A common phrase
heard from cruisers in the western South Pacific is “I wish we’d
spent more time in the Tuamotu.” * It was our good fortune that
in working our way back to the Pacific Northwest, we had a chance to
do just that.
Apataki was an ideal
resort location, without the resort: remote and largely uninhabited,
with picture-postcard beauty. Though we were near the end of the
cruising season for these waters, we didn’t expect to have the
atoll to ourselves—but we did. Other than in the small village at
the pass into the lagoon and the tiny yet impressive shipyard
(primarily used by French Polynesian cruising boats to haul out
during cyclone season), we saw no one.
*Actually
they said “Tuamotus”, as did we; but motu is a plural noun
(“islets”), so the correct word is “Tuamotu”.
 |
| Where is everybody?! |
 |
| Nurse sharks |
 |
Navigating the atoll,
keeping watch for coral heads and pearl floats |
 |
| Evening colors at Roto Ava anchorage |
 |
| Complete contentment |
 |
| Repairing a solar panel |
 |
| Solitary ship, solitary shark |
 |
| Reef's edge |
No comments:
Post a Comment