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Dear F&F,

August 29, 2009
More Manihi

Yesterday & today we enjoyed diving with Serge, the outgoing divemaster here in Manihi atoll. Marc, has been getting oriented to the sites & dive center operations. We hope to see Wilfred again when we get to Tikihau in about a week. The 5 of us are all very experienced divers so it has been a very enjoyable group. We dove at the manta ray \”cleaning station\” several times. They hover & swirl around this 70 foot deep pile of rocks & uninteresting coral. The small fish nibble clean any wounds or parasites. Win-win: the little fish get a meal & the mantas stay healthy. The mantas are filter feeders, plankton, so the small fish are not in jeopardy of being eaten. In fact they swim inside the mantas mouth & do oral hygiene. Very interesting to watch. The water was murky, but Scott video & photos turned out surprisingly well.

The second dive today Serge baited the sharks. We had been on one of these experiences years ago in Moorea. A big frozen tuna head was lowered into the water in a wire cage. We dove while the tormented grey reef sharks swirled around smelling but not yet able to eat it. After Marc, Wilfred & Scott got their fill of close up shark photos, Serge tripped the line to open the cage & the mayhem began. I\’m not afraid, but I don\’t love it. We kept a safe distance from the short-lived feeding frenzy. I find it more enjoyable to watch sharks calmly swimming vs in a feeding frenzy. We had one other French tourist who had apparently requested to see this, which is why they did it. It has been a very enjoyable 3 days of diving here & we look forward to diving at 2 more Tuamotu atolls before spending the cyclone season in Tahiti.

We are checking the weather & will pick our time in the next day or two for the overnight sail to Rangiroa, the largest of the Tuamotu atolls. Wilfred gave us a referral for a dive operation there. Everyone who we\’ve spoken to that has visited raves about it.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

August 27, 2009
Manihi Diving

At 2:30 p.m. it has already been a great day. Serge, Marc & Wilfred picked us up at the Manihi Pearl Beach Resorts dive boat. Wilfred is the assistant manager of the Pearl Beach Resort Hotel in Tikihau, the last Tuamotu island we may visit, before Tahiti just after Rangiroa. He is staying at the Manihi Pearl Beach for a long weekend & loves to dive. Since Marc already knows us, it made for a very congenial group of avid divers. The ride in the dive boat is a lot faster & more comfortable than our own dinghy. There was no wind so the lagoon looked glassy & we had a smooth ride.

Serge tied the boat to a mooring inside the lagoon, 5 minutes from the hotel. They call the site \”Le Cirque\” the circus. It is a cleaning station & has a consistent reputation for manta rays in the morning. The mantas glide, hover & circle as the small fish eat off little parasites, groom wounds & generally tidy up the larger animal. As advertised, we descended & immediately saw 1 manta. Three others joined shortly. He briefed us of the no touch policy & said that if we swam toward them or exhaled when they swam near us, they might be shy & swim away. We dutifully held still on the rocky bottom & enjoyed the view without interaction. Of course our hearts beat faster when one came near, with fond thoughts of San Benedicto imprinted in our memories forever. Despite the hazy water, Scott got some good photos. What a great way to start the day.

We zoomed back to the shop for our surface interval. They refilled all tanks except mine & we had a cup of tea. I am paranoid about any other compressor filling my tank with potentially less than pristine air. After one horrid dive using a tank from south Fakarava dive shop\’s that tasted like I was sucking on an exhaust hose, I really value the clean air our own dive compressor puts out. Scott risked using a Manihi shop tank since they have an electric compressor, not gas. Serge claims to change the filters regularly. I could not bring myself to risk polluting my perfect clean tank & had brought 2 of our own, so no need to take a risk.

The second dive was outside the lagoon. We tied up to a mooring on one side the pass. We dropped down 15 feet to a beautiful, crystal clear coral garden. Myriads of fish of all sizes, shapes & colors. A few moray eels. We swam against the current which I find exhausting, but I knew there had to be an end point. We dropped down the reef wall to about 100 feet and saw 2 white tip reef sharks & 1 nurse shark resting under a ledge. It was easier kicking the other direction with the current & we enjoyed the majority of our hour dive exploring all the critters of the reef. Marc, ever the divemaster, pointed out fluttery nudibranchs (tiny colorful slug-like creature), 3 varieties of lion fish, 2 different flat fish. Scott took photos of Marc & me hamming for the camera. It is so great to have this chance to dive with him again.

