group consists of about sixty islands and islets, only about thirty are inhabited and covers a land area of 188 square miles.
Boats are required to stop at Dalconi Village to do sevusevu. Sevusevu is a ritual where you’re brought to the hut of the chief, make a presentation of kava, then sit through a small ceremony after which you are welcomed as part of the village. You’ll generally be given a tour of the village and perhaps some fruit, and you’ll meet some of the villagers. Everyone participating in the ceremony has to be dressed accordingly, no head coverings and men wear a sula and women should have their shoulders covered For our first experience of this we were rather glad that this had been organised through the rally so that we were able to participate and understand the custom.
The Kava root, Waka, is used to make a mildly-narcotic drink that is consumed throughout Melanesia.
Once we had gained permission to be in there we headed to the Bay of Islands to explore. It is an area which is excellent for SUP or dinghy exploring. There are a few caves and interesting rock formations.
Unfortunately the weather was against us. We had intended to head south and explore some of the many other islands in this group. However there was not a favorable wind direction in the foreseeable future so we decided to head west instead.
Fiji has over 300 islands spread over a distance of 3,000,000 square km km. Only about 100 are inhabited. The capital, Suva, is on the southeast coast of the largest island, Viti Levu which means “Great Fiji”. It was discovered in 1789 by Capt. William Bligh of HMS Bounty.
Lautoka, on the northwestern coast, is a port for the sugarcane growing region. Sugar, pineapples, rice, and tobacco are grown here. A goldfield at Vatukoula, in the north-central part of the island, was first developed in the 1930s. Nadi (Nandi), in the west, has the country’s main international airport, and an oil-fuel installation is at nearby Vuda Point.
Indigenous Fijians make up more than half the population; the rest of the population are people of Indian descent, most of whom are descendants of indentured labourers brought to work in the sugar industry. There are also, Chinese, and Pacific Islanders who have origins outside Fiji with a high level of intermarriage between Fijians from the Lau group of islands of eastern Fiji and their neighbours Tonga.
Fiji was a Crown colony within the British Empire from 1874 and gained independence from British rule in October 1970
Fiji’s mixed ethnicity contributes to a rich cultural heritage. Many features of traditional Fijian life are still around; the system of village chiefs and clans or tribes, traditional crafts, eg Masi or tapa which is a traditional material made from the bark of the young mulberry tree, which is soaked in water, beaten with mallets and formed into sheets. mat weaving; wood carving. Drinking of kava, made from a root and takes place as a part of important ceremonies as well as part of the everyday life of Fijians.
Vanua Levu Island “Great Land” is the second largest island of Fiji, bordering the Koro Sea in the South Pacific Ocean, 40 miles (64 km) northeast of the island of Viti Levu. It was formerly called Sandalwood Island.
We decided that our destination would be Musket Cove in time to celebrate Steve Bailey’s birthday. We took a route from the Northern Lau to Qamea, entering through the reef and anchoring in Navivi bay in the dark. A little nerve wracking but uneventful and thankfully good holding.
In the morning it was good to see our surroundings and that we had made a good choice. We headed around the island to Narmada bay.
The bay is situated on the north side of the island and is well protected, except from north east wind. Here lives the Mitchell family who welcomes you as guests of honor and with great hospitality. We went ashore with freshly baked bread to ask if we were ok to anchor in their bay. You do not do sevusevu here as the family grows the kava root for markets!
We enjoyed several days here diving the reef and joining the Sunday church service.
The wind was forecast to changed direction to the north and increase so we said our goodbyes and headed to Vanua Levu and Viani Bay which would be more sheltered.
Viani Bay is famous for the Rainbow Reef and its multiple dive sites. The white wall is usually on everyone’s list of dive sites to visit. We did two dives with the Dive Academy on the white wall and purple corner. They have a lovely resort and welcome crusiers to use the bar and join in with their activities. We had dinner one night which was a traditional Fijian meal cooked in the lovo which is an earth oven. After a few days we need to move on if we were going to make the birthday bash.
We called into Savusavu on Vanua Levu, taking the opportunity to reprovision and see this town briefly. There is a bustling fruit and veg market as well as kava and crafts for sale. Although there are no active volcanos now there are plenty of hot springs around which are often used for cooking.
