Hello from the crew of Avocet, well we left you last in Nuka Hiva where we were feasted by the locals, the locals didn't feast on us mind. They did however perform a fearsome haka to the resounding drum beats from a huge log with goat hide stretched over it. The golden oldies of the world arc fleet then danced afterwards on the dance floor, pretty feeble in comparison to the way the French Polynesians were spinning, stamping and throwing themselves around making stabbing and throat cutting gestures. We picked up Cameron our newest crew member here in Nuka Hiva to replace John, (John how are you by the way your missed here, full moons aren't half as fun without you) Cam's a balloon pilot from Florida. An absolute laugh and a half, a good addition to our all ready eccentric crew.

Our first stop after the Marquesas were the Tuamotos on the way to Tahiti. The Tuamotos are a large group of idyllic atolls with white sand beaches, lazy swaying palm trees, large colourful coral reefs home to many pelagic and game fish. And also home to a mind boggling amount of sharks. We arrived into Rangiora after 4 days of sailing in the dead of night and on an outgoing tide  of around 6-7 knots. The idea was that if we hit a reef we could back off it straight away. Approaching an island with no discernible outline above the horizon at night with only a few working leading lights was a bit hair raising considering that right in the middle of the narrow channel there was an island we had to avoid. However we made it in and just in time as a sizeable squall bucketed down on us after we anchored. An Atoll is an extinct volcanic island that has sunk back into the sea leaving a large natural lagoon behind, in the case of rangiora the largest 30km by 26km. The lagoons are studded with coral heads making navigation hazardous and best done with the sun high over head and someone looking out for any dangers lurking in the water.

Our next stop was the less visited atoll of Apataki, where they do pearl farming on a large scale. We made friends with some of the locals while snorkelling and over a shared drink of coconut milk they offered us a gift of some pearls which we told Margaret of and she came and gave a gift of money in return as you can't be seen to be buying them directly from the source. Margaret got quite a deal they would probably cost a fortune back home. After one day and night in Apataki we set out for Fakarava. This time we made it through the channel in daylight, the North pass in Fakarava at the entrance of the lagoon is massive and offers some of the best diving in the world. Fakarava is a world heritage site, Don and I dived the north pass on the 2nd day there and  right at the entrance where the outgoing current meets the sea there was literally thousands of sharks holding point into the current, it was like one of those old hp screen savers where sharks swam all over the screen of your p.c. There were black tipped reef sharks, grey sharks and lemon sharks in there hundreds. Luckily no tiger sharks or Oceanic hammerheads which are real monsters.

We followed our dive master along the edge of the entrance to the reef, we had the company of a medium sized manta ray for a while. It came over to check us out a few times. We then swam down into a gorge where there were massive Napolean fish and large parrot fish everywhere munching through the brightly coloured coral reef and converting it to sand, as we came out of the gorge a big 7 knot current took us and we linked up ensuring we stayed together as a group, the reef became a blur as it flashed below us and we literally flew through the pass doing a drift dive. It was a great experience. We had dinner with our neighbours that night Pat and Rachelle a nice Canadian Couple. Half way through dinner I realised the moon was being eclipsed, we sat and enjoyed the sight while listening to the sound of the locals ashore playing traditional wooden mandolins. Once dinner was done the lads and I headed in as a group to check out the source of the music. We pretty much walked into someones house but they were happy to have guests they explained that they would be playing at a celebration for their newly elected representative for the tuamotos, we played some songs with them and drank some pretty vile rum. We finished up just as the moon was eclipsed and a dull red colour.

The next day we navigated a marked channel through the lagoon to the southern end of the atoll. We anchored right next to a local resort a couple of palm shelters and a restaurant. The local landlady let us play our music over the sound system and we celebrated my 28th birthday in a bar on stilts. We had an absolute laugh there,  but it took us ages to get back to the boat as our yellow tender could barely make any headway against the outgoing current. The next day Don and I dived the south pass which was even more beautiful than the north, less sharks but still plenty and one 3 meter lemon shark which frightened off a lot of the smaller ones. The bottom of the channel was a pure white sand which seemed to shine with its own luminescence, almost like having the sun above you and below you simultaneously. As we dived, back in the boat Derry was trying his hardest to have his other two crew members Cian and Cam eaten by sharks as he dumped a bag of yesterdays chicken curry over them as they snorkelled through a large group of sharks bought made narrow escapes much to Derrys dismay.

Fakarava was the end of the Tuamotos for us, next stop Tahiti, to see old friends and to do maintenance and antifouling to the boat.