Fakarava -Tuamotu 18 July 2024

We woke to a lovely sunny calm morning – what a difference 24 hours makes. It was a lovely day initially. We had breakfast and relaxed as we were not due to be at the dive school until about 13.45 pm.

As the morning wore on the wind increased a little and it was Northwest and we started to see some waves coming down from the North of the atoll and they were quite modest at first. We decided to go and look at the nearest mutu (Island) at 11.0am and headed across to it. Due to the swell we anchored the dinghy off and waded ashore. It was lovely and warm and we walked around the coral surface which had a number of shrubs on it. We could wade through various little waterways which had the odd fish in it and we could see the outer reef with the waves crashing on the shore. We continued round and found the foundations of an old hut. It was pleasant to wonder round and be on terra firma for a change. We returned to Stormbird and had an early lunch.

We headed ashore about 1.30pm and the waves were now beginning to increase so we had to be a bit careful as we headed towards the passe. When we got there waves had formed in a certain area due to the current where we had to bash our way through them and once through we eased along to the dive hut. The current was going out quite fast and there were upswelling from the tide in full flow.

We moored the dinghy and Andy and I were to do a simple dive with an instructor each. Originally this was going to be near the green posts but due to the current we went to the Southeastern end of the passe. We got our scuba gear on and then we descended down the mooring rope toward the bottom. Andy and I had an instructor each which was good and once at the bottom we went along the coral reef that we had looked at when snorkelling. We were obviously closer to the bottom and the coral and could see more including several sharks in the deeper part of the passse. There was an amazing array of fish on the coral as we drifted along the coral bank (I will not go into all the details as I did that yesterday). We did this for about 30 minutes or so and saw so much in that time. It was good for me to do this again in a fairly easy situation. We went up the mooring rope again and they took off our tanks. It had been a great experience and the photo of the day is with one of the instructors. Joyce did not dive but acted as photographer.

We returned to the dinghy and had to get out of the passe and the current was very strong against us and I had to have the engine almost on full throttle to get back to the anchorage against the current. The wind had increased and so had the waves. We could see all of the boats moving up and down and the young couple on the German boat Lucky Johnnie had a problem. It seems as if they had to leave their anchor behind and then they came back again to collect it. They were due to come for a drink this evening but have gone over to Herifa due to the conditions. I am not sure what happened unless their anchor was dragging and they had to leave quickly and buoyed it and then came back or it was caught round a bommie and could not get it up. We saw other boats looking at their anchors and at least 4 left due to the conditions with some going over to Harifa and two went through the passe going south just before dark.

We plan to go through the passe early tomorrow morning and go to our final atoll Tahanea. The wind is at present NW and it will go tomorrow to W then SW then S before backing SE.

We prepared ourselves and getting the dinghy up on the davits with what felt like a bucking brocho was quite a challenge but we managed it. We are still moving a lot but the anchor is holding well. We hope when we bring it up tomorrow that we are not wrapped round any bommies.

We had cassoulet for dinner with red cabbage which was good and filling. We hope tomorrow will mean we can move on.

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.  The picture of the day is a grey shark with a sucker fish attached which was swimming round the dive hut!.

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