In Musket Cove we enjoyed walks on the islands dining in restaurants and wing boarding! It’s great to have friends with new toys; we get to play! Thanks Philip and Claudia for sharing.
After this gathering we all went our separate ways. We decided to explore the Yasawa islands.
We have now completed our shakedown sail after relaunching Ocean Blue. 1133 miles from New Zealand to Tonga with 3 nights at Minerva reef. Not much to see there, since it’s all under water at high tide! Excellent place to stop for a rest though – quite unique.
Hopefully we can start to explore Tonga tomorrow.
There are 176 islands in the Tongan archipelago which are divided into four main groups. From south to north – Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vav’u and Niuatoputapu groups.
Initially we were very happy to be here and looking forward to sundowners on the beach!
Tongatapu
We hired a car and took ourselves off on an island tour. We discovered Abel Tasmin’s landing site; it must looks much the same as after the tsunami the resorts have gone and the sand and plants have reclaimed everything.
Tongatapu was hit by a tsunami in 2022 after an underwater volcano eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano. Waves of up to 15 meters struck the west coast of the island and wiped out several resorts. The island is still recovering and tourism is only just returning.
Our island tour took us to spectacular blow holes and a massive rock, ‘tsunami rock’, believed to be the largest tsunami debris ever found, although not from the 2022 one.
Next was a three headed coconut tree! the roosting place of a colony of fruit bats and spot Captain Cooks landing place. When we returned to Nuku’alofa we checked out the Royal Palace and the used the car to get provisions for the rest of our stay in Tonga.
The Vava’u and Ha’apai groups of Tonga are better suited as cruising grounds for visiting yachts with pristine beaches, healthy corals and enjoyable, easy snorkelling and diving.
Another draw to this area is the annual migration of humpback whales and we were hoping for an opportunity to go and see them once again in one of their breeding grounds.
Ha’apai group
We anchored off a little island called Ha’afeva in the Ha’apia island chain of Tonga. We took a walk across the small island of Ha’afeva to visit the village on the west side of the island where some 60 families live. There are apparently 7 churches, two small shops, a primary school, loads of pigs, some chickens a few cattle and an enormous spider!
As soon as we stepped ashore we were met by Pita Ofa Heanba who picked us limes from the tree by the path and invited us for lunch. I donated my crutches to Pita for his mother. Everyone was very friendly and the school children, who were immaculately dressed walked with us and conversed in pretty good English which is not their first language. Later in the afternoon we snorkelled the reef just by the anchorage.
The island has an impressive solar array and a generator, but the generator is broken though the engineers were on site trying to fix it.
In the late 1990s there was a roro dock built in the anchorage but it’s been destroyed by a cyclone leaving just a mass of broken concrete. Such a shame, but still good to tie the dinghy to.
The Tonga people are certainly living up to their reputation as being welcoming and warm to us visitor
Not a bad spot for Sunday lunch.
A short sail this morning took us to a stunning anchorage just north of the island O’Ua. Some excellent snorkelling followed by a barbecue on Supertramp rounded off the day very nicely. In the anchorage we saw turtles, squid, many small colourful fish and our first white tipped reef shark for this year.
Uoleva, the next island up the eastern chain of the Ha’apai group has a kite surfing school. An excellent opportunity for a quick refresher in superb surroundings, whilst Lesley made friends with the locals. Unfortunately the wind was rather light – around 10 to 11 knots but still good to get some new tips and a bit of supervised practice.
We took a long dinghy ride to the main town in this group, Pangi. There was limited shopping but some great ice cream.
We snorkelled the most beautiful coral garden at matafonua lodge at Northern tip of Pangai, Ha’apai. And We we’re even able to have a sundowners at the resort bar/restaurant over looking the brilliant turquoise lagoon to finish off a fabulous day. And sunshine at last!
Vavau
Vavau consists of one large island and over 40 smaller ones, which create a wonderful sheltered area for sailing and exploring. Neiafu is the main town for provisioning and also has several restaurants and yacht services.
15 June – We had great fun today exploring some of the caves in the area. Swallows Cave is a located on Kava Island, The cave is named after the large number of swallows that nest within its walls. The entrance to the cave is located at the water’s edge, and visitors can enter the cave by boat or kayak. Once inside it is large with high ceilings and walls covered in formations of stalactites and stalagmites.
