3/7/09 - 14.27.9S 146.02.2W as at 18.00 UTC

Flying Cloud
Julian Nichols
Fri 3 Jul 2009 07:38
Landfall! Is it really? Those couple of clumps of Palm trees? Oh shit, look at the surf!!
Actually it was a bit smoother than that, but these Atolls do suddenly appear - their sheer reefs projecting towards you!
Manihi is one of the most North Westerly of the Tuamotu's and was right in our path to Tahiti, so we decided to stop and have a look, as well as get use to "doing a pass". A pass is a channel that lets you into the lagoon (the Tuamotu Atolls are basically a ring of island reefs, with a big patch of water in the middle (lagoon). There are normally only one or two narrow passes, and a fairly fast tide tends to be flowing either in or out. Anyway, all went smoothly and we picked our way between the coral heads and put the anchor down a couple of miles from the village near a little Motu (one of the reef islands). I have been to Manihi before and stayed in the one hotel, but i had no idea that practically every little Motu (islet around the lagoon) is inhabited, and someone has built a stilt house. I also didn't remember how large the lagoon was - its over 20 miles long!
Julian

Captain's corner:
We pulled into Manihi today, a little while before noon and with Jules up the mast. Visibility was so good he probably didn't need to bother, but it was great having him up there spotting every little shallow patch well in advance! We anchored in about 20m of water, had a spot of lunch, and went for a "quick siesta"... We barely woke up in time to catch the last of the light to take the tender the mile or two from the anchorage to the wharf... A little walk around town armed with some Hinanos, then back to the wharf to chat with the locals before dinner... We met a few interesting characters to say the least, played a couple of games at the arcade (foosball, I threw six darts for 100 francs and the chance to win 10 000 if I got two bulls- eyes, Jules threw some balls made of rag to try and knock down a pyramid of cans and win a bag of rice)...we then got to chatting with the only other set of cruisers at the Atoll: Shell and Lena, two very nice Swedes who happened to possess a bag with Hinanos (a valuable commodity seeing as the shops had closed!) We chatted with them, and then ate a lovely steak and chips dinner at the local eatery.... Hope to see them again!
Mattman