It has been a while since we posted a blog with a dramatic title since traumatizing several of you with the "Big Seas and Machine Guns" post, but I thought it time to try again. We are using wireless internet to post instead of blogging from sea (using the sat phone as the modem), so you should be able to read the entire blog this time.

The wind finally let up enough to allow us to leave Kauehi on Monday. It was a few days days later than we had planned, but I think it was a good choice. Not only did we get an intimate glimpse into the culture of the atoll during the pilgrimage and worship service on Saturday, but also we were able to avoid a potentially hairy passage to Fakarava.

The scariest parts of the passage are in the passes, the openings between islets of the atoll in which one can pass into or out of the lagoon. These passes are known for their strong currents, as you can imagine given the disparity between the depth and magnitude of the water on the side of the ocean versus that of the lagoon. We managed to get to the Kauehi pass just as the sun was setting so that we could see what we were getting into. There were 3′ breaking waves in the center of the pass, one right after another. Dallas steered around them so that we only just caught the edge of one wave, but even that was enough to literally rock the boat, displacing the few items that weren’t well stowed. It would have been really hairy the day before with the wind howling and the rain pouring.

Breakers inside the Kauehi pass

With the wind from behind, we sailed at an average of 5 knots through the night under the jib alone. This was faster than we expected, and since we did not want to arrive at the pass at the north end of the Fakarava atoll before daylight, we ended up spending a couple of hours just drifting without sail or motor to kill some time. This probably sounds very peaceful, but after several days of strong winds, the swell alone created a surprising amount of motion, causing us to take on water in the forward and amidships bilges. Fortunately, the amount of water in the bilges was no cause for concern. Unfortunately (and a bit ironically), the water kept splashing up against the sensors of the high-water bilge alarms that Dallas and I had just finished installing two days before. All four of us can attest to the fact that the alarms are working well, as no one got much sleep that night! (Dallas is now planning to move the sensors up higher in the bilges.) Nevertheless, it was fairly calm in the north pass of Fakarava, the largest pass in all of French Polynesia.

As is typical of us when arriving someplace new, we carried on as if we weren’t exhausted in an effort to explore our new locale. This seemed to be marginally successful. Wes and Tiff visited the village first, and Tiff informed us that as the village was quite a bit larger and more spread out than Kauehi, it would be better to explore by bike. We hadn’t gotten out the folding bikes since we left Florida (the Marquesas were too mountainous for my little one-speed), so I was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t rusted shut, or even rusted at all! Hooray for boats that don’t leak!

Procuring a baguette via folding bike

Fakarava is like Kauehi in many ways such as the beautiful turquoise water of the shallows and the white coral islets that somehow manage to sustain palm and breadfruit trees. However, as it is the "big city" (this is one of four atolls in the Tuamotus that actually has wireless internet!), there is more money changing hands and more to do. We weren’t able to locate the bank before it closed (and since there wasn’t one in Kauehi, we’ve been out of cash for several days now) but found that they accepted credit cards at the local grocery store. After buying a snack (we splurged on a small can of Planters peanuts for $6) and cold Hinano, Dallas and I checked out one of the pearl vendors’ wares and found that we got a really deal on the few that we purchased in Kauehi. A large single pearl on a simple black rope necklace was selling for almost $250. Our last stop was the dive shop. We had been told by the French on Na Maka in Kauehi that while the north pass was a must-see in terms of diving, it was a drift dive (drifting with the current) and too dangerous to do on one’s own. The professionals confirmed this (naturally), so we made plans to join them for a dive of the north pass this morning. In doing so, we found out that our watches were an hour off of local time. This means that the entire time that we spent in Kauehi, we were an hour ahead. No wonder we were always waiting around for people!

