Fakarava - heading north to Rotoava village

Our anchorage in the south west corner was lovely, but cut a bit short due to a weather system approaching from the west and north. We were fortunate to meet Livia and Carol on Estrellita who have been cruising the Tuamotus for about 2 years. We followed their track to the south pass where we'd hoped to hang on a mooring for the bad weather. Unfortunately, the mooring had sunk and wasn't there, so we decided to remain in the atoll and head for the north pass. An anchorage about half way up the atoll seemed a good idea to stay for an overnight.

We anchored near a channel marker. This ended up being very fortuitous. Bill changed the oil in the engine while I prepared dinner. During the night, we had heavy rains with thunder, lightening and wind. We kept a minor watch. It was difficult to discern where anything was- the ocean and the sky seemed to merge into one and the shore was not visible so our bearings were obsolete. The beacon was our only point of reference plus the GPS. When the sun came up, we fired up the engine and had a quick look to make sure all was well following the oil change - and discovered a leak in the saltwater pump. Major bummer! Together, we quickly dismantled the pump replacing the seals. All in all it took about 2 hours to complete. Not sure why the seal failed as it was replaced in Ensenada and only had 100 hours of use. Spike (friend) warned that the new style of seal supplied by Westerbeke wasn't trustworthy and gave us some original seals as a precaution. Ended up, he was right! But that's no surprise if you know Spike.

Squalls

So, we pulled the anchor without incident (didn't get hung up on any coral) and went north. Sure enough, we had lots of rain. It's ok - we still managed to enjoy our coffee! We made it to the northern anchorage and dropped the pick. That's where we are now! Here's a nice sunset pic:

Sunset at Rotoava

 Again, we had heavy rain from 1630 till sometime after we went to bed. The dinghy was half full of rainwater by morning. We washed some clothes and filled the solar shower with the fresh water!

Filling buckets and the solar shower

Shops at Rotoava

Bill securing the dinghy to go ashore

The exposed ocean side of the atoll. Bill made a new 4 legged friend along the way.



Bill finally got ahold of the camera!

Took a walk along the lagoon.

Looked like a good place for a cold drink!

Bike? Velo? Ours are still in Switzerland!

Aaaaah. Cold Hinano beers...

The tables were in the ocean. Nice and cool!

Aaaaaahhhhhh

That's us!

 

Standard activity following beer drinking.

 We are leaving tomorrow, the 6th of May to head for Tahiti/Moorea. We feel the atolls are a little to precarious for our comfort. Anchoring is difficult (we've had ours tangle twice) and there's no easy escape route in the event of bad weather. The prevailing SE winds are not present and we continually find ourselves wondering where the wind will come from next. So.... we're outta here! Tahiti - here we come!

The local church in Fakarava - shells were strung everywhere with had sewn tapestries. Very pretty.