After what seemed like an eternity on the ocean, we finally made our entrance into the passage at Fakarava Atoll, Tuamotus. The calm we went through was the most unusual ocean we have ever seen. The sunrises would wash the ocean in all colors of the rainbow, the morning clouds would appear as swirls in the water as they reflected off the flat, glass like surface. At one point, the water would appear to have drops of creamer swirling around and through the blue depths, greys and blues and greens. The water was no different from the sky, only reflecting back the sheer beauty of the southern ocean. This weather pattern captivated us for 4 days, the heat of the days though went through our souls, our bodies radiating the sun and our spirits seeking shade and cool. At one point, we stopped the boat to swim, we took snorkel gear and fins and swam quite a ways from Sea Child, taking pictures of her from the middle of literally nowhere. Now that is an eery feeling!
Entering the pass at Fakarava was a challenge to us. We arrived at the atoll before sunrise, but since Eric had never been here before, he wanted to wait until he could visually navigate the pass. The sheer depths outside the atoll could not be read on our fathometer, and inside the pass was around 15 meters. The marriage between the two created the roughest water we have seen yet on this Great Adventure. The steep peaks of ocean currents, pushing up as water rushed every which way, created not only swells that could be surfed, but also created a washing machine effect that appeared as steep white water, like a rushing current on the Colorado River. The eddys on either side of this current were as if a steam ship had just churned up the water, and the fatho would read 5 meters, even though we were in 15000 feet of water. It was a truly interesting phenomenon. And so was Fakarava.
Fakarava, as one of the largest atolls in the Tuamotus, is 35 miles long, 17 miles across, and about 1/2 mile wide. The interior of the atoll itself is just like you would image the south Pacific to appear, turquois blue water, white coral sand, lush green palm trees, white roads. All we needed to complete the picture of Fakarava was a cold Corona and a good ditigal camera (we did have the camera) to capture what could only be called paradise. The atoll is flat, our anchorage inside the atoll was next to a navigation marker that looked like an arrow pointing up to the sky, yet set on top of the most beautiful white coral head. The snorkeling around this coral head was spectacular, with clams the size of cantaloupes, edged with teal and cobalt and taupe. The colors of Fakarava, both underwater and on shore, were spectacular. Our visit was brief, not even 36 hours, as we need to be in Tahiti for Debby's departure on Friday. We all agreed, though, that Fakarava is a must return destination, to relax and explore and appreciate.
We are now 161 nautical miles from Papeete, Tahiti. The winds are still light, and we expect our landfall to be sometime Thursday morning after sunrise. Then the big clean up, transition, and reprovision will begin as we say farewell to Debby and Aloha to Sandro, who meets us on Sunday night. We expect our departure from Tahiti to be Monday or Tuesday next week.
CURRENT POSITION:
16 degrees 31 minutes SOUTH
146 degrees 59 minutes WEST
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