The wind picked up strong by the end of our dive, so the ride back to \”Beach House\” was rough even in their boat. Thank goodness we convinced them to transport us so we didn\’t have to slam into those waves in our dinghy. With the wind now pushing the sailboats somewhat toward land, we are glad of where we are anchored – a bit further away from the shore than the other 2 boats.

We left all our gear except my 2 tanks with the dive boat since we plan to go again tomorrow. We just had our wetsuits & swimsuits to rinse & hang, take showers & eat lunch. I am always glad after the fact that I\’ve cooked ahead. My pot roast over rice & some carrot sticks made a hearty lunch for 2 hungry divers. Scott gave me a preview of the manta photos. Even without being worked by his digital darkroom program, he got some good shots. We know the website is already loaded with manta shots from our 5 weeks at San Benedicto & Socorro, but you will forgive our fondness for these creatures. They will be a highlight wherever we find them. I read a bit then dozed as Scott carried on with photo processing. I came up for a cup of tea, to write you all & hope to receive emails from you when I connect to the ham radio.

Last night we enjoyed the sunset from Xavier\’s pier. Xavier, who owns this motu (islet) is a warm & wonderful guy. He lit a hurricane lamp and shared Navy stories, including a memorable dinner with Jacques Brel (A famous French Folk Singer who died from lung caner in the late 197o\’s). I enjoyed talking to Kenny from San Diego, the contractor building his house. Kenny flew to Tahiti today to visit his Tahitian wife Matania & 2 daughters. Matania works for Air Tahiti Nui & he\’s asked her to get my seat assignment for my September flight to LA. Kenny wants his girls to experience American high school, so they may live with friends in San Diego when the time comes for that. Born in the U.S. & living in Tahiti about 4 years, they are already fluent in French so should be bilingual for life.

We swapped stories with our fellow sailors, learning more about British Arthur who has been to sea for the better part of 20 years. He used to run a sailing school. Since leaving the U.K. he has lived for long stretches in France, New Zealand, the Caribbean. When I asked crew member Augustine, from the Canary islands, who did the cooking aboard he described that they all take turns in the galley. On Sunday they have a proper 4 course dinner & wear colorful shirts. How delightful! Crew member Chris from Brazil is dashing & we talked about the Galapagos, where he joined the boat. They seem to be a happy trio. Sylvan is still uncertain where to go from here for cyclone season: New Zealand, Hawaii, Kiribati. We loaned him our cruising guides & he\’s taking digital photos of charts. His good old dog Eddie (Jack Russell terrier) is sweet with people but gives a warning growl so the 2 other dogs keep their distance. The 6 month old cocker spaniel, Fletcher (named after Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame), is adorable & a real snuggler. It is nice for us to have dog interaction, then return to our boat without the hassle of onboard ownership.

That\’s the update from here. We are so glad we chose to come to Manihi & that the timing to dive with Marc is working out. More bubbly stories to come!

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

August 24-26, 2009
Manihi Life

This is a nice spot, very comfortable anchorage. A 3rd sailboat pulled in today, \”Aquarius\”. The captain is an older British guy, Arthur, with 2 crew (1 South African, 1 from the Canary Islands). He\’s been cruising 20 years, since his wife passed away. Scott tried to help Arthur get his Sailmail going. They fixed one computer problem but there is still a modem issue. Scott sent a tech support request email. Hopefully he\’ll get some helpful advice.

We are waiting for Marc\’s arrival to get back in the water – soon we hope. The outgoing dive guide, Serge, that will be replaced by Marc did not want to take us diving today. He is preparing to return to Paris in 1 week (death of his mother, needs to help settle the estate, plans to be there a while).

