Catching Monster Mahi, Climbing Cliffs in Makatea, Wing-Foiling, Diving and Exploring Motus in Tikehau and Rangiroa: Non-stop Action!
We had a calm weather window to sail over from Tikehau to Makatea, the only island in the Tuamotu archipelago that is not an atoll. The passage from Tikehau to Makatea was eventful with Sheri catching a huge Mahi, that will feed us and our friends for weeks.
We were interested in visiting Makatea since it has a very different landscape than the other Tuamotu islands, with sheer cliffs dropping off onto the rock/sand beach. There were also caves and an unspoiled reef. It looked more like Marquesas than Tuamotus.
Rob and I contacted the mayor of the island to let him know we were coming and to make sure there would be a mooring ball available for us, since there is no anchoring in this area. The bottom drops from 12 feet to 60 feet in less than 100 feet from the rocky beach and the coral development is amazingly mature and pristine. When we arrived there were neither of the two moorings available, so I had to maneuver our catamaran and drop Rob next to the shore so he could make a mooring for us with existing large underwater chains and some of our own chains and lines and a mooring ball. We were finally able to get tucked in, but we were within 50 feet of rocky shore and breaking waves when the boat would swing during the night...
As it happens, the mayor's son, Tapu, runs Makatea Excursions (with his brother Tiri), which features rock-climbing and Via Ferrata (a rock-climbing and ropes course), underwater cave explorations and a tour of the island with visits to the old phosphate ruins. At one time, this island had 2000 people living and working to mine the phosphates for export worldwide. They had a rail station, which carried the phosphate to the ships that came in. The French government closed these mines years ago, abandoning all of the equipment and most of the workers moved to other islands like Tahiti, where they could find work. What remains on the island is 72 people including 12 children. The island has one road and no real businesses from what we could see, other than the Makatea Excursions. The locals are pretty self-sufficient, fishing and grow some of their own food. They do get a provision ship weekly.
The cliffs on Makatea are absolutely breathtaking! After watching Rob lead climb and set the course for me to ascend, he was belaying me (holding the safety line in case I fell). I remembered that it had been over ten years since I climbed on anything other than a climbing gym. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to ascend climbs rated in the mid 6 range without falling. Rob of course did better making it up a couple I gave up on. He is truly a superior athlete, and the local guides were impressed by both of us...perhaps because they thought we were older than most (if not all) of the people that ever climb there!
The afternoon Grotto Cave experience was more enjoyable than I expected since we swam through most of the cave in crystal clear water...in the dark with only flashlights lighting out way. The water was rather brisk, but we had definitely worked up a sweat from climbing much of the day.
A nice French family on holiday with two kids age about 10 and 13 joined us for the excursion. While they did not do any of the rock climbing, they enjoyed the Cave and the Via Ferrata course and I attempted to teach them some English while they suffered through my French!
After over 12,000 miles sailing on this catamaran with this genoa sail, it has stretched out and delaminated. We have run out of the white sail tape and now have begun using black duct tape on the sail to keep her going until we get to Tahiti. We only have two more weeks or so until we pick up two new sails from Zoom Sails in Malaysia, (we are not sponsored by Zoom, but we love their products!) . I cannot wait to show them off, likely on the next blog!
Next Atoll on the list was Tikehau. We had heard that the pass into the atoll was one of the fishiest in the Tuamotus, so we were hoping to dive it. The conditions for diving in the passes are so specific, it is difficult to do it in your own dinghy unless you time things perfectly. It is best to dive on slack outgoing tide when the water is the clearest and the current is not as strong. Since we had been dealing with strong winds (great for wing-foiling and kite-boarding), it was a bit sketchy for diving in the pass.
We did get to free-dive/snorkel inside the atoll at an old abandoned Pearl farm known as the "Manta Cleaning Station" since it is frequented by several mantas that are not at all scared of humans. We anchored there overnight and snorkeled all around the small island. We met a manta friend that stuck with us even after a small boat with a few tourists came in to join us.
