North to Rotoava Village

2 July 2017

It was time for some new provisions, so we made a slow trip up to the North end of Fakarava to the village of Rotoava. As we sailed up the channel, we came across one of the mega yachts we had seen in Tahiti, the Plan B.

They have plenty of toys including the helicopter. We think this boat belongs to Plan B productions a movie company owned by Brad Pitt, but we did not see him as we went by.

We were sure to stick inside the channel to avoid the bombies, like the one this marker guards.

We stopped half way up the atoll to see if our friend Toko was there, that we had visited the last time we were here. We anchored just in time to see a lovely sunset.

The next morning we took a walk on a white/pink sand beach which had been calling our names.

From the beach it was pretty dense jungle growing, so we staid on the sand.

Until I found this tree to climb. Guess I will forever be that tomboy at heart.

We walked until we ran out of sand, but the water and the palm trees (plus my Miguel) were all so beautiful!

So we walked back toward Toko's camp.

From the camp we saw Avatar between the trees, anchored in the turquoise water.

We anchored the dingy in Toko's lagoon, but did not see his boat.

The sun was shining brightly through his many coconut palms where he usually collects them to make copra.

Toko was nowhere to be found and looked like he had not been here for some time. He always kept the ground very clean, but it was covered with palm frans. We did see many crab holes though. And this was the biggest one headed under a rock.

We used his kitchen area to burn our trash. Too bad he was not there because we had brought him some clothes and other gifts.

And another gorgeous sunset!

For a while now I had asked Mike if he was up to cutting my hair. There are no salons out here! So he decided to day was the day. It came out cute, even if it was a bit shorter than I expected. Turned out to be much cooler too!

We kept making our way North to the village of Rotoava. We saw several resort looking places along the way.

As well as several pearl farms.

These pensions are small hotels and look quite inviting to have someone come and visit us!!

At the NE corner of Fakarava, at the village of Rotoava, the sun now sets behind the North side of the atoll. Still quite lovely....

We spotted a restored old race boat called Tiger Beetle, which is a boat I sold while still a yacht broker in San Diego! Turned out Rob, who I sold it to, was still the owner! What a great surprise! He bought it in 1998! What a joy after all these years to meet up with him here in the South Pacific!

Hirifa, SE corner of Fakarava Atoll

29 July 2017

We wanted to walk the inner beach today, having already hiked along the outer reef on the back side of Hirifa motu. Plus that hammock was still on my mind. The cruiser hang out looked just as lovely as it did the night before, decorated with all kinds of cool stuff.

It was then that we noticed Momma Piggie and her piglets. They had been in their sty the night before. Today Liza had let them out to play on the beach. Here they are just wondering around under some pearl buoys hanging from a tree.

I assume Papa Pig must be a red head! They are so cute!

Tuamotuan pigs eat coconut and drink water from a bowl!

While some piglets nuzzle up to Momma's tit, others watch how she wiggled in the sand to find it cooler underneath and they all lay down for a nap. But somehow I don't think these guys are pets, as food is few and far between down here.

I finally get my chance to hang out in the hammock tied up between two palm trees (just like in a poem I wrote back in 1989)!

Can you tell by the smile on my face, that life is good!!!

Looking up the beach from Liza's is the most perfect overhanging palm tree. This one reminds me of the mural on my wall I had in my room in Keezletown, Virginia.

Further down the beach is this climb/swing hanging from a tall tree. I was told in order to get a cell phone signal, you have to climb up there and make your calls. (well at least they are private!)

Since I had no one to call and did not even have a phone, I decided to try out the swing. A float to sit on and a stick to hang on.

The doggie from the previous night was guarding his house on this end of the beach.

Looking back toward Liza's with the sand spit past her place and the dingy pulled up on the beach. This has to be one of the nicest beaches we have walked on in French Polynesia.

At the far end of the beach this black capped tern stands on the end of a decapitated palm tree.

Here we find Liza's great grandparents house, or what is left of it.

In case you can't see it, the stone over the entry way is dated 1879. The walls are made of coral and cement. Wonder how long cement has been around?

There are two graves out back, one for her grandparents and the other for a young child who did not live near long enough.

I love the big Murex shell decorating the top. No names tho, but Liza had told us they were her relatives.

The beach is still quite lovely down at this end, the palm just does not hang as far out over the water.

There are lots of little hermit crabs running around on the beach. This cute guy I think still needs to grow into his new shell.

