Chasing fish in Toau

After a brief (read overnight) sail from Kauehi to Toau (Anse Amyot) we found a decent looking mooring ball in the bay and tied up to it. We were in about 50ft and the sea floor was littered with coral heads, so glad that there were mooring buoys. 

Post de-rigging the boat, we plopped in the water to cool off and to check the mooring. A refreshing swim around the bay (which is more like an old atoll pass that has silted up creating a bay that still has a bit of current) to introduce ourselves to the other 4 boats in the anchorage.

Looking into the atoll from the bay (from the top of Orions mast)

A couple of sharks swam rings around our boat. I don't know whether this was due to their fondness for our really cool boat… or its occupants.

A snorkel on the outer reef revealed beautifully clear water. We could see almost 150 feet away. We had not had such good clarity since Bonaire. On the outer reef, we anchored our dinghy in 40ft of water and the coral just shelves to well over 400ft. You peer down into the abyss wondering what is peering back at you…

On the motu (or island) that we had moored off of, live Gaston and Valentine. They are a lovely couple who own the island and speak good english. A bonus for us non French speakers!

Gaston and Valentine (and Orion)

Although the mooring balls are essentially a free service put in place by Gaston, it is courtesy to at least have dinner in their little restaurant (which doubles as their dining room too). We had a fine feed including fresh lobster and parrot fish (which until then I was always a bit indifferent about the humble pretty coral eater) - one of the few ciguatera free fish roaming the waters.

Lobster buffet!

During dinner, Valentine asked us and another 2 boats if we would mind helping Gaston the following morning catch fish. I did not need to be asked twice! I love this sort of thing. So the next morning, 8am we are picked up in a little work boat and we sped towards the shallow reef protecting us from the fetch in the atoll. We zoomed towards this reef at full speed and with a series of sharp lefts and rights navigated through some very shallow coral patches. Tom (Exit Strategy) and I were rather anxious as he proceeded through some tight and shallow patches, however there is no substitute for local knowledge! 

Once through the reef, it was another mile or two to the fish trap (a large V made of rebar and chicken wire used to herd fish into a primary and secondary chamber. The ones he had close to the island had been washed away the previous week by a rather windy few days that created quite a wave / swell in the atoll. 

We moored the boat in about a foot of water. Tom and I, wearing shoes stumbled across the shallows (1 ft) towards our positions. Gaston and another guy from the island as well as a French yachtie went and laid out a net to further enhance the size of the catchment area. The locals then started about 400 feet out throwing coral and splashing the water to scare any fish beyond the V, into the catchment area. Slowly they moved closer while we stood still. When any fish came near us, we splashed the water and chased them towards the chambers. Soon we could see the flashing greens of parrot fish. The group came closer together as we started moving towards the chambers splashing as we went. In the back of my mind I kept reminding myself that this was their livelihood and letting a fish get through means loss of income. Soon all the fish had been chased into the primary chamber and we could relax. Donning a mask, I took a look at what was in the chambers. I was amazed at the size of some of the fish. There was everything from large jacks, grouper and small (baby black tip) sharks to moray eels and of course the humble parrot fish. Gaston popped into the primary chamber and chased the fish in there to the secondary chamber (thus minimising the chance of them escaping through the opening in the primary chamber). Once done, hopped into the secondary chamber (seething with agitated - read pissed off fish including sharks) and started throwing out some of the fish he did not want. Most amusing was watching him catch a shark (bare hands) and launch him over the chicken wire and back into the water. You can almost see the shark shaking its fin at him in anger and cursing as it hightailed it out of there.

Time to pack up. The fish were to be left there another day or two as they would be gathered only when the supply boat came the following day. We went to collect the net only to find a few creatures stuck in it. A couple of parrot fish and 3 small sharks. After watching the local guy disentangle the shark from the net, I did the last one. It was great to pick up the little fellow (2 ft long) and feel the sand paper like skin. His little upside down smile said it all so I plopped him back in the water to terrify some yachtie another day once he got a bit bigger. 

All in all a great experience and the type of interaction with the local people that really make doing what we are doing so much more than just an extended sightseeing excursion.

One cannot go to the Tuamotus and not pick up a pearl or two. Gaston and Valentine used to own a pearl farm back when the world economy was in better shape. They had a few remaining pearls which they were willing to trade. Sally had a great time selecting a few lovely little pearls. Amazing just how something so pretty can be made by something quite ugly looking (the oyster, not Valentine!) The irregular shaped pearls had so much more character than the perfect ones (in our opinion). 

Black pearls we traded for

We desperately wanted to spend more time there. The people were great, the place spectacular, the water crystal clear. That night Gaston and the other guy were off lobstering. They pick them up off the reef just after dark (very different to how I used to do it in the Caribbean by diving down 30+ ft). I wanted to go along, but the wind was favourable and we needed to continue westward. 