On our visit to the village, Rob and I walked past a couple sitting on their porch who quickly invited us to come and talk to them in French and Tahitian. The wife, Alison is 53 and her husband Verehau is 78. We had a lovely talk (in French) about the island which Verehau had lived on for decades. He had a modest home right by the dock with a separate natural water access with a beautiful swimming area. They talked to us about how they made ends meet by harvesting coconut for copra, which they sell in Tahiti to make coconut oil and harvesting lobsters at night when the conditions were right.
They were headed to Tahiti to see a doctor since he was having some issues he discussed with me. I tried to get them ready for their appointment by writing down appropriate questions to ask the doc and my friendly suggestions. She was very appreciative and loaded us up with cakes and sweets as they serenaded us with Polynesian songs. It was quite a treat. Two days later she was surprised when we returned to give them some Ahi and Mahi Mahi that we had caught, seeds from fruit from another island in French Polynesia, some clothing for their three sons, and a new "My Pillow" American Flag version. I hope they will remember that Americans can be nice. I feel sure we will see them both again.
The tiny village of Tikehau does feature a Pizza restaurant that actually has quite good pizza, Peter's bakery with scrumptuous chocolate croissants and a small magasin (store). Many of the locals in French Polynesia have metabolic syndrome issues including obesity and diabetes. It is, according to the locals, due to their diet which is high in carbohydrates and canned meats, and low in fruits and vegetables. There is definitely a difference in body habitus between the Marquesans, Tuamotans, and Society Islanders, with thinner body habitus found in the islands that had more fresh produce.
The surge on the windward side of the island was impressive.
This poster instructs native Polynesians that those that had lived in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996 and suffered any of the multiple cancers related to radiation exposure, were eligible for remuneration from the French government. During those thirty years, they had 193 nuclear weapons tests which they promised the French Polynesian people were "safe" and different from regular nuclear weapons. (Does that sound familiar? "Safe" and effective). As a physician working in the US for the past thirty years, of course I had to go into the mayor's office and discuss this with them. They notified me that the cancers had really increased in the past five years. This coincidentally correlates to their use of the Pfizer Biontech covid "vaccinations" as well. I let them know that in America, which had no nuclear weapons testing, but did have an increase in 5G towers in 2019-2020, and did use predominantly the Pfizer Biontech "vaccine" for covid, we also have experienced a marked increase in aggressive cancers over the past five years. The government employees said that the local people do not trust the government anymore. I wonder why? Probably same reason many Americans do not trust the US government.
Back to beautiful places in Rangiroa. We had to stay at the main town mooring area for a few days during a "blow". Winds were over 25 knots, and there was a lot of chop, so too much for us to go out wing-foiling, though I certainly tried one day! Winds gusting up to 30 knots. It was also quite rough for diving, but that did not stop me and Rob from going for a dive in the pass with one of the several local dive operations.
Rob and I are not used to diving on "cattle boats" with many other divers since we have had our own boats for years. We found again that we have much more experience and much lower air consumption than divers less than half our age.
One of the most exciting things is that Rob and both have become more proficient at Wing-foiling. Before retiring, I rarely had time to get out on the water to practice and so was continuing to kite-board. Most cruisers have found it much easier to launch a wing-foil from their boat, and we have met many fellow cruisers out doing it. I am officially the oldest woman that we have encountered that is wing-foiling, and Rob is one of the oldest guys doing it! We refuse to stop playing hard!
One way for me to meet my neighbors was to sail up to their boat and ask for some "Grey Poupon". (For those of you that do not know what I am taking about, thank you for continuing to read on!). There were so few Americans that almost no-one knew that commercial, so my new strategy was to sail up and say "Bonjour"...
I saw this beautiful poem posted at the Mayor's office:
"A smile"
A smile costs nothing and produces much, it enriches those that receive it without impoverishing those who give it; It only lasts an instant, but its memory lasts sometimes forever
No one is rich enough to do without it and no one is too poor not to give it. It creates happiness in the home and is the tangible sign of friendship. A smile gives rest to the weary. It restores courage to the most discouraged. If you sometime meet someone who doesn't give you the smile you deserve, be generous and give them yours. For no one needs a smile more than the someone who cannot give one to others.
Keep smiling until our next post, you know we are!
Coming up next: Exciting Times in the Society Islands of Tahiti and Moorea!
It's like you two are at the greatest summer camp in the world with no specific end date to the session.