Tahanea Atoll

6/4 Tahanea Atoll Coordinates 16 50.970S,144 41.660W
We should know better buy now, a squall shall usher us in where ever we go. Luckily it clears just in time and Capaz and we glide on in to this lovely atoll to find a large motor yacht anchored to our left. We choose to join the other sailboats anchored to the right and find some old familiars like s/v Top to Top. Check out their web site. www.toptotop.org A crew that is attempting to circumnavigate with sailing to each continent and climb the highest peak on each, while being environmentally friendly. Whew. Because sailing down here wasn't enough. Don't we feel like a slouches. Truly very nice people though and today they are rushing off to Papeete to catch the schools to give the children a slideshow before the school year ends.

We are instantly greeted by local black tips. As Bruce so colorfully described, they are plentiful and though we have read that they are very tame and completely uninterested in us it has significantly cut down on our free swim time off the side of the boat. They are nearly non-existent when we snorkel the reefs though as we only sight one or two occasionally.
The dives here rival Makemo for fish variety but there are 3 nearby passes to choose from and so much to see. The passes are the channels cut in between the islands that the boats use to enter and exit the lagoons of the atolls. The current that rips through there can be quite swift, so we came up with our own way to drift dive as they say. We let the dinghy's drift and we hold on as the watery world below slides by. One can cover some serious ground that way and not have to concentrate on kicking or staying out of the corals way. It is amazingly fun. A slow dive through the shallows is equally exciting and each area has its own beauty to offer.
Personally, I had no idea that snorkeling was going to be one of my favorite past times on this trip and again, I cannot get enough. I feel like I could stay down there forever. You quickly learn which fish are a bit more bold or a bit more shy. Which one's will hold their ground and check you out and which ones will turn tail. Then again, there is nothing like listening to a
parrot fish crunch coral. Fascinating!!!

6/5 Keeping with tradition, the only way we can get fish on board our boat is if it is given to us. A local boat s/v Cheers has some extra Dorado and again, yummy potluck on Capaz. More diving and the fun goes on.

6/6 s/v Moorea arrives with the Kelly's on board and we host them all to dinner. We still had a big slab of beef from Mexico to share. Provisions are beginning to wear thin for many since we left Mexico and the stores here are few, far between and expensive. Everyone is holding out for Tahiti to provision and until then, wonderful masterpieces can be created from deep in the bilge. Between a few boats someone always has what you need and creative cooking goes a long way. Again, we certainly are never doing without.

6/7 New Dawn and Nereid arrive and we get one more great dive in. We have figured a way to get one of the boys digital camera's into our dive bag and take some photos. Can't wait to update the website for you all when we reach Tahiti in a couple of weeks. We are looking to head on to a few more atolls before we head to the Society Islands. We only have 90 day Visa's, so much to see so little time. Unfortunately, you can't see them all. This time. Hehe :)

Until next time,
Lisa and the boys

TheMartins on Ohana Kai
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