Tuomotus = Tropical Dreams

The anchorage in front of the village of Rotoava Fakarava Atoll

The four day sail from the Marquesas to the Tuomotus archipeligo was an easy sail. With 4 of us on board, we had 3 hours on 9 hours off at night. It was again heavenly. We ate well and we slept well. Even though we were sailing on a broad reach, the wave height was minimal which made for a very gentle motion. We hardly had to touch the sails. Deb and Gregg our crew for this leg easily fell into the rhythm and as the saying goes, many hands made for light work.

After a rinse off in a small squall, we saw land on the horizon -- right under the rainbow!

Upon arrival in the archipelago we were impressed by the stark contrast between this land and the Marquesas. The marquesas are volcanic, black sand and rock, dripping with moisture and spectacular in their own right. The Tuomotos are all atolls. Low-lying lagoons that are hardly visible by radar or by the naked eye until you are upon them. It is hard to imagine the old sailing ships making there way through this maze with only their sextant and compass. It is no surprise it was historically called the 'dangerous archipeligo'. Even as recent as 15 years ago navigation was pretty sketchy -- one of our books pretty much scares us to not go anywhere here! However, now with satellite imagery, GPS and sonar navigation is easy as long. When you imagine coconut lined white sand beaches, turquoise blue water, warm breezes -- this is the place you dream of. (learn more about atolls here: https://youtu.be/pRD8ZwdPYsY?si=7d4e-gmnXjpFggLs)

Local pig out for a walk in town

The little village at the NE side of the Atoll was sleepy. With shops being closed for lunch between 12:30-3; and maybe not opening at all until the supply ship returns there was not much to explore except for a few walks up and down the narrow bite of land that separates the large lagoon from the South Pacific Ocean. For dinner our first night we ate Chez Elda. Fish was on the menu -- the choice was Poisson de Cru (Ceviche), Sashimi, or a Fish Burger. So we ate fish and it was good. We all slept very well that first night at anchor. It was so still. There was no movement. It is the stillest we've been at anchor since Northern Mexico (Puerto Escondido I think!)

The French Naval ship Bouganville

As we wandered around the anchorage the next day to catch up with several of our friends, they all said the same thing. "We are going to just stay here awhile and not move." On our last day at the village the French Naval ship "Bouganville" was in port and was offering community tours. We were able to board and get a guided tour but it was a little silly as all their information was in French. We were able to ascertain that it is used for local search and rescue, as a fire boat, as a research vessel and if needed as medical support for the remote communities.

Art in front of Chez Elda's restaurant

We continued to enjoyed swimming, working on some small boat chores and then this morning, headed to the south end of the Atoll. Located next to to the South pass to the island we expect the snorkeling to be quite spectacular. There is not really a village here, just some small buildings along the shore, coconut trees and a lovely white sand beach. We are working on arranging scuba diving for later in the weekend, a beach BBQ and definitely lots of time in the water. While we are at it, we might dream up a better solar panel structure for over the cockpit (one of our solar panels blew off somewhere...we aren't exactly sure where or when).

Sunset in Fakarava

We don't have to be anywhere for a few weeks. So for now, we'll get lost in our little tropical paradise and watch the sunrise and the sunset.

At anchor at the South end of Fakarava Atoll