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Dear F&F,

August 12-17, 2009
Toau, Tuamotu Atolls

It was about a 5 hour easy motor from Fakarava to Toau. The entry into the mooring area was pretty easy. There was some current, the opening of coral not too narrow & shallowest depth seen was 25 feet. The mooring area is kind of a \”cul de sac\”. It is not a true pass entry. You cannot navigate anything besides a dinghy through to the main lagoon. The people that own this land smartly put in permanent moorings to protect the coral from anchor damage. The diving is on the outside of the atoll. The local owner of the moorings here, Gaston, directed us to a mooring. We introduced ourselves & gave him greetings from \”Lazy Bones\” our boat friend Jeff Allen was here 3 years ago.

Another boat came in just ahead of us. There are 8 boats quite close together. No going naked outside here. The captain of American sailboat \”Rominy Star\”, Paul, came over to say he knew about us from the online news report for cruisers \”Latitude 38\” (which is published in San Francisco). We have been featured in articles about careening our boat in El Salvador, Scott\’s photo from the top of our mast in marina Barra de Navidad and a few photos of me with the mantas of San Benedicto. Apparently we are semi-famous amongst the sailing/diving crowd.

We didn\’t waste any time getting back in the water. Our first dive was in the entry of the \”cul de sac\” & Scott towed the dinghy. It is hard our first time at a new site to get our bearings underwater & know if we are going the way we want. Scott kept surfacing to check our position. We saw a few moray eels, a lion fish & lots of tropical fish. No sharks. Gaston, the local guy said that after several days of a strong wind, there can be manta rays inside the lagoon. We could take the dinghy but not the big boat in to explore.

Over the next 2 days we dove further down outside the atoll. We were able to tie the dinghy to a buoy there. Very pretty coral reef & good visibility; lovely. We stayed down over an hour. It really makes all the difference in my comfort in the tropics if we spend a couple hours a day submerged at 81 degrees. We fondly refer to is as \”therapeutic hypothermia\”. The most interesting sighting of this dive site was anemones with resident clown fish. We used to have this kind of fish in our tropical tank at our Los Angeles home. It is much more fun to see them in nature.

Gaston predicted strong wind & sure enough, it began to blow Friday night and has not stopped. The prediction is for the strong S-SE winds to continue through Tuesday. As the wind blows the surface of the water along there is a sensation that we are sailing, even though sitting securely moored. Despite the low lying atoll there are not big waves so the boat just swings a bit left & right, not bouncing around much thank goodness. One charter boat left here Friday night, which did not seem like a smart idea, but they probably had to keep on a schedule to get a guest to an airport.

Valentine & Gaston have been busy getting ready for Valentine\’s sister\’s wedding next weekend on Fakarava. Apparently they already slaughtered a pig & are roasting it or letting it ferment or something; cooking it an a traditional earth oven. I\’m not sure how that is working in the rain. Paul & Erin took pictures of the bloody mess, no thanks. I can be squeamish about eating meat without seeing the butchering process.

We\’ve stayed onboard for three days in the wind. It drizzled on & off. Diving is no good in strong wind & just moving around outside is arduous when it is blowing 25-30 knots. No need to battle the breeze. Just wait for it to pass. Scott watched a tutorial DVD on video editing. There is a lot to learn. I could see the information oozing out his ears… Hopefully knowing more tools & tricks will make the editing task easier. It is very time consuming. But thankfully we have plenty of time. He just finished \”The Sharks of Fakarava\” which you will all enjoy. (See the Video Gallery)

Erin from \”Rominy Star\” came by for a short visit. She wanted to see our Manta Magic video & more underwater photos. She & Paul left Seattle 3 years ago, cruising on their 39 foot monohull. So small & cramped & she is close to 6 feet tall!

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,
August 9-10, 2009

We patched the gennaker successfully. I went snorkeling to cool off, very nice. Then a nap & editing my journal for the website\’s \”Ships Logs\”. There are now four other boats anchored by us, one is \”Uliad\” who we first met via radio sailing on the Galapagos to Marquesas passage. We are thinking to go ashore tomorrow & say our farewell to Marc. Then motor to the north of Fakarava Monday. I will have a chance to buy eggs, milk & oatmeal there. Any fruit or veggie they have. A supply of baguettes and chocolate croissants. We still won\’t know our timing for Tahiti until Tuesday at the earliest. We will probably head to Toau Atoll on Tuesday.