So we had \”free time\” this morning. That sounds funny, I know, but we usually have some kind of agenda. We did a few jobs: changed the sheets, changed the watermaker filters. I had defrosted some chicken that I needed to cook. I opened an experimental can of yellow curry paste I bought in Costa Rica. I think Mary said she\’d tried it & said it was really good. When I opened the can the smell of lemongrass rose to my nose. It reminds me of the smell of Thai chicken coconut soup which I love. I started with a small scoop & got braver as I kept tasting how the flavors blended with the condensed mushroom soup, coconut milk and chicken bouillon. Frozen peas & a can of sliced mushrooms were added to fill it out. Yum! It will be great over rice.

While I washed the pile of dishes I\’d created I listened to audio French lesson #1. Scott got motivated to make a concerted effort to learn some every day & is up to lesson #4. It is sad how much we have forgotten since the days when we took Berlitz while having the boat built in France. Something about \”use it or lose it\”.

After being in the galley for 3 hours, I decided to cool off with a swim/snorkel. The visibility was kind of hazy along the shallow coral reef. It always feels great to be in the water & there were plenty of small reef fish to see.

Scott meanwhile went to shore with his media computer hoping that some Adobe updates would help solve the snags he\’s having with his video editing program. First it took 45 minutes to update the anti-virus software. He came back to the boat after 3 hours, leaving his computer there to continue loading the updates that would take the rest of the day. Welcome to slow speed internet. Tempting to use, but frustrating as heck. It was to a very kind & patient American Airlines booking agent that helped me purchase my ticket to California via a poor Skype connection. I am so happy to have that trip nailed down

It was 15 minutes in the dinghy to the hotel / dive center dock. Going is the easy direction. Returning we slam into the wind & swell. We did not see Serge, so just asked some departing tourists to point us in the direction of the airport. I always feel a bit weird when I finally get to stride out & stretch my legs when we haven\’t been on shore much. The waiting room was an open air thatched roof with some benches. The runway was right there. Serge pulled up in a hotel golf cart that they use to transport the guests the 1/2 mile to the hotel. It was great to see Marc strolling off the tarmac in white linen shirt & long pants. We never saw him in anything but a wetsuit or lava lava before (polynesian wrapped skirt). His hair was cut short and he lost 10 lbs – looks great! Serge & Marc began chatting in high speed French. Scott & I could only smile to each other & wish we had stuck with learning the language before this trip. C\’est la vie, no time like the present. Marc had 2 carry on bags & 1 checked. His dive gear etc will arrive on the cargo ship tomorrow. Serge showed him to his new home, a hotel staff bungalow. Less private, but nicer than his digs in Fakarava. We visited with them a while, convinced Serge to pick us up in the dive boat at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow & excused ourselves. We could tell the two of them had a lot to discuss, mostly we just wanted to be part of Marc\’s welcoming committee. I quietly left some cake I baked last night in his room. I knew he was coming, so I baked a cake…as the saying goes.

Scott took cupcakes into Xavier, Kenny & Sylvan. In return Scott came back with half a loaf of Xavier\’s bread machine bread that was really good. It had some seeds in it, nice to have something besides low quality plain white baguette. Scott thinks the Tahiti baguettes will be better. So far I\’m not impressed, but white bread isn\’t my thing.

The other 2 boats have decided to have happy hour on Xavier\’s pier at sunset. Eight guys & me. It\’s ok. We won\’t stay long since we have to get out all the dive gear, pump tanks, etc. So that\’s our day. Eager to dive tomorrow. Hopefully it will be Serge, Marc & us. Maybe one other couple. The early dive is inside the lagoon, there is a cleaning station where a few manta rays are known to come. It is always a treat for us to see mantas up close. The 2nd dive will be on the reef on the outside of the atoll.

Scott checked on the progress of his computer updates. It had stalled so not much progress. Perhaps the power convertor had blown so the computer went to sleep? Anyway, he re-connected & is letting it work all night, hopefully it will finish. Xavier is very kind to let us boaters use his facilities, such as they are.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

August 23, 2009
Manihi – Tuamotu Atoll

We decided to head to Manihi for a few reasons. We both woke up before the 5:00 a.m. alarm so got a good jump on hoisting the anchor, which was made easy since the lift bags we put on yesterday kept the chain off the coral heads. The morning twilight gave us enough light to see the north pass exit clearly, plus we had our track marked on the chart plotter from our test run out & back the day we arrived.

