We’ve been enjoying our usual blend of mountain adventures and coral explorations. Moorea, and the Society Islands at large, are great for this: they have dramatic mountains, but each bay is surrounded by a fringing reef, creating a calm, comfortable and still lagoon within. The geography makes for excellent hikes and anchorages, with many snorkeling options in sight.
Read MoreOn Monday morning, Dominic and I took a walk through Paopao, the residential village nestled in the hills behind Cook’s Bay. We strolled over the bridge and passed through the school, winding gently upward on a well maintained dirt road that was paved in the steeper sections. There were birds to photograph, bungalows to rent, and pineapple farms to explore.
Read MoreCook’s Bay in Moorea is spectacular; no surprise that it is one of the most often photographed anchorages in French Polynesia. It is a deep, finger-shaped body of water formed when half the ancient volcano that created the island slid into the sea. As a result, we are surrounded almost entirely by mountains: peaks and steep mesas, jagged crags and serrated spires.
Read MorePart of living a life of adventure is missing the goodness of home—a lesson that has come mostly in isolated droplets over the last sixth months, but overwhelmed with a deluge on Saturday when my sister got married and I was docked in Tahiti.Part of living a life of adventure is missing the goodness of home—a lesson that has come mostly in isolated droplets over the last sixth months, but overwhelmed with a deluge on Saturday when my sister got married and I was docked in Tahiti.
Read MoreCostumes are big in my family. Growing up, I was as likely to find a sparkling tutu on the dining room table as I was to find a meal, and my mom has been known to sew so much bling onto a pair of jeans that they become too heavy to wear. My sister's groom's family hails from India, so for the wedding (tomorrow!) she and her bridesmaids will be bedecked in dazzling saris and my brother will be wearing, what I've only heard referred to as, his "god costume".
Read MoreThough we might not pull off the look with the same panache as Dominic, we're all feeling a bit like mer-people today in Papeete as we endure our second day of rain. These are the first few rainy days we've had since arriving in the tropics, and it's not too bad since we're just doing chores anyway. Stormy conditions make excellent floor scrubbing weather, even if Dominic got an impromptu shower while out running errands yesterday.
Read MoreAs the sun rose yesterday morning, Dominic could see the majestic peaks of Tahiti breaking forth from the sea. It's a monumental landfall for us, despite having covered well over half the distance from San Francisco to New Zealand. We survived the Dangerous Archipelago (aka the Tuamotus) unscathed. It's the biggest city we will visit in the South Pacific, and certainly the most famous island on our itinerary. It's also a major congregating zone for sailors; it was really fun to cruise around the various anchorages and marinas and spot most of the boats we've made friends with along the way.
Read MoreWe stayed in South Fakarava for ten days, lingering to wait out 35 knot reinforced trade winds that swept through the region. We had been motu hopping for over four weeks, and it was time to re-enter civilization, grocery shopping and a little internet access being eagerly anticipated events at this point. Our visas also began to tick; we only get 90 days in French Polynesia, so we didn't have the luxury of getting entirely lost on the Tuamotus. With these things in mind, we decided to make way for the Society Islands despite there being only ten to 15 knots of wind in the forecast.
Read MoreWe spent a sunny morning last week exploring the small village in South Fakarava. It was no more than a quarter mile squared, with only a few dwellings that seemed inhabited by locals. There were two small dive operations capitalizing on the underwater scenery, one that ran a handful of bungalows and a small restaurant for guests only. There was a small stretch of shallow lagoon along the pass filled with fisherman feeding the sharks. There was a reef on the outer lagoon with breaking waves. A small school of brave surfers rode the white caps, trying to avoid the coral heads. We couldn't find the abandoned jailhouse amid the other abandoned structures, but we did find a still-functioning Catholic church dating from the 1820s. It was cool and spacious when we visited, with a mother of pearl mosaic altar, seashell garlands, and psalm books written in Polynesian.
Read MoreWe’re a little nervous to be leaving the Tuamotus considering how spoiled we have become. Empty beaches, shallow lagoons, clear water, abundant wildlife, friends nearby to call on the VHF radio (which has all the thrill of childhood walkie-talkies) have become the norm. There have been long swims through coral heads and palm tree motus pulsing with birds. Outside every portlight is a postcard-worthy paradise, and these sailors have been loving the view. How will any other islands compete with these salt water fish tanks surrounded by sand?
