STATUS REPORT:
Lat 14.5 deg South, lon 146.3 deg West
493 mi SW of Nuku Hiva, taking 4 days instead of 3 to get here.
3,600 mi from Galapagos, 4,600 mi from Panama
79 mi to Rangaroa, Tuamotus; 300 mi to Tahiti
Arrived Ahe at 11:15 this morning after a slower than planned passage. We did have two beautiful days of spinnaker but the rest was light winds on our tail. We were headed almost exactly SW, and the winds were often NE. That might seem good, having the winds behind you, but sailing directly downwind is actually difficult. The wind you rely on to cool you drops because the boat is going almost as fast as the wind. For that reason, the wind pressure on the sails also drops which makes for rocky-rolly in the waves. The wind dropped below 7kt for at least half of the trip, requiring much fussing with the sails when we tried to sail, or motoring (for two days) with no sails. Oh, that brings up another unpleasant thing about downwind -- if you run your engine the exhaust flows right into the cabin. So the passage seemed longer that it actually was because of the conditions. No rain, just hot sun and little wind.
We're just inside our first landfall in the Tuamotus on an atoll called Ahe. It is about 9mi wide and 13mi long, smooth as glass inside the cut, with a ring of low-lying coral islands which are not more than about 3' high and most with palm trees which is what allows you to see the atoll from sea. We didn't see anything until we were 12mi from land! Quite a contrast to the volcanic 3,000' peaks of the Marquesas. Ahe has about 400 residents and has developed quite a business in black pearl cultivation in the last 20 years. There is a very small village and Lonely Planet says there are two outstanding pensions. We see neither hide nor hair of either pension.
Hotter than blazes anchored with very little wind to cool us off. So we swim from time to time to cool off, but together, as the locals tell us that there are sharks that bite! Joe has a spear gun aboard that he takes snorkeling with us so we swim with Joe! Hope he never has to use it......
SAT. Apr 20
The overnight sleeping was dead still at anchor, and so hot I took my pillow up to the cockpit and slept there in just my swimsuit. It was much more comfortable and I slept well. It also allowed Jan to take over our entire bunk without my body heat and point the blessed cabin fan right on her all night. Do I seem to be dwelling on how hot and sticky it is??????
We went ashore to look for black pearls. This, we're told is the place to buy them - at the source before all the markups they get on the way to Tahiti. We looked for a shop, or cafe, or little market where we could buy some ice cream and inquire about buying pearls. We did find a little cafe run out of the front of someone's home. They pointed to 'a guy' who sold pearls. He, like everyone else on the single lane concrete roads around the village, was on an adult tricycle - the kind you see in Florida. Since the atoll is made up of a large circle of small islands without bridges connecting them, pickups aren't as useful here as elsewhere.
Pearl guy motioned to us to follow him, slowly working our way around to the seaward side of the island out of sight of everyone else. We felt like we were buying drugs! There, he laid out two necklaces and several dozen pearls. We were looking for smaller, individual pearls than he had, so he said he could get more and met us later at what appeared to be his mother's very nice home in the village. There is vegetation everywhere and many palm trees. The yards are sand with chickens running everywhere, and a few dogs here and there. The nicer homes have raked yards and look very tidy. The houses are small and seem constructed out of coral blocks or cinder blocks, with metal roofs. Every house had a TV satellite dish with a large flat screen TV running. There are large gutters to collect any rain water and funnel it into large plastic cisterns for storage. Most facilities also have large photo-voltaic panels. We didn't hear any electrical generators which are so common on other islands. The whole town was very quiet and peaceful with not much happening except for our pearl shopping and a sandlot kickball game which some guys were playing.
Pearl guy was sitting at a picnic table with what appeared to be his Mom's. He opened a cell phone box which was full of pearls and spread them all out on a cloth on the table. Probably 100 pearls. We explained what sizes we were looking for and they helped us pick out the best ones. The deal was 5,000 Polynesian Francs for one or 10,000 for four. The exchange rate is about $US 1.00/90 Polynesian Francs. We bought two and Joe bought two for the volume discount. Or, like elsewhere in the islands, they are always open to a little trading. So Joe, being forewarned of this possibility, ran back to the boat and returned with two spear fishing guns he had with him. OHHH, did that do the trick! Another pearl dealer who Joe met offered him 20 pearls for what Joe thought was both guns. But after picking out 20, the guy said 20 more for the other gun! So Joe scored big-time and we're dealing with him now for some more for us.
To ease the heat of mid-afternoon and no wind we all geared up and snorkeled a short way from the boat to a large, barely submerged reef. It was stunning with beautiful coral formations and lots of beautiful fish, and someone's stash of plastic crates containing pearl oysters which presumably had been seeded to grow a black pearl or two and were left in the sea to grow. We didn't steal any oysters but did find some shucked shells which had beautiful white mother of pearl insides. A hundred years ago these shells were used to produce pearl buttons for clothing and it was a major economic boost for the islands until someone invented a way to make artificial pearl buttons in the early 1900's.
For dinner, since there were no restaurants to go to, we put up the gas grill on the side of the boat attached to a stancion. We haven't used the grill much because it's clumsy to rig and the flame blows out easily in the wind. But without any wind Joe was able to grill some wonderful small lamb chops which had been kept in the freezer along with all the other meat we purchased before leaving Shelter Bay, Panama. A delicious meal after dark (sun is setting about 5:45) consisting of lamb, mashed potatoes, salad and vegetables. For dessert we had mixed canned fruit and a French biscotti with whipped cream! And white wine from a box. We are, however, almost out of some provisions. Who knew that would happen?? Nine days to Tahiti. Good planning on Debbie's part!!
SANITATION
Non-sailors often ask about dumping stuff into the ocean, or worse, into a harbor. All serious cruising boats, including our Mystique and Yokells' Quester, have holding tanks where "black water" from the toilets is pumped and stored while close to shore or in harbor. "Brown water" from the sinks and our fabulously refreshing showers is pumped directly overboard at all times. Since we have arrived at Ahe we have had the overboard valves closed so the black water could be stored in the holding tanks. When we get at least three miles off shore tomorrow on our way to Rangiroa we will open the valves and empty the holding tanks into the sea. And they will remain open so black water will be drained directly into the sea until we arrive three miles off Rangiroa.
Any biodegradable trash (paper, cans, food, etc.) is thrown overboard at sea because it will quickly decompose in the salt water. So the only trash we keep and carry ashore for disposal is plastic. While inside the three mile range we store all trash and then dump the biodegradable stuff when we're back at sea. We are very cautious about using non-biodegradable cleaning products - especially Clorox and boat cleaning chemicals - which can harm the environment.
And oh, did I mention how hot it is down where in the tropical islands of paradise??
Apr 22 QUICK UPDATE - Rangiroa, Tuamotus
We had a nice sail overnight last night to make the 80 mi trip at a leisurely 3-4 kts in 10kt winds under clear skies and calm seas. We'll be here all week in a resort location with wifi!!! How wonderful to be in this beautiful place.
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