The wind was 20-25 knots very close to being on the nose. The angle is too close to sail, plus we do not want to risk going too slowly & missing a daylight entry. We motored the whole way with the staysail out to give us a little boost. We took 2 hour watches. I was not perfect, but not too seasick with sturgeron & the A.W.Z. (Annoying Wrist Zapper). My 2nd off watch I slept hard & when I got up we were here – wonderful. The entry was well marked & not difficult. It did get as shallow as 11 feet, but Scott had good control of the helm on the ebb tide.

We hailed Xavier on the VHF. He runs the SailMail station here. It is a parallel, pay system similar to Winlink, but allows business. We use both systems (in fact sends all these web posts to our site via Sailmail). Scott had emailed Xavier telling him we were coming. He has arranged for us to buy diesel when the next supply ship comes. Xavier is French, a retired commanding officer for the French Navy in French Polynesia. He & wife Ann Lawrance also have a home in Tahiti. They bought their motu (little islet) here about 3 years ago & are in construction of a wonderful home. She is a maritime law attorney. They were both welcoming & delightful.

We also met cruiser Sylvan from Quebec. He used to work in the lumber business out of Costa Rica & Dana Point. He left for the cruising life 3 years ago. He had engine trouble plus a leak at his mast which resulted in a 56 day passage from Costa Rica to the Marquesas. YIKES! He looks very \”native\” with bushy hair & beard. Lucky for us, they all speak English very well. It is embarrassing that our French is so rusty. When I try to speak, Spanish comes out. Sylvan invites us all onboard for crepes. He has a sweet 15 year old Jack Russell terrier. Xavier & Ann have 2 dogs also. An American contractor from San Diego, Kenny Crocker, is living with them in their temporary dwelling overseeing the building of their main home. It will by lovely when finished. A lot of work still.

Scott took photos of Xavier with his SailMail equipment. The weather is a delightful 82 with a 13 knot breeze. We are so glad we chose to come here & not just head to Rangiroa. We will get there, but we have some time to spend here. Tomorrow I get to use the high speed internet at Xavier\’s home! He described how shockingly cheap it was to run a submerged cable from the village to his house for internet. They have solar & wind power plus a generator. Ann\’s enthusiasm for the project was contagious. There are daily flights from Papeete to Manihi so she is frequently back & forth. They have 4 grown children, 3 in Paris, one in Tahiti she intends to send back to school in Paris. They are a very warm & friendly couple.

Today is our 18th year of being in love. On this day 18 years ago we sailed to Catalina together for the first time on \”Greybeard\”, Scott\’s parent\’s boat. It seemed fitting to share our afternoon with another couple in love with each other and this island.

We will dive here for sure. We can dinghy 15 minutes to the village & see about diving with the local dive center. Ann said her kids have gone & it is very good. Marc, dive master from Fakarava, may be coming to work here. It would be fantastic if we could dive with him again.

I am glad I cooked rice & chicken with my last jar of Trader Joes mojito sauce last night. So easy to just heat dinner. There is a bakery here, so we can buy fresh baguettes, which is good since I am down to my last frozen one & not so keen to heat up the boat baking bread. I\’ll be eager to see what else they have in the store.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

August 20-22, 2009
Apataki, Tuamotu Atolls

We had one more day of diving at Toau\’s coral garden. The following day we dinghied out there but had to cancel diving due to 6 foot breaking waves on the reef. The next day we decided we\’d had our fill of Toau, so slipped our lines from the mooring. There was not enough wind to sail, so we motored 17 miles to the south entrance of Apataki atoll. The only village is in the south, but we had heard that the good diving is 15 miles up the lagoon in the north. We took a few photos then continue north. There were no other boats. A couple of isolated beach shacks, but basically pristine sand/coral beaches, swaying palm trees & crystal clear water. We could tell the tide was coming in so went out the north pass then came right back in, just to check it out. Tomorrow we plan to dive there, towing the dinghy. It has the potential of being as good as south Fakarava.