The water inside the cave is crystal clear and spectacular with a huge ball of fish inside. We had trouble finding Mariners Cave but the scenery along the way was stunning. Photos of the dinghy trip to the nearby Swallows Cave and some views of the anchorage.
More exploring of the eastern and southern Vava’au group. Lunch (and baking fresh bread rolls and doughnuts) anchored off the beautiful uninhabited Fua’amotu, now back anchored in the shelter of Euakafa island. The squid was swimming off our transom for a day at Olo’ua and the locals were busy fishing in the shallows off Koloa.
Just a few of the types of coral we saw on our snorkel on the reef. So wonderful to see such a healthy coral garden.
We took a trip outside the reef today since the wind and swell were low. We were rewarded with a walk around our very own island (actually Fonuafo’ou Island), lunch onboard in the bay, then an hour or watching whales play nearby. Every July to October, humpback whales migrate from the Antarctic to the South Pacific Ocean in order to mate and calve.
Then back at anchor tucked up inside the reef.
Our last weekend in Tonga has been spent enjoying the coral, Mariners and Swallows Caves, and spending time with friends Alex and Carla from Ari B.
On this dinghy trip we did find Mariners Cave on the west wall of the north end of Nuapupu Island. Unlike Swallows Cave, which can be entered on the surface, the entry to Mariner’s Cave is 1 to 3 meters underwater (depends on the tide), and you have to swim about 3 meters underwater to be able to come up inside the cave. The cave is not visible above the water. You can go close to the island and jump into the water. Once inside the only light is the ethereal blue coming through the underwater entrance, and the seal is so tight that when the swell rolls in, the water compresses the air in the cave fast enough to produce an instant fog-out! As the swell ebbs, the air comes as instantly crystal clear.
Tomorrow we leave for the Lau group of islands in Fiji. Thank you Tonga for an amazing experience.
We had 3 surreal nights at Minerva reef. There is north and south Minerva reef, we went into the North one. The reefs are conveniently located on the way to Tonga from New Zealand, 485 kilometres (301 mi) southwest of the Tongatapu Group.
The Minerva Reefs are a group of submerged atolls located in the Pacific Ocean between Fiji, Niue and Tonga. The islands ownership are contested between Fiji and Tonga. Currently it is under Fiji.
The North reef is circular in shape with a small entrance into the flat lagoon with a deep harbour. It is about 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi) in diameter. The South reef is approx. 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi).
Remnants of shipwrecks and platforms remain on the atolls, plus some functioning navigation beacons. Geologically, the Minerva Reefs are a limestone base formed from uplifted coral formations elevated by now-dormant volcanic activity.
We arrived the day before the forecast strong winds. We sat out strong winds gusting over 40 knots with about 30 other boats. At high water you cannot see the reef, but it breaks up the swell and waves from the Pacific Ocean. Its been an amazing experience being anchored in the middle of the Ocean over 300 miles from the nearest bit of land. 40 knots is a lot of breeze, but thankfully we have a very effective ‘Rocna’ anchor and loads of heavy chain to keep us safe. Despite waking several times during the night as the wind howled, our Vesper Anchor watch app on the phone beside the bed showed us stationary just bobbing up and down in the chop. Very reassuring.
and explored the reef at low tide. Many others caught crayfish.
Perigee Sailboat hosted a sundowners evening for all the boats anchored in Minerva Reef. Can you believe we first met up when we were the rafted up at the start of the Suzie Two rally 6 years ago.
It’s been a long time since I have sat with a cup of tea with this sort of view. It’s warm, we are sailing along nicely and have 174 nm to go to Minerva Reef. It’s looking like there could be quite a party when we get there. Bring it on…
Ahe is a small atoll between Manihi and Rangiroa, just an overnight sail from Rangiroa. We waited for a weather window so that it wasn’t an uncomfortable long beat to windward. With no ideal conditions forecast, we settled for a period of no wind, meaning an overnight motor sail for 14 hours. We left the anchorage in Rangiroa at 15:14 and left the pass at 15:45. With a knot of outgoing tide we were through quickly and easily with flat(ish) water. One of the resident bottlenose dolphins came to say a bon voyage and we hoisted the main and were clear by 16:15. In this case Lesley said the anticipation of a rough and bouncy pass was worse than the main event!
