Makemo 2nd anchorage

Spindrift
David Hersey
Fri 4 Jul 2008 17:27

16:26.682 S  148:57.224 W

 

4/7/08  09:15

 

We left the anchorage at 7:45 with the bright idea to cross the atoll to the Northern Pass.  The sun was behind us when we left and too low to really see the  reefs, so Steve set up camp on the first spreader for the first hour and was relieved by Lucy and then by Demetri.  It turns out there are dozens and dozens of reefs here and it’s a bit dodgy so we travel slowly. The Frenchman on Banana Split had said the passage was ok but of course he was in a Catamaran which draws much less than we do.    Were doing this on a falling tide.  The tidal range here is about 40cm so those coral heads which are just above the water would be just below the water at high tide. You can be in 35 meters of water and only 10 meters away from a coral head on the surface.

 

12:00 

 

We arrive at midday just after low water. We are rewarded with one of the most beautiful anchorages we’ve seen so far.

We will spend the afternoon swimming and leave about 18:00 at high water just before dark.

 

The young people go with the dinghy to explore the beach.  Steve has a rest and I go for a long snorkel to inspect the anchor and the reef which is absolutely full of fish and interesting coral.  Shortly after I return Steve goes off for a snorkel but returns almost immediately complaining that there is a large grey shark hanging about the anchor chain.

 

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