We arrived with mask, fins, and wetsuits in hand at 8:00. Other divers kept arriving until ultimately there were about 30. I had never seen so many people in one place for a dive before, so that boded well. The staff appeared to be French as were nearly all of the divers. In fact, it felt a bit more like being in France than in Polynesia, but not in a bad way, as all of the French people we have met here thus far have been extremely nice (and incidentally, extremely thin), evincing a certain joie de vivre that must coming along with getting to live/cruise in one of the nicest places in the world for an unlimited amount of time. Hooray for French colonialism! But I digress…

Our dive master was an animated young Frenchman named Nicolas (NEE-ko-lahs) who explained that we would be dropped off by the boat (a large inflatable with two outboard engines) on the ocean side of the pass at the opportune moment right as the tide began to come in so that we would drift through the schools of fish and sharks as they swam out to sea. He continued to describe that we would drift into an area of coral that they call the "Twin Towers" from which one can look up to see many sharks circling above like planes flying overhead in the King Kong movies. It was amusing to hear the American pop culture references, but I was primarily focused on the SHARK aspect. I think it was at this time that I started to get butterflies in the stomach, a feeling I haven’t had for quite some time. It was with excited anticipation that we arrived at the drop spot (after seeing a large ray and dolphins en route), and then suddenly there was no more time to think about it. It was three-two-one-drop!

As we sank down into the cool water, I was amazed at the clarity of the water. Dallas estimates that the visibility was at least 50′, and I don’t doubt it. We dropped down to about 90′ and could immediately see all kinds of fish, from schools of snapper to large colorful parrotfish. Nicolas motioned for the four of us to follow, and we began drifting into the pass. The current was incredibly strong and initially pushed us off to the side such that I was nearly on top of Tiffany. It was nearly impossible to move in a straight line or to make any very deliberate movements for that matter, but Nicolas demonstrated that we should grab onto the coral at the bottom (typically a no-no) in order to stay put and take in the scenery. The gray sharks began to approach, and we stayed a comfortable distance behind Nicolas until we were convinced that no harm would come to him (or us)! They were pretty large (4-5′) and incredibly sleek as they whipped past us just a couple of arm’s lengths away. By no means did they seem frightened of us (as I had been told they would be), but neither did they seem interested as they just plowed on toward the sea. It happened so fast that there wasn’t time or reason to be frightened of them. It was just surreal.

Also surreal was getting into the middle of the pass so that we were getting pushed by the current in the direction we wanted to go. It felt as if we were astronauts flying through space, and I couldn’t help but do a couple of flips to express my love for the simulated zero-gravity experience. All the while, we could see colorful arrays of fish in all shapes and sizes passing through the mostly red-orange colored coral. One of my favorite sights was a unique type of coral that was soft and flexible and shaped like a collection of thin spindles making up a moving carpet. The underside of the coral really did look like carpet backing, and I was really surprised to find that it felt so squishy.

I could probably go on and on about the experience, but it is probably one of those things you have to see for yourself (if only on the Discovery Channel). I should include, however, that we had some excitement at the end of the dive when Tiffany was running low on air. I had encouraged her (through hand signals) to alert Nicolas earlier in the dive when she had hit the reserve mark, but he waved it off as if it wasn’t too important. Fortunately, he recognized (in his French, laissez-faire kind of way) that this was in fact important, as he called her over several minutes later so that he could pass her his spare regulator to ensure that she could breathe for the remainder of the dive! We (including Tiffany) had such as good time today that we are planning to go with the pros to the south pass of Fakarava tomorrow to get in another dive before taking off to Tahiti. With any luck there will be more sharks and more current!

Tonight we had Antoine of S/V Banana Split over for dinner. Dallas and Wes have seen him each day for the last few, as he followed us here from Kauehi on Tuesday. Tonight he shared some interesting stories from his days of fame, including being in a movie that Andy Warhol made of celebrities eating bananas and having lunch with Salvador Dali. Antoine had some fruits and veggies flown in here from Tahiti and was kind enough to share them with us. Green peppers and starfruit are a luxury belonging only to celebrities (and their friends) out here!

Next stop, Tahiti…