After the last  instalment I have waited before writing again as the elements continued to hammer us and anything

I wrote might have been rather coloured by this.  Now the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, as it should out of the

east at about twelve knots and we are anchored off a long line of uninhabited reef.  On this reef the palm trees

sway in the wind, the hermit crabs scuttle in their differing shell homes and there is no human habitation within

at least five and probably ten miles.  The sea is an unbelievable clear turquoise and Nordlys sits apparently suspended

in space above a sandy seabed.  The latter is some ten meters below us but visible as if we were looking through

air and not water.   From this almost idyllic scene I can write dispassionately about the last ten days.

 

After our 'long night' the wind eventually calmed down and the four boats at anchor off the village were joined

over the next two days by  five others amongst whom were two particular friends.   These two had been waiting offshore

while we fought our battle.  A great evening was enjoyed with nine of us on Troubadour.  Four English, one Dane, two

Norwegians and two Australians.  A typical cruising mixture which we find so stimulating.  This event was followed by

a few hours rather alcoholic sleep then wham it was back to thirty knots and driving rain pushing us ashore for the next

twelve hours.  Thank goodness it was daylight this time and just before dark the wind eased to a manageable twenty knots.

This was followed by two days of perfect weather.  We visited a pearl farm and went snorkelling with the 'farmers' as they

raised and lowered their lines.  All the time they showed endless patience and explained what they were looking for

on the different aged oysters.  We also went on a local boat and snorkelled the passe.  This was slightly hairy as the

tide was going out fast at the time  and the outboard of our Polynesian mother ship kept coughing most unhealthily.

The snorkelling itself was fantastic with a great variety of fish including black and white tipped and a few

big grey sharks. 

 

On shore we had made friends with Enrico the local doctor cum social worker.  We were able to have interesting and

fairly full conversations with him mainly due to Christabel's French which is slightly better than Annette's and much better

than mine.  What we learnt was not all good.  Wife battering and child molesting is far from unknown in these small communities.

The social cost to the French must be huge as all expectant mothers spend three months at State expense in Tahiti.

All children from problem homes are also sent there.  Enrico's sheer pleasure in being generous to us and his lack of

wanting anything in return was a real delight and made it doubly pleasurable for us to be able to entertain him on Nordlys

and to give him mementoes of our time together.

 

All good things must come to an end and 9th June Troubadour and ourselves went through the pass at slack water bound for

Makemo.  This was only eighty miles away and as we did not want to arrive until next morning  there was time to spare.   The

desirability of a slack water departure and a daylight arrival causing this.  Embla and Bardoo came out at full ebb and had a rough

time of it.  Bardoo a fifty foot yacht with a large pilot house had left a window open and they shipped a large amount of water.

Apart from carpets, books, CDs etc being flooded their main electrics panel was also showered with interesting results.

I have to say they accepted this with unbelievable Aussie good spirits.

 

By 1800hrs we were hove to some twenty miles north of the pass in the Makemo atoll.  Completely unforecast, again, the wind was up

to thirty knots and  the rain came down in sheets.  The four of us were all  in approximately the same area.  The wind

stayed at thirty knots and went up to forty on three occasions as squalls passed by. It was interesting hearing the different

voices from the three other yachts over the radio as the night slowly passed.

At eight o'clock in the morning we entered the pass with the wind down to a manageable twenty knots and anchored near

Fortuna, RCC.  Over the next four hours Embla, Bardoo and Troubadour arrived.  Fortuna had been doing anchor watch

all night and were very happy to see us.

 

It would appear that that night may have been the end of the unsettled weather as we have now enjoyed four days of perfect

sunshine and gentle trade winds.  We have snorkelled the pass but on an incoming tide this time, we have dived on the outside

of the reef, we have, some fourteen of us, enjoyed steak and frites served from a small kiosk on the shore front.  Makemo's best

restaurant.  Its only restaurant.  The village with its three hundred or so inhabitants boasts the local hospital and is the secondary

school centre for the surrounding atolls.  All the teenagers from Raroia are here.  For the first time we are seeing late teen locals

and it is apparent now why the early sailors found shore time in these islands so enjoyable. 

 

Tearing ourselves away from the 'flesh pots' of the village we are now anchored in the surroundings that I described at the start.

I would be the first to say that the last two weeks have at times been a great strain and not what we were expecting.  Many

yachts simply gave up and went to Tahiti.  If things had not improved we would have done the same.  The radio conversations

we hear tell us that the community  is rather shell shocked.  Our own learning  curve has been steep.  Anchoring amongst coral

heads, never being able to trust the weather, even long periods hove to are all new experiences.  Christabel has now decided

that the 'short sighted sailing millionaire' she might chance upon must now also be a diver!  The words in italics are hers not mine and

I see no need for him to be short sighted.  I agree over the diving as I have spent a lot of time in the water disentangling anchors

and chain from the coral.  What does come through very strongly is the delightful nature of the people we have encountered.  Readers

of my earlier epistles will know we found this rather lacking in the Marquesas.  Here warmth and friendliness without wanting

anything material in return would seem to be endemic.

 

If any would-be trans Pacific sailors read this then please feel free to contact us if we can help over more of the technical information

that I leave out of the story in an attempt to make it more intersting for the majority.

Gaston, the Raroian pearl farmer demonstrates

insertion techniques.

 

Coral spotting at beer time

 

Skipper and crew taken by Annette

Happy times to you all

David, Annette and Christabel