Jacaranda Journey
Marquesas
The "high islands" we left behind after spending almost a year there (internet photo)
Tuamotu Archipelago
We had arrived in the "low" islands by sailing 500 miles to the SW of the Marquesas. What an abrupt contrast! (internet photo)
Tuamotus Archipelago
Fakarava atoll from our plane
Tuamotu Archipelago
We arrived on Raroia, our first Tuamotu atoll after a 4 day sail from the Marquesas.
Tuamotus
Exotic South Pacific postcard
Lovely Plage 9 (Beach 9) in Fakarava
Sky and seascape
The Tuamotus barely rise out of the sea. Instead of a landscape it would be more appropriate to call it a sky and seascape.
Sky and seascpae
Jacaranda anchored among the bommies and black-tip reef sharks
Jacaranda's Tuamotu Route
We visited severn atolls, spending almost 6 months in this quiet and remote corner of French Polynesia
NASA photo of the Tuamotus
Historical Map of the Tuamotus
Firi firi
The Polynesian donut
Firi Firi
The Polynesian donut is a breakfast staple
Turquoise waters and golden sands
"The blue that hurts your eyes"
Turquoise birds?
The white underside of terns reflects the blue water of the lagoon
Fakarava
Sky and seascape
Filled with Rorschach sunsets
Glorious sunsets
Sky and seascape
Double rainbow after a fast-moving squall
Jacaranda is our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
Dangerous low-lying aspect
Atolls "deformed with disproportioned trees like bristles on a broom" (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Not all atolls have navigable passes like Ahe
Tikehau Pass
The pass is a narrow channel that communicates between the lagoon and the sea. (photo: Ben Thouard)
Tahanea Pass
We watched friends on svTa-B struggle to barely power through the pass at the wrong time when the current was strongly against them.
Passes can be tricky because of strong currents; here you can see the disturbed water and calm water in the same pass.
Hazard: Bommie
Coral heads, or bommies, rise abruptly from the lagoon floor
Hazard: Pearl Floats
Ahe was a minefield of pearl floats. Here they were just outside the marked channel
"Pair of Eyes"
Rupert Murdoch son's megayacht Sarrisa has a crew member stationed on the top spreaders as a lookout
Lookouts
On the deck and the spreaders
Lookouts
The higher the view, the better the ability to spot bommies and obstructions
Manihi Pass & Lagoon.jpg
Google Earth chartlet shows the pass and the larger bommies. The smaller bommies may not show up and clouds can obscure your reading.
Lots of bommies in this anchorage!
Anchoring diagram
Source: Cruising World magazine
Buoying our anchor chain to avoid getting it wrapped around the bommies
svMaluhia anchored in a pretty clear spot in Raroia
Weather unpredictability
“Rapidly changing weather patterns call for flexibility and good navigational skills”. You can get caught on a lee shore.
An artsy version of a sky and seascape
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Firi firi
The Polynesian donut