The passage was relatively uneventful with no fish caught. However, there was a stunning night sky with shooting starts and some brilliant phosphorescence in the water. We did a four hour watch each and Derek on his second watch caught some rain showers that we had otherwise been able to dodge during the night. We arrived at the Passe Tiareroa into Ahe at 6:30am and it was such a flat and easy entry to the lagoon that he didn’t even bother to wake Lesley!
Simple Ahe Map
Ahe is known for fishing and pearls. We were told that there are 25 pearl farms here and certainly there are hundreds of pearl buoys around the atoll. We headed up the western side of the lagoon to where our friends Russ and Lisa on Uproar were anchored. After settling in and buoying our anchor chain, a first for us. We caught up on sleep and when we woke Uproar had gone – was it something we said!
Ahe is approximately 14 by 17 miles at its widest parts, with a well marked channel along the west side. Supply boats come here once every two weeks. If our timing had been right we could have clambered aboard to buy fruit and veg directly from the ship. The two restaurants we went to, get their supplies delivered directly from the ship to their beach! Before GPS this atoll was the mid stopping point between the Marquesas and Tahiti, since it is on the northern edge, and navigating through the middle of the Tuamotus at night prior to GPS was dangerous. Now it seems that not many yachts venture here. We were told that there were less than 20 this year but that is more than last year.
We explored a small area of the atoll which still has the original trees that would have been growing here before the clearing and planting of coconut palms for copra production. You could imagine the whole atoll being covered in the trees and ferns that were in this small wooded area.
Original Forested Area
Pension Raita (www.chez-raita.com) has set up some tables and chairs here that can be used for having a BBQ ashore. Great to be able to sit and watch the small black tip reef shark pups swimming around in the shallows. On the way back we found what seemed to be a cleaning station for the sharks with approximately eight sharks of varying sizes swimming circles in a small shallow reef area. They all had a shoal of tiny yellow fish around their mouths.
Dinghy quietly at rest by the Beach
The next day, we headed across the lagoon to two private mooring buoys off another pension to join Lisa and Russ from Uproar. It transpired that they had moved when the wind dropped as they were starting to swing towards the reef and it became uncomfortably shallow.
The distance across the lagoon is only about 10 miles but it is riddled with the pinnacle shaped bommies, shallow reefs and pearl farm buoys. We kept a sharp look out for the buoys but even when we located and watched them it was imperative to have Lesley standing at the bow. There was never just one buoy. If you spotted one there were more, slightly submerged and strung together, presumably holding the ropes for oysters. They were a ghostly green below the surface so not easily seen. We backed off several to try and go around the last one in the chain but did manage to get over one line with the drive in neutral and drifting along very slowly under our momentum.
Watching the boats from Cocoperle Lodge
The small resort, Cocoperle Lodge run by Frank and his wife Francine was delightful and we had a very nice dinner with their guests and Uproar. They let us know about various areas of the atoll to explore and could not have been more friendly.
Christmas Decorations Ahe Style
We spent several days on their mooring buoy in light winds and explored by dinghy from there, visiting a small pool area called the La Source where the sea breaks over at high tides, some coral gardens and some pink sand bars.
We walked on the outside of the reef for about 30 minutes from Pension Chez Raita to try and find the turtle nesting site. We think we located a small area of sand where they could haul ashore without going over the rim of the reef but there was little evidence to support that they were currently nesting at night. It was a great walk for shell collecting though and we also arranged to come back the next evening for dinner.
Collecting Shells!
Raita and her family were most welcoming and even prepared chicken for Derek instead of the fish menu of oysters and grouper that the rest of us had! We were entertained by the family singing and playing local instruments.
The Band!
Both restaurants were good, and different to each other but both were excellent hosts and made for wonderful evenings, a real treat from the hot galley onboard.
We have learnt some Polynesian phrases as we are always greeted when ashore with friendly smiles and ‘Ia oraana’ Meaning, good day or hello.
Thank you is MAURURO Goodbye is I – NANA Please is EE (EH-EH) Lots of love is TE AROHA IARAHI How is it going is EAHA TE HURU Very well, thank you is MAITAI ROA, MAURURU Cheers – Mauruuru
In true cruisers style we shared meals, stories, knowledge and CPN charts and films! Lesley also gave Derek a haircut and trimmed Lisa’s long curly hair, which was a first for her.
