The magnificent Tuamoutu's
9th of July 2019
After 12 days of antibiotics for Geoffrey (very bad angina), he felt a little better so we took the good weather window and left for the Tuamoutu’s. A bit late in the season, but we got to enjoy the Marquises longer and avoided a huge storm system blocking all our boat friends in their atoll for more than a week 😎
The 2 day sail was again a bit bumpy (I guess we won't have it any other way ...) and we arrived at a perfect time in front of the Fakarava pass to enjoy a 4 knot current into the atoll. It’s a bit scary as you don’t see the atolls until the very last moment. The radar can hardly see them as the highest point is not more than just a few metres, but luckily there were little waves (for once) 😛
And we noticed Fakarava thanks to the cruise ship anchored inside!
Still grey in the morning (it is rainy season) …
… but wonderfully bleu from 9 o’clock 😎
Fakarava is a bit more touristic (I don’t know but maybe 50 families live here?), but it’s also a UNESCO biosphere reserve and so very well maintained. The corals and fish population inside this atoll are beautiful!!!
If you zoom in, you see the bird going after these ‘jumping fish’ and the next picture with a fish in his mouth 😲 They’re better than Geoffrey at fishing 😏
So first activity: check out the marine life!
Blacktip, whitetip and som grey reefsharks:
The first time we see these cuties with their long noses:
These little ones are so funny
We’re going onto 13000 miles in 12 months time and we are overwhelmed with a feeling of … “pure holiday” 😳 You will laugh, but honestly we’ve been soooo busy that we just would love a moment of pure rest, maybe even sunbathing on the trampolines.
Off course we won’t do any of that lazy hangin', but the feeling counts!
10th of July 2019
So off we go to check out town. Quite beautiful from land too !
Geoffrey is getting clumsier with the day. Another proof:
… he just ‘stepped’ into the water!
First time we got the bikes out since the Canary Islands. 
The stores were empty. Due to the bad weather, the supply ship skipped a week as he couldn’t get into the atoll (and he only comes every two weeks ...), so everybody was waiting impatiently for the ship to arrive. It did later that night and everything was sold even before it got into the shop!!! Luckily we still had enough from the Marquises!
11th of July 2019
Birthday party of Louise. Our little girl turns 7 !!! Already?!
As there are no real beaches, we created a game park behind the boat. Just in the morning another Belgian boat with 3 children arrived and we invited an Australian couple with a boy that felt a bit lonely. So a surprisingly nice mix and a great day for Loulou!
12th of July 2019
We go diving in the North pass of Fakarava.
It’s along the reef dive with quite good transparency as we were at +30m depth for some of the pictures 😎
It’s along the reef dive with quite good transparency as we were at +30m depth for some of the pictures 😎
Shark in the picture above 😌
A quick ride at 40 miles/h!!!
There was a Heiva later that night with surprising food: a steak with Roquefort sauce and great fries! All with a coconut drink (although our Belgian friends did have some beers in the backpack, actually not just “some” beers: JUPILER !!! 😜)
And dad’s favourite…ok this is the real deal 😇
And my favourite!!!
13th of July 2019
Time to pick up my dad. There’s a pontoon just in front of the airport. Quite a luxury arrival! Taxi in Bob.
The plane stops just in front of the building and then it’s a rush to get your suitcases of some shelves 😉 No security, no luggage checks, very very relaxed!
It’s been exactly one year since we saw my dad as he sailed with us from La Rochelle to Gibraltar :-)
And as is tradition when our parents come: we go try the local restaurants 😜
14th of July 2019
To celebrate the exact one year ago departure party we went for a dive (again) 😎
And of course it’s easier now that we have a babysitter! We went diving in the North pass of Fakarava again.
It’s a ‘let you flow with the current’ dive and the instructor was actually very surprised as the current was extra strong (nice full moon!). So we saw a ray, but by the time you realised it was there, you were already ‘gone with the flow’ 😉
Ok you’ll notice a bunch of sharks in this movie but there were actually hundreds of them circling above our head. They go into the pass as to catch the fish flowing out with the current. All about as little effort as possible!
And we also got encircled by smaller fish, so cool!
The current was the strongest over the shelve out of the pass, wait wait no time to see!!!
But we did see Nemo!!! Yeaaaaay
Looking for a …shark
Tooooo crowded!
Very nice dive!!! On the way back we hit a rain shower in 40 miles/h. That hurts!!! So better with mask on 😲
15th of July 2019
After a whole day of rain (it is rainy season…), the weather got nicer and we rented bikes for a tour on the Motu (this is how you call the small islands surrounding an atoll).
It’s actually a lot of fun but there’s not so much to see. So besides the beautiful church:
… impressive lighthouses (that were never used?!) …
… and wonderful views …
Inside the lagoon:
Towards the ocean:
… that was it 😁
So bye bye Fakarava!
16th of July 2019
Very smooth sail to Toau! Geoffrey is sleeping, the girls are always busy, my dad is sleeping … and I’m enjoying the spinnaker!
Wait where is the entrance?
Ah there it is!
You anchor just in the pass. There’s no entrance into the lagoon. Only two houses host the moorings (buoys to attach you’re boat to as you are not allowed to anchor to protect the marine habitat). They also host langoustine dinners, but they were on ‘holiday’ and not so keen on making dinner that night 😲
17th of July 2019
We had a good snorkel, played on the beach and Geoffrey got attacked by sharks while shooting Parrotfish with his speargun!
He learned later that it’s especially the blood of those fish that attract the sharks. And he maybe shouldn’t go hunting when it’s dinner time for the sharks 😱
18th of July 2019
We head for Apataki. The last of the Tuamoutu’s we will visit before going to Tahiti as soon as we have a good weather window.
It turned out to be a very nice experience, especially thanks to the family that lives there.
The pass is a bit tricky, not so large and a lot of current.
To the left …
To the right …
A fancy pearl farm!
And on watch constantly to get to the other side of the lagoon: quite a few patches were not charted and almost invisible!
It took us a while to realise this was a shipwharf 😎
We were very well protected form wind and waves here.
19th of July 2019
We meet our Australian friends again and have a beach day. The sand on the beach is not very soft, it’s only shells!
And off course we have to do some school so we go and check out the village. The family is very very nice! We lost the girls at one point and found them back inside a house, playing with the other girls.
Later we found them on the beach with her friends and there ... pets (nursing sharks so they don’t have teeth 😲)!
And the girls are already used to it. Anna just steps next to these magnificent animals as they were a dog and is more excited to show me her Bernard hermites!
Loulou also enjoys her "Bernards" 😋
You see, no teeth, no teeth 😊
This family also serves very good food and they have beer :-)
And when the girls take your cellphone you get a preview of how this family lives 😜
20th of July 2019
New day, new occupation! They have been searching for new pets 😂
And we have friends over to play on LouiseAnna !
And Geoffrey has a good time with his drone 😎
Ah and I dropped a nail clipper in 6m depth, but I found it on my second try!!!
And to close a very special stay, Geoff went spearfishing with the locals. He learned a lot, so I’m excited as we will eat more fish again!
Ciao Apataki and ciao Tuamoutu’s, tomorrow we head off to TAHITI !
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