Read MoreWe spent the holiday weekend relaxing and exploring South Fakarava. We snorkled a reef system half a mile west of the anchorage and came across the most aggressive fish we’ve seen yet. This emperor fish guarded his bommies closely, scoping us with his yellow-rimmed eyes and snarling at us with his snaggle-tooth jaws. There were two large groupers nearby and three sharks, none of which paid us any mind. But this guy glares in the background of many of our pictures, and chased us from his territory so assertively that Dominic had to threaten him with his dive knife to get him to leave us alone. Wild times!
Read MoreOne of the more prolific critters we’ve seen, the hermit crab seems well adapted to the Tuamotus. They take up residence in the most beautiful shells, and the beaches are pocked with crab holes and covered with tracks that look like the tread of mountain bike tires. Herds of baby crabs look like tiny warring shells, racing to get into the water. Single tenacious adults can be seen using their spiny legs to cross vast planes of sand, ascend low lying tropical flora, and triumph over coconut shell.
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We had some better luck on the photography front yesterday. This is a black tip reef shark—at about four feet long, she is one of the smaller sharks in the pass and one of the few swimming in the shallow section above the coral. We also spotted grey and white tip reef sharks, some as long as six feet and huskier than this one. We were surprised at how different the experience was than the previous day, the water more clear, more shark movement, and more fish along the reef near the surface. We also had some friends join us; in the background with Dominic are our friends Ryan and Nicole of s/v Naoma, who grabbed their snorkel gear 20 minutes after dropping anchor, hopped in our dinghy, and joined us for the drift dive.
Read MoreYesterday was a heavenly Tuesday: we spent the morning diving the south pass, Passe Tumakohua, into Fakarava and the afternoon beaching ourselves in this perfect lagoon near the anchorage. Diving the pass into the atoll was incredible, hundreds of reef sharks, schools of spawning grouper, and a carpet of healthy coral as wide as the peripheral vision in our masks let us see. They’re tricky sights to photograph, though. The sharks are about 80 to 110 feet below the surface, and the water is moving so fast over the coral that it’s hard to do anything beyond ride the current, absorb the scenery, avoid collision, and have an absurd amount of fun.
Read MoreA second imagine from our time ashore Noddy Island: Dominic explored the inner workings of a large bush providing shelter for a number of young noddy families. This bird was collecting leaves and twigs, and attempting to intimidate Dominic with his white cap and ferocious 18 inch wing span. The noddy population is also thriving in Fakarava; a flock of about ten spent yesterday hovering over a school of jumping surgeon fishes around our stern. We think both noddies and surgeons were likely hunting the same bait fish at the surface.
Read MoreNeedless to say at this point, our time in the Tuamotus is making the last few months (years) of effort to get here totally worth it. Though we have more pictures from Tahanea to share, we had a blissful, moonlit passage to Fakarava Saturday night, and entered the southern pass, escorted by dolphin, on Sunday morning.
Read MoreTuesday, I donned the rock climbing harness, clipped in to the main halyard, and Dominic hoisted me up the mast so we could take advantage of the idyllic conditions and have a photoshoot. Not a lover of heights, it took a few minutes for me to release my bear-hug-of-death grip from the mast and make use of the camera. I'm glad I did; from 54 feet off the water the view was singular and well worth capturing. It was late afternoon, the brown boobies were diving into the water, the sun was beginning to get heavy in the sky making the boat's shadow visible in the sand beneath 25 feet of water, and I began to long for something resembling a diving platform up there...
Read MoreYesterday was an absolutely spectacular day aboard Helios. After a day and a half of squally conditions, we awoke to clearing skies and decreasing winds. The daily conversation of “what do we want to do today” generated a jam-packed schedule: go for a 20-30 minute swim to get some exercise, clear the anchor chain wrapped around the local bommies, go snorkeling on the larger coral heads we encountered on our journey across the lagoon, take photos from the top of the mast, go paddle boarding, relax in the floaty chairs. By the time we got in the dinghy to cruise to the nearby bommies to snorkel, the wind had died and the surface of the lagoon was completely glassy, the ocean blurring with the sky at the horizon. Conditions below the surface of the sea were equally amazing—vibrant, healthy coral, a multitude of fish, a five foot barracuda, schools of parrotfish, grouper, threadfin and redfin butterflyfish, lemonpeel angelfish, unicornfish, scissor-tail sergeants—the glassy surface of the water surrounding us with the surrealist of reflections.
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