Scott has worked on video editing all day. It takes many, many hours of editing for him to come up with a 3 minute segment for the website. I nag him periodically to stand up & move around for his back. He will likely upgrade to a straight hard drive camera & new housing on our next trip home. It will save him hours of the tedious step uploading the mini digital video tapes to a hard drive. The new one will be drag & drop. He can use the same expensive wide angle lens, so that\’s good.

Aug 10
Marc came over last night to work on photo & video stuff with Scott. I handed each of them a bowl of rice, cut up beef & green beans when it became apparent that there would be no dinner break. It was fun to see them in their element. We are really blessed that we\’ve been making new friends along the way.

Yesterday Steven, the M.D. on sailboat \”Uliad\” kindly made a \”house call\” to examine my ear. One look & he said there was no mystery why I couldn\’t hear well. He pulled out a bunch of wax with a little plastic tool; an ear currette. He showed Scott how & gave us the tool. He also instructed me to rinse with mild soapy fresh water (ear bulb in the shower) after being in the ocean, whether for a dive or snorkel. And to continue using my alcohol or vinegar/peroxide drops too. My ear was too sore for him to get all the wax so I used Debrox drops last night & tried to flush out more wax this morning. It is weird and somewhat jarring to hear clearly out of the right ear for the first time in a long time. I am very relieved that there is nothing more complicated than wax to deal with. Apparently, I not only have my father\’s nose, but his ears too!

During the day we went ashore for a walk. I also had one last snorkel at the pier. I saw my fishy friends & cooled off.

Last night the wind came more from the north which makes it feel like we are underway, even though we are still tied to the mooring.

August 10
This morning I asked to speak to Mary after the guys had their radio chat. There was a lot of static, but it was still nice to hear her voice. Their daughter is flying in from Scotland soon & will stay with them onboard for 2 months.

We are conflicted, but think we will motor the 30 miles back to north Fakarava today. We are envisioning happy news from the visa office in Papeete. If they do not grant our delay and tell us we must be there for the renewal process August 14, perhaps one of us could fly to Papeete since there is an airport out of North Fakarava. If we can find someone to keep an eye on the boat I think it would be fun, although pricey, for both of us to go. Anyway, I\’m not really worried about it, it will work out somehow. It\’s all an adventure.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,
August 7-8, 2009

We had a fantastic week of diving with the parade of sharks in the south pass with Marc, Jill & Dan. We like them all & hope we stay in touch. Jill & Dan travel a lot, so maybe they will meet us somewhere else for diving in the future. They were so generous to us. They gave us fruit they didn\’t eat: a pineapple & some bananas anything fresh is a real treat. Some delicious snack bars: Mrs. Mays from Costco – just fruit, nuts & seeds – delicious, no added sugar. And some turkey jerky. They learned to bring a lot of extra food since the dining offered here is primarily fish & coconut. She also gave me her straw hat that I had complimented her on. And some facial sunscreen that she swears by. Real givers. Jill is tall & beautiful. She & Dan are a pleasure to behold. They ooze love & affection above & below the water. Always holding hands & exchanging tender looks. I found their happiness contagious. I kept smiling & thinking how lucky we all are. Wonderful.

The incoming tide is later every day. We had lunch at the restaurant between our 2 dives. It was barely edible, but we didn\’t starve. One offering was spam pizza & the other fish quiche. Yuck. I was consoled afterwards by coconut cookies & coffee. Later Jill brought out Trader Joes chocolate covered almonds & I gorged myself on them. What a treat, it was delightful.

The diving is so easy & the four of us basically go on our own. Marc, the dive master is busy with his other tourists. Currently there is a group of 14 French people. The French Polynesian Minister of Science & his family on holiday. Their fifth trip here. Only 6 of them are divers, but that is Marc\’s limit to supervise. He has seen our experience, so has the boat driver drop us in at the right spot & we get to do our own thing without being stuck in the big group. Terrific. Plenty of sharks, gorgeous fields of coral, every size & shape of tropical fish. Each dive is an hour or longer.

We will say our farewell to Dan & Jill tomorrow morning. They cannot dive on the day they fly. As we dinghied back to \”Beach House\” we saw another catamaran coming into the pass. It was \”Mariah\”, the owner & crew that had us onboard for dinner in the north part of this atoll. He has at least a new guest from Hawaii. They got anchored then came over in their dinghy for a friendly hello.

