Arriving in the Tuamotus
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Thu 2 May 2013 03:47
|
14:27.75S
146:02.71W Arriving in the
Tuamotus: Manihi:
After a three night / two day
trip from Nuku Hiva we arrived at Manihi, an atoll in the north west of the
Tuamotus. In contrast to the towering green mountains and dark water
of the Marquesas, these atolls are very different. Each atoll is an
extinct sunken volcano - the centre being a lagoon and the land being a skinny
circle of coral reef islands around it. The entry into the lagoons
is usually through a narrow cut, which can only be negotiated at slack tide due
to the screaming currents that race through the cuts with each tidal
change.
We arrived at 8am this morning, but
had to motor around a bit, waiting for the high tide at 10.30 am. Luckily
we had received good tidal information from a retired French naval officer who
lives on the island, helping sailors and relaying radio & AIS info. So if
any of you have the App called Marine Traffic on your iPads - you should be able
to "see" us in Manihi.
While waiting for the tide, Mike
discovered a major fresh water leak in the engine room - which on a yacht is a
bit of a disaster. With Johns help they found the problem fitting and managed to
eventually sort it out. Water is so precious, as we have to make every
drop - so it was a bit depressing to loose so much....and I have a ton of
laundry to do. At the moment, we cannot use the washing
machine while under way as the engine room (laundry) is just too hot (over
50deg) - with the air & water temperature outside both
over 30deg C.
When the time came, Mike edged
Time2 through the narrow cut, and following some weigh-points and a good bit of
eye-balling, we found a good spot to anchor - looking across a small piece of
reef to the ocean.. And what a beautiful place this is ... its exactly like the
postcards. If you zoom in on the map on the front page of this blog, you
should be able to see a great aerial view of the lagoon. Or just check out
Google Images for "Tuamotus", and you will get the picture.
 |