We discovered a Gecko on board. Really not sure how he got there unless a bird dropped him on deck. Lisa named him Gaylord the Gecko! Apparently it’s Norman French origin meaning joyful or high spirited. Well so long as he eats a good number of mosquitos he can stay.
Gaylord checking out the boat
We had also had a worrying night on the mooring buoy when the wind changed direction. We were very close to the pinnacle of a bommie that just clipped the rudder on one occasion. We watched it for over an hour by torch light as we swung like a pendulum across it. Luckily the wind died a bit and shifted slightly, the tide came up a bit, so that we could get some sleep.
The next day we said good bye to Uproar; they were leaving to get to another atoll to meet a friend flying in for Christmas. She was also bringing with her a new control panel for our solar panels which had broken. So actually ‘au revoie’ until later. We decided to move to the village and explore an area we had been told about near there, travelling across the atoll, again dodging shallows and pearl buoys. To add to the tension the light was poor because of a slowly approaching squall. We were accompanied by the sound of distant thunder and just as we made the sanctuary of the marked channel the heavens opened.
We circled the protected area between the reef and the concrete wharf by the village called Tenukupara, but didn’t find a big enough area for Ocean Blue between the bommies and coral to anchor there. We picked a patch further out away from the village and channel.
From here it was a 2 mile dinghy ride to an area in the south east corner of the atoll where there is a lagoon, within a lagoon. There is a reef separating another deep water area. This was interesting as the colours were more green than blue with shades from turquoise to emerald with an interesting lime coloured band. We think it was mostly influenced by depth but probably also the reflection and type of bottom substance.
In the evening 15 or so canoeists were out paddling around in their priorgs or Vaa a’s and two of the men invited us to go and see their pearls if we were interested the following morning. After breakfast we went ashore to the building that had been indicated and spent a lovely time learning about the pearl seeding and harvest. Luckily for us one of the ladies spoke perfect English having been educated in the USA as her mother was from Seattle and her father Tahitian.
They have young oysters here that they sell to neighbouring atoll pearl farms as well as growing their own pearls. We saw the small ball of shell that they use to insert into the oyster, which is approx. 4mm in size. This is used to stimulate the oyster which coats it with nacre to form a pearl. They are inserted when the oyster is between nine months to a year and not harvested from the pearl for up to another 2 years. The baby oysters have to be lifted and taken off the fine netting that they start life on and transferred to long rope, approximately 100 per rope hang into the depth. When they are inserting the seed and making the transfer they can deal with 1000 oysters a day. The plastic tassels that we had seen on the beach are used to deter the sharks, turtles and rays from eating the oysters.
We looked through the different grades of pearls to make a selection for potentially buying but would have to wait until the men folk were back to negotiate a price. Each bag was marked with the workers name so they can keep track of who has been working on which rope of oysters and can monitor which techniques for inserting the seeds produces the better pearls. We also saw the very small natural pearls that are created by the oyster if no seed is retained. They are very small irregular chips by comparison. Lesley also learnt how to look after and clean pearls.
A fun morning and as we left we were given mangos, a pineapple and an avocado! We waited for the negotiation. After the days work had been completed the men came by Ocean Blue and we followed them ashore. As well as buying pearls we were also given a large bowl of fresh oysters. That was Lesley’s dinner sorted!
The Pearl House
We had wanted to go to the pearl house run by Patrick, but the area and dock looked unlikely for our boat and having bought from the village we felt we had probably done our pearl shopping, for the moment. We did anchor near the pass to wait for an incoming current and to snorkel the pass. Wow, it was worth the short wait, beautifully clear water and a stunning collecting of fish. A coral carpet, massive groupers and a sleeping shark. We timed our departure for an overnight sail to Fakarava to arrive at slack water for the pass there. However, it took us an hour and a half to get the anchor up, going backwards and forwards to unthread the 80 metres of chain from around the rocky bottom. The last 30 metres wouldn’t budge with this technique so Derek had to don his diving gear and go down to see what the problem was. The tip of the Rocna anchor had wedged itself into a small hole in the lava rock. Derek moved it a metre to sand and finned to the surface with a 3 min stop.
Back on board and showered again we were able to weigh the anchor without any further problems and got going. Our timing was good and Lesley steered Ocean Blue through the pass making it her first passage through an atoll at the helm.
