South and west
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Mon 19 Apr 2010 01:09
the time to see more of the island, by boat visiting its bays and also by
car.
But with building easterly winds forecast we have left Nuka Hiva for Manihi,
a passage of over 475 miles.
It is difficult to imagine a greater contrast between the two island chains
with the soaring volcanic Marquesas thrust up from the sea bed by
unimaginable forces millions of years ago and the low lying, barren coral
atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Up until recent times the 76 atolls that make up the Tuamotus were given a
wide berth by most passing boats and they are known on many charts as the
Dangerous Isles. But with the advent of better charts and GPS they are now
seeing far more visitors although the number of wrecks that litter their
coral banks show that they still need to be treated with utmost respect.
Many of the atolls are uninhabited and some lack passes into their inner
lagoons for yachts to find shelter and so are out of bounds for deep draft
yachts like ours. Even so we hope to explore the northern half of the island
chain and visit as many atolls as possible.
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