French Polynesia |
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In contrast to the lush vegetation of the Marquises, the Archipel desTuamotus atolls have little greenery except for palm trees and short grass. These islands know as the "Low or Dangerous Archipelago" are usualy not visible from a small yacht until as close as 8 miles out. Not to long ago most cruising yatchs bypassed the Tuamotus because of their dangerous currents and shallow waters in the passes leading into the lagoons. |
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| Atoll Manihi (Wilsons Island) |
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| Atoll Manihi is one of the northernmost atolls of the Tuamotu which makes it a very popular stop for yachts who take the usual route from the Marquises to Tahiti. It was the site of the first pearl farm that paved the way for the other Tuamotu islands. Pearl farming has become widespread and perfected to the point where the pearls produced are real jewels. |
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Jean Paul a local pearl farmer came by to sell us some pearls. I chose a beautifully engraved pearl set on a lovely hand braided necklace made from coconut husk string which he designed. |
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Some of the pearl farm houses are built on stilts over a shallow coral reef close to a location where the pearls are harvested. The islands coral beaches are covered with coconut trees, some pine trees along with other types of vegetation. Brad from Special Blend works on opening a coconut next to some new coconut trees growing on old coconuts whch the locals arrange grouped together. He managed to get the coconut opened and shared it with the rest of us. |
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Special Blend from Florida sits in the anchorage while my very brave husband decides to climd a tall coconut tree to retreive some fresh coconuts for me. |
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| Manihi is close to 20 miles wide with children living on pearl farms away from the main village. Every morning around 7:00 a.m. a school boat full of curious children would drive through the anchorage. They all waved and were happy to have their picture taken. |
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Unfortunetely when we dropped anchor in 50 feet of water we wraped around a coral head. We had to enlist the help of Nicholas, the local operator of the Blue Nui Dive Shop. It was very interesting to see how he used half of a plastic barrel to float the anchor to the surface after filling it with air. |
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| The dive shop is located in the Manihi Pearl Beach Resort where Kip & I enjoyed and afternoon of cold beers, lunch and swimming. Once again it was time to be on our way. We enjoyed visiting Manihi wery much. With pearl in hand and a couple of coconuts we decided to head to Tahiti. |
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