Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Tahanea

Shindig and Alcyone made an overnight passage from Makemo to Tahanea.  It is only 50 miles but we couldn't make that distance in the daylight hours.  In order to make Tahanea at dawn we had to average less than 4.5 knots.   Do you know how hard it is to make Shindig go slow?

Once in the lagoon we headed to the South East corner and met up with our buddies on S/V Tumbleweed that we had last seen in the Marquesas and Katie and Mike of S/V Pangaea.

Shindig, Alcyone and Tumbleweed swapping stories and telling lies

Local copra farmers dropped off a bounty of lobster

They wouldn't let us pay them!


Snorkeling on the bommies near the anchorage







Brilliant blue colors of clams 


Kite time!


Pangaea Mike gett'n it done!


Beach party!

Douglas making Fire

Rob extracting precious ice cubes with Kenny


The motley castaways.  Tumbleweed, Shindig, Alcyone, Pangaea

Nancy, Betsy and Katie

Friday, January 5, 2018

Mid-Mo

One of our last stops in Makemo before heading out the West pass was a place Mid-Mo.  So named by me because it is sort of in the middle of Makemo.

This was a picture perfect spot that we enjoyed with Kenny and Betsy from S/V Alcyone.



BTW, a note on traversing the lagoon.  Check out the image below.  See all those little specs.  Those are called bommies.  They are coral outcroppings that come to the surface and they are everywhere.
When moving around in the lagoon, Nancy will be the spotter on the bow and communicate to me if there is a danger ahead.  Many of the bommies are charted but many are not.   We travel only in the day time and when the sun is overhead or behind us.  The bommies are very visible and are easily avoided if you are paying attention.


Makemo lagoon is sprinkled with bommies

Here is what a bommie looks like under water.  It is about 2 to 3 feet below the surface.


Rob and Nancy in a Tropical Paradise

Kenny and Betsy of  S/V Alcyone posing for the paparazzi 

Shindig and Alcyone at Mid-mo


Little baby black tip sharks in the shallows


Lots of strawberry crabs

Debris on the windward side of the atoll.  Sadly common on most atolls we visited.

Unobstructed sunset

Bommies make excellent snorkel spots!