yet another idyllic anchorage

Bandit
David Morgan and Brenda Webb
Sun 18 May 2014 22:08
16:20S 145:29W
 
The fortnightly supply ship arrived in Fakarava the night we did – perfect timing!  The supermarket was well stocked with fresh goods including lettuce (a novelty for us), bok choy, carrots and aubergines.   We still have plenty of potatoes and onions (from Panama!) and have a mountain of tins to chew our way through.  The fruit was pretty ordinary although there were some delicious looking Valencia oranges and New Zealand apples.....once again at eye watering prices. So we’ll stick with our bananas, mangos and papaya – from the Marquesas.
 
As nice as the village was we wanted remote so headed off with a lovely morning breeze down the lagoon – keeping a wary eye out for reefs and shallow patches.  Our charts are reasonable but there is nothing better than eyeball navigation and it is so easy in these waters – you can spot coral bombies under the water from some distance.   We found a gorgeous deserted spot and anchored and spent the afternoon doing boat jobs – polishing the coachroof, cleaning stainless and attacking the dreadful green beard Bandit has developed.  Seems a shame to work in such idyllic surroundings but that’s cruising – fixing (or maintaining) your boat in exotic locations.
 
Next day we wandered a bit further down the lagoon and found an even nicer spot – turquoise water and white sandy beach edged with coconut palms.  We did some jobs then went snorkelling on the coral bombies.  Back to Bandit for a few more jobs and then decided to try and walk to the other side of the motu but found the jungle impenetrable.  It was stinking hot so nothing to do but cool off.  After our swim we sat in the shallows under the shade of a coconut tree just soaking up the scene when we noticed a black fin appear not far away....next thing a black tip reef shark swam  almost right up to us.  Needless to say, we both moved rather fast!