Finally, the photo I had wanted, me with that tree! Gracias Miguel!!

The sun makes this beautiful rainbow in a squall out over the ocean on the other side of Hireefa.

Shelly with her newly collected shell collection!!!

Sail to Fakarava, music in Hireefa

Before most passages Mike does an engine room check and service. Before our overnight sail he had changed out the fuel filters, checked the oil and water. As we headed out the pass at the change of the tide, our faithful Isuzu decided to cut out right in the middle of the pass! So we quickly rolled out the jib and sailed back into the lagoon. Once we were clear of any danger, Mike ran below to find that one of the fuel filters had not seated right and we had sucked in some air to the fuel line. Hmm, hate it when that happens. Once solved we quickly got the engine running again and headed back out the pass. This is the view of our track on the chart plotter as we circled back and finally headed out.

We left with two other boats just before sunset for the 50 mile trip to the South Pass in Fakarava. That is Restless, with Ted and Anne-Marie leaving the pass just behind us in their Cape Dory 40.

Here is a close up of the pass side of the motu we had hiked to from the shack.

Restless sailing outside the pass.

Cape Dory's are quite fast and he zoomed ahead of us. Actually he beat all of us and left last! Nice work!

Liward is ahead of us in their Hans 48.

The sun was setting in front of Liward leading the pack.

We were all watching as the sun starts to dip below the horizon.

It is very hard to photograph the elusive green flash, but we all saw it that night!

The moon was in his happy face mode, smiling down upon us after returning from the new moon phase. I was not able to photograph it, but the moon set not long after sunset and with a black sky it lit up with stars. I swear I had never seen as many stars as I did that night. It was like the Milky Way Galaxy was painted across the sky!

The sun rose the next morning, a few hours before reaching Fakarava.

We were all anchor down in Hireefa, which is in the SE corner of the atoll. The water here is such a lovely turquoise!

We got together that night aboard Liward (after naps of course). Steve is a great musician and promoter and loves to find other boat musicians to play with. This night we had Mike and Katie from Pangea, Ted and Anne-Marie from Restless and us from Avatar.

Mike looks at his lovely wife as she sings along with Steve on guitar.

Miguel, Anne-Marie and Lili enjoy the music.

Katie is a trained professional vocalist and Ted is a very talented musician, playing his fiddle or violin at this moment.

Later he switched to his sax! What a great night it was!!

The next day Liza had returned home to her cruiser hangout restaurant. It is a great spot, decorated with all kinds of sea debris and flags from various places.

They made a hammock out of this netting (note to self, must come back and rest in that!!)

But we were headed on a hike to the outer reef with Lili on a shell hunting expedition. This is the back side of Liza's house (note cement walls for protection from the ocean!)

Behind her house is this lovely middle lagoon which is fairly deep, but we crossed it on a sandbar up to our knees.

Miguel with his hiking stick checks out the outer reef.

This one big white stone sanding on end with a piece of coral on top marked another path to reach this spot.

Notice how red the coral is out there protecting the atoll.

Lili and Miguel walking ahead of me.

At one of the high tide marks we found a huge amount of sponges!

This really shows that high tide mark!

Later in the day, Steve and Lili came by on their paddle boards all decked out in matching garb. They looked so lovely with in the same colored water!!

The sunset from Liza's hangout is just spectacular!

Her husband fires off the barbecue while her little niece watches.

Quite a few of us came ashore for a pot luck dinner. We all brought meat to grill and they made a big rice dish.

I can't stop taking photos of sunsets. It is like an obsession for me.

This black headed tern was headed home to roost after the sun had dropped below the horizon.

Inside Liza's hangout, the crusiers are doing just that!

Steve and Ted get ready to rock the house. Liza comes out of the kitchen to listen in.

The lovely Liza in her amazing kitchen.

This little geco kept chirping. They seem to love palapa style roofs!

Liza's husband was doing a great job on the BBQ.

The kitty lets me pet her. She seems to like it!

Finally dinner is ready. Soooo much good food!

Christy gets the niece's very skiddish dog to finally take a scrap from her hand.

Steve and Ted are really rolling now that dinner is over.

They are rocking up a storm.

The neighbors (also family) are listening from the sand.

John and Christy of Raynad, can't help themselves they get up and swing dance!

Miguel takes the kitty in his lap.

This was a fantastic day!!! So much fun and friendship!