Although it was only a 5+ hour sail, because of the tides, we had to leave Kauehi at sun up. Getting in and out of the lagoons was tricky, because there were strong currents and over-falls to contend with.

Leaving Kauehi reminded us of the very first time we set sail from Jacksonville. Upon leaving the St John’s river to go out to sea we had to cross similar conditions. On that occasion we smashed a door, narrowly missed killing me and stirred up all the gunge in the fuel tanks so the fuel filters got clogged up and the engines failed just as we were going into the marina at St Augustine.

Thankfully, this time, although it was rough, we managed it without incident.

As usual we had to motor-sail, because of the tides at the entry to Fakarava. The trick is to arrive at slack tide and thus have less current and turbulence to deal with.

Fakarava is the second largest atoll in the Tuamotos. The lagoon is 40km long and 25km wide. We were heading for the village of Rotoava in the north of the lagoon.

We arrived slightly early for slack tide, but it was ok, only 3.5 knots of current and it was with us. The overfalls weren’t as bad a Kauehi had been, so it was fine.

Anchoring was a different matter. We had been having trouble getting the anchor to hold on the previous 3 occasions. We were using the CQR anchor and it didn’t like the hard sand and coral bottom. So we invariably had to change to our Danforth anchor. The charts were showing a depth of 8 to 10 meters, yet we were getting readings of 16 meters. Anyway, we decided to drop the Danforth instead of trying with the CQR. No go!!

We motored around the anchorage and finally found a spot that wasn’t too deep and was just off the wharf, so not too far to dinghy ashore.

No sooner had we anchored than Roger noticed that the water pump was running, yet he hadn’t used the tap, so he rushed to see what was happening as the bilge pump had now started to run as well. The accumulator had failed.

So here it was, the justification for all the anal nagging to switch the water off when we had finished using it. Had we not have been so conditioned to switching the water off, we would have lost all of our water.

Mike & Sue off Infini, dropped by to say hello, as the last time we had seen them was Isabella in the Galapagos. They told us that Sunday was Mother’s day, but they were also celebrating on Saturday night with a meal, so we arranged to meet up ashore.

Bamboozle was also in the anchorage and they had heard there was dancing on at 9pm, but no possibility of food. So we all decided to head to the little snack bar for dinner then head down for the dancing. We told Jamie of our problem with the water and he offered an old accumulator he had spare, if it was any good. It turned out to be good enough to do the trick and hopefully get us to Papeete. This is what is so great about the cruising community, everyone helps everyone else, because we are all in the same boat, so to speak, and you just pay it forward.

We headed over to the little snack bar just after sunset where we met a lovely lady called Yvonne,  who ran the place. We were pleasantly surprised to find the food was more reasonably priced than we had become accustomed to, with steak and chips (heaven) only costing $12 a head.

When it arrived it was a huge plateful, absolutely enormous and neither Roger nor I could get through it. We finished the meal off with an ice cream (always have to seize the opportunity while you can).

After dinner Jamie, Lucy, Roger and I headed down to the other end of the town to the snack bar with the dancing.

It was full of locals, all dressed in their floral head-dresses and leis. The children were dancing for their mothers, they were incredible, their hips defied gravity. The band was also very good and when the children had finished all the locals got up to dance, which in some cases was rather suggestive.

We made our way home, all of us well fed and ready for bed.

The wind was getting up and we had the anchor alarm set, just in case.

About 2am I heard a fog horn and a bit of a commotion. Roger was not in bed, so I assumed something had happened, I shouted and asked what the problem was. Roger replied that he wasn’t feeling too good that’s all. This made no sense, so I said ‘what’s all the noise and the fog horn?’. He had slept through the noise.  He then went and got his glasses, I, in the meantime, looked out of the transom windows behind my head and saw a huge ship, with lights ablaze bearing down on us.

I shouted to Roger, who now had not only woken up, but had his glasses on and was on deck. The ship was weaving in and out of the yachts anchored and passed just in front of our bow. Some of the yachts had no anchor lights, which is why we think the ship was making such a commotion. Well it was certainly lively here in Fakarava.

The rest of the night was not peaceful as they wind was gusting up toward 30 knots.

The next day, being a Sunday was a chillaxing day. Well that was the plan, but Roger got stuck into fixing the water accumulator. Jamie, who was down to one head on Bamboozle had been given a macerator by Flash V, so he was busy with that. Sue, Bill and Tom off Avante dropped by and told us there was a small market setting up.

So I called Lucy and she & Jamie picked me up and we went to have a look.

There were a few stalls with some pretty jewellery which was reasonably priced, they also had food stalls and musicians. Sue from Infini was jigging away to the music, so I went and showed her how Kathy on Fatu Hiva had taught us to dance. Well, when the musicians stopped playing, they applauded us.

Their instruments were guitars, ukuleles, a bass, which was a dustbin, upside down with a string through it and a stick, very effective though and the spoons.

Maybe I should introduce our friend Kevin to them, they would have a ball and he could have taught them a thing or two.

But more than the music were the voices. They were beautiful. Almost mournful.

Outside some of the local men had started a game of Boules in the street.

Fakarava has a nice warm ambiance, unlike the Marquesas and Kauehi, there is a gentle energy about the place.

People riding by on their bicycles, children playing, women gardening, men playing boules, there is always some activity, mostly communal, but activity never the less.

Everyone is very friendly either greeting you with a Bonjour or Io Orana.

They are also very friendly in the shops, unlike our experience in Omoa on Fatu Hiva.

Prices of groceries are still high though, fruit particularly. Grapefruit for example, in Nuku Hiva it was 150 CPF here it is 450 CPF!!!

Anyway, for once I didn’t spend any money!!! Lucy and I are hoping to visit a pearl farm tomorrow, so I thought I would save myself, just in case!!!

Roger caught up with me and we sat outside the post office, picking up our e-mails from the last couple of weeks, internet island style!! It reminded me of the Bahamas, where we sat outside the midwife’s house (with her permission of course). The link was worse than the old dial up modems so we did not have too much success.

UPDATE:

Baby Kinky was sighted today, he was found hiding amongst the Pamplemousses (grapefruits) I tried to get a photo but he was playing hard to get. Kinky is still absent, but I am sure, still around.