Archipel des Tuamotu, safe arrival
We arrived yesterday morning – safely, happily, easily sailing into Fakarava at first “slack tide” – which was a morning low tide around 9 am – our first stop in the Tuamotu Archipelago.
I confess it made me a little nervous, crossing into the atoll, when we saw that we were part of a parade of 13 boats, all hanging around at the opening waiting for slack tide. I wondered if it would be very windy inside – these islands are low low low, barely emerging from the sea, really just little smiles of sand and coral – nothing like the mountainous walls of protection we’d enjoyed in the Marquesas. How much room there would be in the anchorage, and would there be good holding. I needn’t have worried though, our arrival was easy and spectacular.
The water here inside the motu is flat calm, like nothing we have seen since we left Mexico. Feels more like a big lake. And homes are built right there at the edge of the motu, at sea level, mere inches from the shore. It feels at once fragile and peaceful.
Beautiful photos. Enjoy the next leg of the journey after Shawn returns to Canada.