Fakarava -Tuamotu 15 July 2024

We had a good night’s sleep although when we woke there was a little bit of a swell as the wind was from the Northwest this time!!

We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and after Andy & I got the dinghy down. When we were ready we decided to go ashore and explore. It was a lovely sunny morning and the beach and shore looked lovely. We could see a few l huts/house on the end and apparently a lady called Lisa cooks from time to time. We got in the dinghy and headed for the beach near this hut. Due to the swell we threw the anchor out of the dinghy and waded ashore. We were met by a friendly dog who followed us as we wondered around the area. We could see where meals were served  and behind this hut was the main house but there was no sign of anyone. We walked on and there was an area with hammocks and chairs under the palm trees and then there was a sand spit which went out some way of pink sand. There was then a lagoon behind this spit which went round the back of the mutu where the huts were and there was like a little creek going up for about 200 yards. The other side of this creek was a coral flat surface and view out to the outer reef where we could see in the distance the waves breaking on the reef.

It was odd that no one was there but after a walk with our friendly dog we returned to Stormbird and assumed the owners would return sometime. We then chilled and read and rested. I did emails and looked at the options from here with our days left as to what we should do before we head to Tahiti which is about 250nm away.

We had lunch and in the afternoon I cleaned the starboard waterline which was beginning to look a bit green. We also read and rested again and had a swim. We then watched the sun go down which was fantastic with its range of colours from yellow to orange to purple and shades in between. The owners did not see to come back which seemed odd. The view and landscape here is stunning but there is not a lot to do. There was plenty of birds around giving us a good display of fishing diving in and they had to watch out for the frigate type birds who try and steal their catch.

We plan tomorrow to go over to the anchorage at the Passe as we would like to snorkel the Passe which is famous for its sharks and there are apparently about 700 grey sharks here in addition to other types. It is famous throughout the world for its diving location.

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk