Website Entry August 12-18, 2007
Anse Amyot, Toau Atoll, (North Anchorage)
Tuamotus, French Polynesia
S. 15 48
W 146.09August 12, 2007, Sunday, Day 38 in the Tuamotus
We had heard from the residents of Toau that the Manta Rays are large and swimming with them is amazing. So, we and our friends on s/v Mokisha gathered our gear and joined Gaston in his homemade wooden boat with a twenty-five horse outboard to find the Manta Rays. The skies were overcasts, the swells in the lagoon large and the winds gusted to 10 knots. Should we go? A bit of courage a dash of naïve, and a thirst to see what Gaby, Sami and I had only heard about, we took our chances and ventured forth. Gaston filled us with confidence as he landed at one spot then moved to another, always keeping a watchful eye for the Manta Rays and for the turbulent waters. Then we heard his call, “Go now”. We struggled quickly to put on our gear and one by one we fell overboard and began to swim. Against the strong waves we powered forward, occasionally, the swells were sufficiently large enough to let us hang and search for the Manta Ray through our masks. Luckily, we hung together, swimming in groups of two and three. Everyone had a good sense of each other, buddy watching out for each other so no one was left alone. In the distance, I could poke my head up see Gaston who watched for the rays, the sea conditions and us. After what felt like fifteen minutes of searching, Gaston signaled us to climb aboard the boat. His wooden boat has high freeboard and a minimal 1” edge to grasp. Everyone except Judy was able to climb aboard with so little to aid him or her. For Judy, she had to swim to the back, climb up the outboard motor and over the transom with one arm lift by Gaston. Whoa!Moving on, we powered over to another spot some fifty feet away, the waves crashing and splashing all around us. “Go now” yelled Gaston. Spulshhhh and we were overboard. Below us was the Manta Ray, gracefully grazing. We gathered around it. It appeared unfazed by our presence. What I noticed was how calm every thing around us became, a quiet stillness. The mouth of the Manta Ray large, its eyes on the side open wide and its wings rose and fell gently. We rose and fell with the water, moving with the Manta’s every movement below us. Tom, John, and Sami dove down to get closer looks. Sami swam inches above the Manta Ray, stretched all her limbs, “spread eagle” over it and for a few moments, she and it were one on top of the other. The Manta Ray was larger than she was in this position. Gaby, Anya, Colleen and I remained on the surfaces, watching and continuing to follow it for was felt like a very long time. We were able to just be there in the moment, very peaceful moments. As we lingered, another smaller ray swam into the same area and then swam away to cloudier waters. Eventually, the Manta Ray kicked his wing fins and he was off. Ebbing with enthusiasm, we climbed aboard and headed back to our boats. Later, we would realize that we swam in some very rough seas with some incredible animals. Our sense of accomplishment and courage surprised us; we were always safe never, were in harm’s way.
Fortunately, we were in Tuoa at this anchorage on a Sunday when Valentina offers cruisers the experience of eating a traditional Polynesian Sunday Feast. He had heard that this was not a meal to be missed. We came bearing simple gifts from our linen stows. And we shared canned pineapple and bottle of rum while she provided the coconut milk so we could all enjoy Pina Coladas. Our feast commenced at 6:30 pm with barbequed lobster, poisson cru, followed by curry chicken, steamed coconut rice, fried lagoon fish, coconut bread and the finale, Valentina’s custard cream coconut pie. Valentina, Gaston, Monaa and Dick joined the cruisers in the anchorage (s/v Encanto and s/v Mokisha) for the feast. The meal and stories were worth every penny of the $30/person. After dinner, while we chatted and shared stories, Sami, Gaby and Anya had great fun playing with the newborn puppies. We were certainly tempted to bring one aboard with us. They were sooooo cute.
Judy signed Valentina’s thick and bursting Guest Book. We noticed familiar sail boat names, including, s/v Purrrfection, s/v Carmelita, and s/v Ace. We bid them goodnight as Monaa ferried us out to our boats. Full of gratefulness, we wish them luck with their restaurant, pearl farm venture, vegetable garden, and their copra harvests.
August 13, 2007, Monday, Day 39
Ready to leave, but the white caps in the cul-de sac disturbed us, making us feel with some anxiety, anxiousness, so we hunkered down and rolled with the swells. Captain knew then that we wouldn’t be able to meet our plan to collect Ann at the airport. He knew she’d understand, but he still felt disappointed.However, set on a mooring ball, we considered ourselves secure. More of these anchorages need to set mooring balls. They make so much sense for protecting the coral heads and inviting cruisers to safe havens. Still, most of the day, the Captain sat in the cockpit and maintained a watchful eye on the waves, water and winds.
August 14, 2007, Tuesday, Day 40
Crew Anya
Last day in the Tuamotu Islands.
Tuoa
We had planned to leave this morning at 4 o’clock. And seeing as I am not much of a morning person and I don’t want anybody to notice that, I wanted to make sure I was up and ready to help when the time came. I heard John and Judy rustling about. I looked out my window, only to see that it was still quite dark out due to the new moon. But hey, 4 AM is 4 AM, so I dragged myself out of bed, went to the bathroom and walked into the cockpit where I found… nobody. I turned around again, wondering if I was sleepwalking and headed back to my bed and saw John and Judy back in their bed, happily snoring away. Apparently, they had decided that it was too dark and had crept passed me, while I was in the bathroom. So, I went back to bed as well, and woke up again to finally leave Toau at 6 o’clock. We are leaving the idyllic Tuomotu’s behind us and are heading to Tahiti to meet John’s best friend, Ann, who will be arriving there on Wednesday night. I am looking forward to meeting her, after having heard so much about her.I cannot believe that the end of my adventure is growing near. I really have to face the music; it’s back to the rat-race for me in just a month time. I am looking forward to sharing all my new insights, my fresh dreams and my enthusiasm with my friends and family however, I know it will take some getting used to that way of life, having spent so many months in a complete different state of being.
August 15, Wednesday, Day 1, Society Islands, Tahiti
Vessel Underway, leaving the Tuamotu Islands to Society IslandsCrew Anya
Today is my grandmother’s 90th birthday. It feels very strange not being there to celebrate it with her since it is quite the number but I know we will celebrate it together when I get back. I don’t think she would have much time for me now anyway because from what I gather, today will be the first time she will get to meet her great-granddaughter, Bo. A very special birthday present that I am sure will mean the world to her, my dad and my brother. Four generations together in one room. I hope she has (had) a happy birthday with friends, family, good health and good spirits guiding her into her 91st year on Mother Earth. It is 11 PM, here, as I write this so I know that my grandmother has said her famous one-liner already: “Zo, dat hebben we ook weer gehad.”
Why am I writing so late in the evening?Well, we are bobbing in front of the coastline of Tahiti. We can see Papeete, hear Papeete and even smell Papeete but we can’t get there because it is too dark and therefore too risky to go through the pass at this time of night. Unfortunately, this means that John will not be able to meet Ann at the airport and I am sure that this is a disappointment for both of them. That’s the beauty and the risk of sailing; you can only go as fast as the wind will take us.
In the meantime we have to stay awake and take turns on- watch, to make sure we don’t drift too much in the wrong direction. We just heard an announcement on the VHF that got us all wide-awake and not thinking about sleeping at all. There has been an earthquake off the coast of Peru: 7.9 on the Richter scale and the waves (6 to 8 feet high/ 2 meter) are moving westward. The warnings are for all ships in the Marquesas to leave the area in anticipation of a possible tsunami. We have no idea if we will feel anything from this but have decided to clear away all stray pans, pots and other things that could fly just to be safe. Time to “Batten Down the Hatches”. We spent most of the night talking about the wonderful people we met in the Marquesas and hoping that all of them will be safe in the hours to come: Vahina and her mother on Fatu Hiva, Motai and his brother and wife on Nuku Hiva and all the other new friends we have made on our journey through these islands. After a couple of hours we heard from our friends on s/v Emilia that they had Internet access and that the message they got was that the tsunami warnings had been cancelled. However, the Marina Radio on VHF kept broadcasting the same warning every 30 minutes, so we chose to stay awake and alert. So far it is really calm and the sky is clear and filled with thousands of stars. Papeete looks like a huge Christmas tree, there are green and red lights everywhere and a couple minutes ago, we were actually able to see Ann’s plane land at the Papeete Airport. We waved her a ‘welcome to Tahiti’ and hoped she has had a good flight. We will see her tomorrow.
August 16, Thursday, Day 2, Society Islands, Tahiti
Crew Anya
It was a good thing we didn’t try to get through this pass at night because it is a long pass with many coral heads. The channel between Moorea and Tahiti has a long coral reef on Tahiti’s side behind which all the boats are anchored. We were anchored safely at 9 AM and quickly dropped the dinghy so John could go to the hotel and meet Ann. I jumped at the opportunity of being near an Internet cafe so early in the day and was able to go online to chat with my boyfriend for a while and letting him know when I am thinking about flying back. While I was online, Judy and the girls went to the nearby McDonald’s to have brunch and brought me back an old-fashioned milkshake. For Gaby, the SHEK shake was the best…mint green ice cream shake.Later, we went for a walk from the marina to the nearby Carrefour (a big French grocery store, a bit like a warehouse shop (Costco)) where we got some fresh vegetables, fresh bread and cheese. I even found in the shopping mall, a travel agent who priced for me the fares from Bora Bora to Tahiti. It looks like I am flying back from Bora Bora to Tahiti and then I will spend the night here in Papeete, before flying out to Amsterdam or Paris, the following morning. I haven’t set a date yet, but the time is definitely drawing near that I have to make a decision about that. It will be somewhere around the end of September.
Back on the boat, “Us girls” decided on a Girl’s Movie Night. We made a lovely fresh salad with lychees and blue cheese while watching the classic movie: Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. We were surprised and I especially was delighted to find out that the name of Audrey’s character was ANYA. I never knew this and obviously Roman Holiday, has made it into my top five favorite movies without any problems! Just as we started watching Step Up, we heard John hailing us on the radio. He was at the dinghy dock and was ready to be picked up from his visit with Ann. After the movie and making our plans for tomorrow, we went to bed. After all, it had been a short night for all of us.
August 17, Friday, Day 3, Society Islands, Tahiti
Duet Blogs: Crew Anya and Judy
This morning, Judy and I spent most of our time between moving between the Internet café, Polynesian Yacht Service and the laundry facilities of the marina. I had heard a French message about a cyclone warning, but couldn’t understand the coordinates they were giving. The French count in a very funny way (I think) that involves higher math if you ask me and I just couldn’t figure out if the coordinates were anywhere near us. So, we decided to go to the Marina and speak to them. Luckily, she (possibly the Harbor Master) reassured us, that we had nothing to worry about. The coordinates (latitudes and longitudes) were for the Austral Islands (south of the Society Islands)– and it was in fact an “anti-cyclone” that could never head our way. Pfff…… one tsunami warning was enough for this year, we didn’t need another cyclone warning! But what is an “anti-cyclone”?In the afternoon, we went over the Ann’s hotel, but unfortunately she was not feeling wel, so I didn’t get to meet her. John stayed with Ann and WE girls went into downtown Papeete via a Le Truck. These famous ‘Le truck’ are Semi Trucks built with an attached flatbed that holds a colorful wooden compartment for passengers. Each Le Truck has slat seats that run the length of the bed, and can hold a comfortable capacity of about twenty people. No one stands upright while on the Le Truck, this is considered unsafe and room is made for you to sit. They are the most economical form of transportation between Papeete’s waterfront and the west coast hotel districts, where the Tiara marina is located and where Encanto is anchored. A Le Truck will take you straight from the marina to the center of Papeete for a day rate of 130 Polynesian Francs (cpf), which is about $1.50 usd and 200cpf after 6 PM. Gaby and Sami go for half price because they are students. Monday through Saturday the Le Trucks run often. On Sunday there are only a few who run. In this society, Sunday remains a day of rest. How refreshing.
Thus, far I am not very impressed with Tahiti. I am ashamed to admit that maybe I have been spoiled with the beauty and the pureness of the Tuamotu Islands. Papeete really is a city, with all the typical city characteristics: lots of traffic, lots of big non-descript buildings, lots of busy bustling people, a lot of noise and dust. Where did paradise go? Where did the idyllic white beaches and clear blue waters vanish? I realize that maybe I am jumping to conclusions, so this will not be my final judgment yet.
Papeete has been the capital of Tahiti and French Polynesia since Queen Pomare IV established her residence near the shore in the late 1820’s. Papeete means ‘water from a basket’ in Tahitian. A stream that winds through green and leafy Parc Bougainville is said to have inspired the name, a favorite resting place for Queen Pomare, when she lived at the neighboring Place Tarahoi. I read that before piped water became a household luxury, women used to carry water from this stream to their homes in baskets. ‘Pape’ means water and ‘ete’ means basket, therefore ‘Papeete’ was coined. Most of Papeete’s clapboard shops have been replaced by modern structures today; quite the change from the Tuamotu’s. French iron rod arches like those once seen in New Orlean occasionally can be spotted; an instant recall to the French presence and influence.
Cruisers tell us that you need to rent a car and leave Papeete behind you and then you will see the real Tahiti. Nearby, Moorea Island is apparently a lot greener and quieter than Tahiti. Looking forward to doing all that in the next couple of days/weeks. I am sure that my first impression will change and I too will see, the Papeete in its charming bygone days as a “backwater South Seas port”.
Judy, Gaby, Sami and I ended up near the waterfront in Papeete where we had dinner at one of the Roulottes. Les Roulottes are portable meal wagons, which set up shop throughout the island, but mostly on the waterfront. They are an institution here in Papeete, where locals and tourist gather after dark, turning the area into a veritable carnival. Those being seen by those watching; great place for people watching. The Les Roulottes most popular offerings were marinated raw fish, char-grilled steak, chicken served with chips and chow mein, chop suey and other simple Chinese dishes. We went for the Chinese because we saw a lot of locals sitting there and the cook was heaving up large batches of bean sprouts and noodles over a fast burning flame and a large cast iron wok. The cook’s speed and agility reminded Judy of her father and all his delicious culinary creations. We waited as she rambled about some wonderful family memory. Truth be told, we had a delicious dinner in the open air, by the waterfront on a gorgeous Friday night, before heading back to the marina on one of the Les Trucks.
August 18, Saturday, Day 4, Society Islands, Tahiti
Touring the CityDuet Blogs: Crew Anya and Judy
We woke up reasonably early this morning and jumped on Le Truck to go downtown-- Papeete. Our plan was to go to the Pearl Museum in the morning and meet John and Ann at her hotel at noon. So the four of headed out from the Marina. First of all, we decided to visit to the waterfront tourist office to learn a little more about Papeete and the highlights of the Society Islands. We gathered more information about the traditional ways of the Polynesians. We were lucky because we found excellent pamphlets describing Polynesian Art, Dancing, Tattoos and Cooking. All in English! Plus we were given a map of Papeete which helped us in our search of the actual Pearl Museum in the Vailma Mall. After we left the Tourist Office and we just going to cross the street, I noticed John in and amongst the crowds and sure enough, there they were, John and Ann. After a very happy and hearty welcome with many kisses (traditional European greeting of kisses brushed on the cheeks: left-right-left or right-left-right) and hugs, we decided to each go our own way, to do some shopping and meet again at the Pearl Museum at noon as originally planned.John and Ann went to the hardware store where Ann could translate in French for John. He was in search of water filters, a vice, and other boat nuts and bolts. We were headed to the Marche Municipal; the city’s thriving municipal market that offers a variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and other fresh produce. It apparently is also one of the best places in Tahiti to shop for handicrafts such as pareo’s (sarongs or pajaros), shell necklaces, straw hats and wood carvings. This building is known to be very lively before dawn on Sunday, when the local residents come here to stock up for their traditional midday feasts. Judy and I might have to check that out ourselves one Sunday? In the meantime, we strolled down the aisle where the women were making leis of tiara flowers, headdresses of assorted colorful flowers and wrapping banana leaf bundles of Tiare for wearing over ones ear. Both men and women wear the heady scented flowers over their ears and in their hair. It is a custom that we have incorporated in our daily lives. Inside, Sami would purchase fresh slices of pineapple from a woman who had fruit cups of mango, pineapple and watermelon set in enclosed cases to keep the flys out. We are continually impressed about the high level of consciousness towards hygiene in these islands. John often remarks what a refreshing change it is to see so little litter and open aired food, a major contrast to the open markets of Latin America.
At noon we all met at the Pearl Museum and then hunger hit us. We decided to have lunch first before touring the museum. We walked back to the Parc Bougainville, a shady park named after the French explorer who arrived in 1768, now the home of two small snack shacks, where we had salad and sandwiches. We were all getting to know each other (particularly, Ann and me), we exchanged our adventures of the past months (all of us), and then suddenly, it started to rain. Not just a mere light tropical sprinkle, but a down pouring of rain, that triggers you to say, that old-fashioned idiom, “it’s raining cats and dogs”. In no time, we had to leave our tables under the parasols and retreated to the big awning cover of the snack shack. Instead of it diminishing, it just rained more and more, until at some point, we just decided to make a run for it and sprinted for the Pearl Museum.
The Musee de la Perle is where renown pearl farmer and businessman, Robert Wan’s curators, designed exhibits demonstrating how pearls are grown, harvested, graded and brought to the market, as well as the historical uses of pearls in ornamental jewelry and clothing of the Royals and famous. Robert Wan is one of the few recognized pioneers who started pearl farming over thirty years ago. His pearls repute to be some of the best quality and designs. He can be compared to the DeBeers in the diamond industry, but differs from them in one great way; he is not trying to monopolize the business by hoarding the industry. Granted Robert Wan owns several pearl farms in the Gambier Islands, but throughout the Tuamotus family owned pearl farms compete and provide the market with these wonderful gems. At the Musee de la Perle, a major effort is being made to educate the tourist with fair information, on what to look for in a pearl and what to expect in terms of quality: size, color, shape and luster. There are many millions of pearls on the market nowadays, some on the ‘black’ market, that look like a beautiful high quality pearls, however have been polished for luster and shape, so many times that the layer of Mother of Pearl (nacra) is thin. Over time, this pearl will simply lose its luster and disappears to a dull round pellet. These abused and modified pearls have hurt the commercial retail business of French Polynesia, as tourist return home, only to be sorely disappointed and bitter over their experience with their pearl purchase. That bitterness easily could bring down the pearl industry. Robert Wan and his fellow businessmen and women, want to prevent tourists from thinking they have bought a class ‘A’ pearl only to find themselves later with a fake or poor quality pearl. How to control this and monitor the black pearl industry and production is extremely difficult. Educating the tourist seems like the best tact, which is the entire purpose of the museum, well, and admittedly; of course, the shop is for those who are ready to buy.
We spoke with a very amicable sales woman, who wore the most stunning and beautiful pearl necklace that I have ever seen. Judy describes it like this: “ a set of high quality pearls, perhaps fifteen or twenty, black pearls strung casually, on a simple three foot cord, each pearl spaced two inches apart, that could then be wrapped around and around her neck and hung like a series of spiral loops, with the final black pearl (conveniently) dropping down her cleavage.” John said she had the “right stuff” to pull-off the necklace’s design. Of course it was for sale. She even offered it to me, so I could try it on, but since I didn’t have $4,000 usd, I figured that it would be useless to go down that path, so I thanked her for the honor and looked at some jewelry designs that were more in my price range.
After our visit to the Museum we went back to the boat while John and Ann went to the hotel to freshen up. Ann purchased in- room Internet service so John would be able to do some checking on the family finances and read the latest “as the world turns news”, while Ann rested up for the evening. We agreed to meet again at a restaurant named Captain Bligh at 6 PM, for dinner.
Captain Bligh is a huge lagoonside thatch-roofed restaurant that is known to serve good, if not extraordinary, French and Polynesian cuisine, accompanied on some nights by traditional dance shows. The Marina security guard told us it was about 1 km from the marina, so we set off to walk there. Luckily, we were all wearing our rain jackets and sandals, because it quickly started pouring again. What we quickly learned is that 1- Polynesian kilometer is definitely different from 1-Dutch kilometer and 2 American miles, because we had been walking for over 20 minutes next to the busy four-lane roadway in the dark, in the pouring rain when a car pulled over next to us and guess who was in it? John and Ann! Like us, they had been walking from the Sheraton (which was an additional 2 kilometers north of the Marina) when this incredibly nice Polynesian lady, a total stranger, pulled over and stopped to give them a lift. They had another 5 or 6 kilometers to go. When they realized that they had just passed us, she pulled over again. They discovered that the four wet cats named: Judy, Anya, Gaby and Sami, were the rest of the dinner party, she willingly let us climb in as well, dripping over the interior of her car. We felt like sardines in her can, but we were dry! Yet another unexpected Amberchan adventure….
She dropped us off at the door of Captain Bligh’s and the lady even insisted that Ann (who had had a great time chatting away in French with our kind stranger), keep her scarf, because it was way too cold out for Ann to be dressed in a mere light frock. This must have been the most remarkable expression of hospitality that I have ever witnessed in any country. As we walked into the still dark restaurant we found out that the buffet didn’t start until 8 PM, so we were about two hours, too early and we had no reservations. Fortunately for us, the owners were accommodating and willing to serve us immediately, A- la-carte. We found ourselves in a corner of the restaurant and as we enjoyed our dinner, we watched it fill with local families and tourists alike. Ann and I even enjoyed a little dance lesson together after dinner (a special Ann folkdance-waltz two step) and before dessert. Nothing like getting to know a new friend whilst waltzing your way through a line up of tables with families enjoying their Saturday evening meals. Having learnt from our experience getting to the restaurant, we asked for a large minivan taxi to be hailed and then to drop us off at the marina and subsequently, Ann was whisked off to the Sheraton Hotel. As soon as we got to the boat, I turned in because Judy and I planned to go early to the Moonlight morning market, at 5 AM at the Marche Municipale.
Never a dull moment on s/v Encanto.