Good Times in Fakarava
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Fri 22 Jun 2007 19:06
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Kauehi was a lovely chilled out place to be. And
whilst there I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday. Thanks to everyone who
sent birthday wishes via email. I had a great day with a party in the late
afternoon and evening. We had 11 people on board Serai for cocktails and a BBQ.
Everyone had a good time, and I was sung happy birthday to in Dutch, Mexican,
Norwegian and English, so it was a very cosmopolitan affair!
The day before we left Kauehi, we took a look at
our anchor chain, to discover that it was badly wrapped around a coral head, or
bommie as thy tend to be known in the southern hemisphere. So began about an
hour of diving down to try to free it. We had air left in our tans from cleaning
the bottom of the boat the day before, so used up this trying to free the chain.
It was a real battle, but we got there in the end. Now we were ready to weigh
anchor the following morning.
So the next morning saw us up and about at 0600.
After a nice cup of tea, we got under way at 0630. We had to make the pass by
0800, in order to go through at slack water and in the best conditions. We
sailed up the lagoon under reefed genoa in order to keep our speed down so that
we did not arrive too early. The pass was perfect and through we went with
hardly a ripple. On the other side we found lovely calm seas and the wind
blowing 15 knots from our stern. We poled out the genoa and put up the mainsail,
goosewinged on the other side. So began a fantastic sail for 35 miles to
Fakarava, with Serai managing about 5.5 knots. Some friends landed a 25lb Mahi
Mahi on the way and then invited us round for dinner. The pass at Fakarava
was a little more bumpy than we had expected but still OK. Of course we had to
get the timings right for this pass too, which we did.
The following day Ems was beside herself with
excitement over the prospect of going diving. We woke early and went ashore to
find a dive shop. $60 each to dive the pass, and we were to go that very
afternoon. Perfect. The conditions were perfect and the visibility over 60 feet.
We took the dive boat out to the pass, put on our gear and then rolled backwards
off the RIB. Next we dropped down to 110 feet to the edge of a wall. At around
50 ft we could start to make out some shadowy shapes beneath us. quickly these
shapes took more form as we dropped into around 50 sharks circling around. They
were mostly grey sharks, although we also saw the odd white tip and silver tip.
We sat and watched them for about 5 minutes at 110 feet, and then made our way
through canyons to 70 feet. There was no need to swim as this was a drift dive,
so we were just carried by the current - a bit like riding a train. Again we saw
more sharks here. Then on we went to a hole in the reef. We sat in here out
of the current and were surrounded by shoals of fish, 100s of Camoflage Grouper
getting ready to spawn and a ton of other stuff. I have never seen so many fish
in one place in all my dives, and of course out on the fringes yet more sharks.
Some of the guys also saw a Moray Eel and also a really big tuna. We now made
our way further inside the pass, seeing an enormous Napoleon Wrasse, before
surfacing with less than 500 psi in my tank! A close call! I noticed though that
the instructors were all diving Nitrox! Should have taken the test and got that
ticket! What an amazing dive! The dive company had been great. The guy that took
our group was professional throughout, without being too much. Amazingly though
no-one asked to see our dive licences and we were not asked to sign a liability
release - both normally standard practise!
I awoke the next day feeling a bit stiff from the
dive but ready to tackle our next adventure. Six of us hired bikes and went
exploring the island armed with pack lunches. We visited a lovey hotel and
snorkelled in their 'gin-clear' water, and had a tour of a Pearl farm. I never
knew it was so complicated to make the pearls. It was all in french so here
follows my understanding of the process! First they buy the Oysters from a
nearby island and place them in the water to keep them alive, Next they remove
them from the water and have 8 hours to peform a graft on each oyster. This
involves opening the shell and then making a small incision. A graft from an
American oyster is then placed inside along with a tiny piece cut from other
oyster shells. These oysters are then put back in the water to a depth of 9
metres. After 18 months a small 10mm round, black pearl has grown. Now this can
be harvested and another graft done. After 1 year this will produce an even
bigger pearl. As you can see, its a pretty lengthy process. We were given a tour
of the whole fascinating process and then we asked to see some pearls. They were
stunning. The small farm we visited will be sending 6000 pearls to Japan, their
biggest market, next month alone. I bought Ems a perfectly round black pearl
with a champagne/rose lustre. Its a real beauty! Now we just have to get it set
into a pendant somewhere! The owner of the farm was a really nice french
guy, who was happy to chat for ages. He had run a nightclub on Nuku Hiva for 12
years before starting the pearl farm 18 years ago. The fact that a nightclub was
ever a sustainable business on any island in the Marquesas is amazing to
me!
Carrying on our bike ride we stopped by a shack at
the side of the road where a lady was making shell necklaces. We chatted in
French and then carried on our ride promising to return. On our return she had
coconut shells opened up with straws inside ready for us to drink. We chatted
some more and then she gave us each a necklace made from an oyster shell. Such
incredible kindness, rarely seen! It blew all of us away. Next we headed down to
the local shop and managed to buy a fresh tuna from a local fisherman. Ems
bought s couple of bottles of beer from the shop and then promptly dropped one
of them right outside. The owner replaced the bottle immediately and at no
charge - yet another act of kindness! On the way back to the dinghy we met up
with the pearl man again - his house is right on the edge of the lagoon - a
perfect setting. We spent a contented evening back on the boat with our
barbequed tuna, reflecting on the kindness and happiness of the people here; a
place you could easily call home!
Today's mission is to try to persuade a local to
let us have a go in a pirogue. These are the local canoes with a single
outrigger to one side. They are very difficult to paddle apparently, but I
really want to have a go! After that, I think we will try to head down through
the lagoon to a place further south which people say is spectacular. The hang
out for a couple of days before heading to Tahiti.
Its a bit of a long one today, sorry. We'll email
again soon with yet more adventures.
Till the next time.
Lots of love
J and Ems xx
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