Still in wonderful Fakarava

ANIMA
Manuel Ribeiro
Fri 18 May 2018 19:22

17 May 2018 16:30S 145:27W

 

Luciane and Rubens left on the same plane that Teresa, my sister, arrived from Tahiti, resulting in another seamless crew change. Rana, a friend from Miami, arrived the following day and we stayed another couple of days enjoying the north of the atoll.

 

We sampled the remaining restaurants in the village, visited a nearby pearl farm (with the famous black pearls), had a farewell drink on board with friends from several boats in the anchorage and sailed south, to snorkel again with the sharks in the south pass.

 

Life on the atolls has a rythm of its own, sheltered from the ocean wind and waves. Almost every visiting sailor is at some point of a circumnavigation program, making these common interests turn into an immediate topic of conversation. After a few weeks in Fakarava, I knew almost every boat and kept meeting them in the various anchorages where we stopped.

 

The weather has remained favourable during our stay, with the wind picking up a little in the last few days and blowing stronger today, with heavy showers. Although ANIMA may stay another year in Polynesia, we need to move on to the next atoll tomorrow, when the weather improves, as the next crew change will take place in Tahiti at the end of next week…