What a magic spot, highly recommend it if you want to meet lovely Tuamotuan people in an idyllic setting. 

Family and friends

Kauehi, Tuamotus

You read all sorts of stories about the passes into and out of atolls. Many a story contains tales of yachts lost on reefs or run aground etc. The current in some of the passes can reach 4/5 knots with large standing waves from wind against sea.

Sometimes when there is a large sea running the waves break over the top of the reef, flood the atoll and there is an OUTBOUND current when the tide is coming IN! So you can imagine I was a little anxious as we approached our first atoll entrance. The tide was inbound (about an hour before slack water), the seas small and the wind on the beam as we lined up the approach. Sally perched on the bow to look for coral heads, we charged at the entrance. We zoomed straight through aided by tidal inflow and a good beam reach in 15knots. There was what looked like a little bit of chop where the pass ends and the lagoon water starts. The closer we got the more the chop took on the form of standing waves. Sally had a great time with an impromptu "wet T-shirt" competition, which she dully won, clinging to the forestay as her stomach experienced zero gravity. I was nice and dry in the cockpit. Perks of the skipper :)

And we were in! Piece of cake. Sure I would not like to do it against a tide and wind, but for all intent and purpose, entering is not hard. Time it right and make sure your conditions are favourable and one will be fine. 

Our original Tuamotus landfall was going to be Rariroa but getting there was requiring us to beat. After 3000 miles of pure downwind sailing (and beating through most of the Caribbean) we did not like the sound of that so we peeled off and headed for Kauehi. We had heard on the SSB net that a few boats were raving about it and it was on our "go to list". 

Kauehi

Just having passed the entrance, the rod started singing to us about dinner. But it was stripping quite a lot of line! We dumped the jib in favour of reeling in "the big one". It felt like a big fish. In the distance, I saw a flash of white and then an "upside down smile"…SHARK! Sally decided that this would be incredibly bad karma to land a shark just as we entered the atoll. I tended to agree, however was not too keen on replacing my lure. So on went the battle, for a good 25 minutes where I pulled and he pulled and we tug of warred. Finally a tired shark pulled up next to an even more tired Dylan. Donning the gardening gloves (why spend life being called "lefty" if you can help it), I wrestled with the hook trying to free it from its mouth. By the way this was a small shark, only 4ft long black tip. I was leaning over the side of the boat as I did not want a pissed off shark flopping about in the cockpit. Not winning with the hook removal, we moved to hook cutting. Grabbing bolt cutters I leaned over the side again. Line in one hand and bolt cutters in the other. I cut the hook free and sharky sped off very unamused! 

Now safely inside Kauehi, one can see why people like it. Beautiful and unspoilt. We sailed along towards the anchorage keeping an eye out for bombers (coral heads that appear as if from nowhere). We were sailing along in 80ft of water and then coming straight up from the depths is a coral head that is 1ft below the surface! Fortunately they are easy to see even in poor light as the water clarity is so good.

Deciding not to anchor on top of everyone else (the atoll is a few miles long / wide with the village only in one little spot 6 miles from the anchorage). As such we found a lovely patch of turquoise water with few coral heads and enough swing room to drop anchor. 

Just amazing! Bunches of little islands (motus) line the fringe reef. They are covered in palm trees, white sand beaches and clear water. Large fish swim around the boat as if curious to see what this new creature is in their midst. 

Absolute paradise!

We went snorkelling on the coral heads in the middle of the atoll and saw at least one resident shark circling the head and sometimes a good 20+ lbs bump head wrasse. Grouper and large snapper would all come and check you out. All safe in the knowledge that they are rife with ciguatera and no one wants to eat them. My speargun finger itched as I had to just watch them instead of hunt them. They are all beautiful fish though and in some ways I am happy that they are plagued with disease as there are loads of great sized fish in the atolls for people to see.

We decided to be more social and moved over to where the other boats were anchored. As is customary, a pot luck was organised ashore. We had a grand fire and a good graze. There were a couple of cruising kids present who helped find all the contenders for the great hermit crab race. Unfortunately the races were marred by heavy cheating in such that as soon as my hermit crab was about to claim victory, one of the kids would either claim ownership or replace it back to the start line. In fairness, all the damn hermies looked the same under limited torch light! Guitars were strum and a few songs sung and the night ended with a low tide and paddling the dinghy most of the way back home as coral heads seem to have moved since dusk!

After a few days of chilling out we headed out, stopping near the entrance of Kauehi to snorkel the pass. This did involve tying the anchor to a coral head in rather dubious conditions (a 15+ knot north wester squall sprang up on us…not a prevailing wind). We drift snorkelled the pass which was on an inbound tide and so each run was at about 4knots and if you blinked you missed it! Not much to see other than beautiful corals and some very fit fish clinging to the sea floor. Did not see many big fish. 

Back to the boat to untie the anchor and we headed for the pass while it was slack water. Once out it was a beautiful sail towards Toau.