I cooked lamb chops, seasoned them with garlic & rosemary & some potatoes. We enjoyed a glass of red wine & watched today\’s video. Scott is making adjustments in exposure & technique, all the time getting better. His back is not perfect but improved after I worked on him yesterday & this morning. It is hard to avoid lifting but he is more aware of his body mechanics.

We learned from our agent that we are supposed to be in Papeete to renew our visas by August 14. We thought we could arrive a month later since the stamp in our passports is good through September 30. We wrote a request to delay & had the letter translated by our friend Alex (known from LA) who now lives in Papeete. We emailed it to our agent to see if he suggests any changes, then we will send it.

We enjoy the morning radio chat with David & Mary who are already in Tahiti. Jill & David have been good company since our boat friends sailed away. Once we find out the date we must report to Papeete, we will make a plan for our next several weeks. It would be easy to stay here longer, but I think we will be ready to move on pretty soon. The moon is full & I am full of gratitude.

August 8
When we saw Jill & Dan this morning, they gave us their last 2 bananas & I begged for more chocolate covered almonds, yum. What a gift to have Jill & Dan here to share this week with us! We exchanged email addresses & hope to keep in touch. They love to travel to remote places for diving, so may be ideal travel buddies. They are better sports than me. The facilities here are fairly like camping. But they like off the beaten path, funky places like this.

Scott & I had two great dives. Two people from the boat \”Mariah\” went with dive master Marc. The current was stronger which seemed to make the sharks swim more actively. The water clarity was better. Wait until you see the great video footage. We visited Marc at his bungalow late this afternoon. Scott & he swapped some photos, video footage & computer programs. He is a good guy. We settled up our bill with the owners of the operation & came to a fair price for the diving. The French Polynesian Minister of Science (Pierre) gave us his email & said to feel free to contact him when we got to Tahiti if we needed anything. Very nice. We met another French guy whose wife has a furniture business in Wallis which is an island beyond Fiji. It is fun to talk to people from all over the world.

Tomorrow morning we plan to tackle repair of our largest roller furling headsail, the gennaker. We may need it to sail to Tahiti. Our last patch held well. We are afraid the material is toast from UV damage, but we must try another patch in order to use it from here to there.

We sent our email request to delay arrival to the visa office in Tahiti. Our friend Alex in Papeete says he knows Mr. Harrison from his wife getting her visa. He offered to follow up for us Monday. This is helpful & much appreciated news because we are in limbo until we know how soon we must get to Papeete.

Scott\’s back is still delicate. Even though diving is hugely fun, it is a lot of work, schlepping the gear in & out of the dinghy, rinsing, hanging it, filling tanks, etc. Besides the sail repair & some general clean up, we could both benefit from some rest days.

A Kiwi monohull anchored in front of us this morning. We have not had a chance to say hello or hear their story. Maybe tomorrow.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,
August 1-4, 2009

We have sort of lost track of our time here (that\’s a good thing) so I looked it up: half a month on this atoll & we could stay another week. Here\’s what\’s happened the past 4 days:

August 1
Fun dive with Jill, Dan, Marc and several hundred gray reef sharks. I do not have words to describe it. You\’ll just have to wait for the video. This afternoon we moved \”Beach House\” to the anchorage on the north side of the pass which saves us about 15 minutes in dinghy ride time to get to the dive site. We have no way to get more gas for the dinghy, so are trying to use it sparingly now.

Our anchor & chain are fouled up on some coral & Scott was unable to dive it free easily. He\’ll have to try again when we have more hours of daylight to do the job. It is impossible to see the coral from the surface except with good overhead sun. Any wind also makes it hard to see below. I hated to separate from David & Mary, but there hopefully David will dive with our group tomorrow morning. I invited them for lunch tomorrow. I sure hope they will come for one last social event before we part ways. I was encouraged to hear David say they that their plans may include spending a second winter in New Zealand. In which case we may catch up to them again December 2010. That would be loads of fun.

August 2
It probably sounds like the long goodbye and in a way it has been. We had our farewell luncheon with David & Mary today. She gave me a shell to remember her by. It was a thoughtful memento & I will never forget it is from her since it is the color of her hair, a lovely copper red. She\’s been collecting shells from beaches wherever they go & sewing them into decorations on fabric. David brought their IPOD to play Fado music from Portugal for us. It is Spanish style guitar, a banjo type instrument & a woman singer. Portuguese sounds like no other language. Although not a word was understood, you could feel the drama & angst in the ballads. Some of it was up tempo with African rhythms, very nice. After music & lentils we took them into our bedroom (amidst much joking that we have been waiting for this moment all this time…) to show today\’s diving video. We got split into 2 groups today. Jill, Dan, Scott & I with the owner of the dive shop, who is a local guy whose name sounds like Sunny but spelled Sane. Marc the French dive master took 3 from \”E.T.G.\” & David. We all saw the parade of sharks, fish, coral & had a fabulous dive. It was nice to share it with Mary, who snorkels but does not scuba dive.

Tears were on the brim, but I was very brave & did not sob on David\’s shoulder when he gave me a final bear hug. I feel so blessed that we have shared the past 6 weeks with them.

We confirmed with Marc that it is ok to tie up to the mooring that is right next to where we are anchored. Scott dove on the anchor & used inflatable lift bags to get our chain & anchor off the reef so I could raise it with the windlass. When we are ready, it will make it much easier to leave here this way. It was so nice to have only the 5 minute dinghy ride this morning. And I am thrilled that every day the first dive will start 30 minutes later, so the mornings won\’t be so early & rushed.

We are really enjoying Jill & Dan\’s company. The 3 Texans anchored next to us went diving with Marc once too. Scott & Marc have been swapping photo tips. He emails us when we leave shore & are on \”Beach House\” since we don\’t have a cell phone & he does not have a radio. He writes us in French & English to help us learn. Terrific guy. It is bit lonely out here since his last French girlfriend got bored & left. You\’d really have to be into diving to want to live here. Even so, it is just a strip of sand with a few palm trees where only (including Marc), six people live. I think after another 6 weeks of these atolls it will be refreshing to arrive in Tahiti & enjoy the benefits of civilization plus the \”Society Islands\” are high islands, so more hiking opportunities. But I am being where my atoll is & doing just fine right now. Better than fine. Really happy & I feel soooo lucky. It feels like this is my reward for all the not fun parts.

August 3
Marc the dive master just swam from his house on shore to our boat. Scott is sharing underwater video & photos with him, a kindred spirit. I braided my hair in 2 braids like Jill today & wore my clear skirt mask not the black one & left off my nerdy beanie. It looks so much better in the photos. Scott took some cute shots of Jill & I together for Peggy. Also Jill & Dan kissing underwater! Such adorable lovebirds.

August 4
We are the only boat in either anchorage down here by the south pass. This will be \”Giselle\’s\” second night at sea. When we chat with them on the radio in the morning, hopefully they\’ll be in view of Tahiti. This morning they reported very light winds so slow sailing, but comfortable.

We woke up with the wind blowing from the north & now it has shifted west. This was predicted, but thankfully it is not strong. We were slopping around on the mooring which made me queasy, but I was quick to put on the wrist zapper & I do think the thing is helping. Hallelejah!

We only did one dive this morning; fun with sharks as usual. Scott\’s back was a bit delicate & it was cloudy when it was time for the second dive so we decided to pass. He feels much better lying flat on the heating pad. Bending & lifting no bueno. At 3:00 p.m., I dinghied to the pension to pick up Jill & Dan for a visit. They enjoyed seeing \”Beach House\” & we swapped underwater photos of each other. The owner of the operation Sunny picked them up near sunset. I cannot in good conscience use the word resort to describe the facilites: there is no hot water, food is limited to fish & coconuts, the cabins are open air with mosquito netting around the bed. But the diving is amazing. They go out fishing with Sunny for their dinner every night. They seem to enjoy it & know it is fresh, that\’s for sure. Too much camping for my taste, but they really love the quiet, non-touristy, rustic aspects of this remote place.

This evening I decided to bake oat & chocolate cakes. Oat cakes are a perfect glycemic index food. The chocolate cake is a package mix & evil in every way. That\’s why it\’s called Devil\’s Food! It is surely wishful thinking to imagine that baking them at the same time could elicit an insulin balancing effect�

Tomorrow we are not diving to do some maintenance. Change the oil in the scuba compressor. Change water maker filters, chase mildew, etc. I am often surprised by how full our days are.
The view from the cockpit is lovely this evening with the near full moon rising. I must retrieve my laundry to hang it inside overnight. We haven\’t had much rain recently, but I\’ve learned that it can always come out of nowhere, so I hang the clothes indoors at night.

Thursday will be our last day diving with Jill & Dan, they fly back to San Diego Friday. What a nice treat for us to share their vacation. Jill will be starring in one of Scott\’s \”shark week\” videos�stay tuned!
Cindy & Scott