Our only problem with this beautiful atoll was finding a safe place to anchor. There are many coral heads very shallow that we must avoid. The beaches drop off steeply. Not far from shore is too deep to anchor. So we wandered up & down the coast searching for a good \”campsite\”. Scott got in the dinghy while I managed the big boat to try to better see the coral heads & using the depth sounder check the depth, searching for a safe place to anchor. We must envision the wind coming from any possible direction & make sure we are safe with the amount of scope (length of anchor chain) we need to put out for a certain depth. Usually 4 or 5:1 ratio, meaning if the water is 40 feet deep we will put out 160 (4x) or 200 (5x) feet of chain. That makes for a wide swing, so we have to assess every bit of water that is in our path. The wind is very light & predicted to stay this way for a week, but we must be prepared for any possible change. Although the 5 hour trip was lovely, the 3 hours trying to find a safe place to anchor was hot & we got weary. At least we had plenty of daylight so were not stressed about putting down in the dark.

It is such a contrast to be completely alone compared to packed in with 8 other boats at the last place. I prefer this. There is always a concern that we could have a dinghy engine problem & might have difficulty rowing back to the big boat, with no one to radio for assistance. But that is just a worry. Like you can worry about having a flat tire on the highway at night. It will be a fairly long dinghy ride to the dive site, the pass. We are glad we bought 5 gallons of unleaded from Gaston. We are hopeful that what we see in the pass will be great. We could stay here a week if it\’s good.

We got the nicest email from Werner, a German dive instructor in Indonesia. He found our website by searching the web for diving websites, then subscribed. He wrote us, saying that he just finished reading every Ship\’s Log from start (Sept 2007) to current. I was flabbergasted & very flattered. That is a lot of reading! He says he is envious of our travels & told us of places in Indonesia where he thinks the mantas are also friendly like San Benedicto. We look forward to meeting him one day.

We are kicking back tonight. We\’ll haul out the dive gear tomorrow & hopefully have reports of great things tomorrow night.

*************

Yesterday we were so gung-ho to dive that we loaded our gear & zoomed the 15 minute dinghy ride to the pass to watch for the incoming tide. We don\’t dive when it is flowing out because it can push you down as well as out & that is not safe when we are alone. If we lost control of the dinghy it would be hard to retrieve it in the open ocean. If we lost it with an incoming tide, we have a good chance to retrieve it inside the lagoon. We had to wait almost 2 full hours for the tide to turn. It was interesting to watch the whole process. Seeing the outside waves reduce and then the inside turbulence begin. Everything gets flat calm at slack tide & then within minutes it starts flowing the opposite direction, into the lagoon. That\’s when we dropped down, me holding the video camera, Scott holding the line to tow the dinghy. The current got very strong within 10 minutes. Visibility was just ok, not great. We did not see any sharks, but we were unable to stay at the deeper place very long as we kind of got blown into the lagoon by the strong current. We each grabbed on to a rock or piece of coral to stop & look around. I did a little filming, but it is too hard to manage clearing my ears, inflating or deflating my B.C., make sure I don\’t smash the lens port of the camera housing into a rock or scratch it on coral. This kind of adventure diving is always challenging especially the first time we dive a new site. There are old pieces of rebar sticking up on the sides of the pass which was also a concern to not bash the dinghy into them. These are old fish pens that no longer have chicken wire on them so no fish are trapped. It was an exhilarating dive. But the stress to enjoyment ratio was not good, especially for Scott struggling with the dinghy. We had such high hopes for this pass, but are disappointed.

The next day we dive on our anchor putting lift bags as needed to assist lifting when we are ready to leave. We explore the coral heads near \”Beach House\” which are pretty & alive with smaller fish.

Just before sunset a panga (don\’t know what the French word for it is) with 3 local guys came over, wanting to sell us some fish they just caught. Apparently they live in one of the shacks on the beach near us. Three brothers, one of them has a baby & there are older parents. So 6 people in one shack. Hard to imagine. The structures look so run down we thought they were abandoned. They were very friendly but disappointed that we did not want to buy a fish. We spoke in our broken French & their broken English. They will sell their fish in the south village. They said some is even shipped to Tahiti for sale. They don\’t see many boats up here, so we are somewhat of a curiosity. They mentioned sharks in the pass. We told them we didn\’t see any. They said they would be in the village today but would come show us the sharks on Sunday. We\’ll see.

Cindy & Scott