On May 21, we arrived at Manihi, an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago of French Polynesia. This place is about 280 nautical miles from Papeete, Tahiti. It took us five days to get here from Nuku Hiva, at least a day slower than I had hoped and was due to a really remarkable lack of wind during the first several days of the passage.
I first sighted Manihi at 05 50am. It appeared to the north as a series of low hummocks standing individually in the sea. By the time it was fully light at 06 00am, it was clear that Manihi is quite long at about 20 nautical miles and shaped roughly like an amoeba. Lots of Palm trees and fringing reef which is usual to this sort of volcanically-formed island.
We had to wait for low tide to transit the pass into the atoll's lagoon. So, we took a quick look at the pass to see how hard it might be to get through and then waited outside for about two hours until the tide was low and the current slack. We came through easily and anchored in about 45 feet about 3/4 of a mile from the Polynesian village here. Unfortunately, I think that I may have landed our anchor in some coral that I could not see at that depth. Tomorrow, I will free-dive as much of the rode as I can to see if the hook is trapped. If it is, there is a local diver here whom I 
can hire to retrieve the anchor for me.
Part of Manihi's economy is based upon farming black pearls. Before we leave here, we plan to take a tour of one of the family-owned pearl farms to see how they are operated. Should be interesting. Incidentally, the diver owns the pearl farm and is also the baker - he's a one-man conglomerate.
On May 23, we arranged to have dinner with the extended family and friends of this fellow - named Forneau. (He is the one who is his own little conglomerate.) We arrived at the Forneau house about 18 30 and were treated to an hour or so of conversation with the men of the family while seated on chairs in front of the house, more or less in the road. So, we also met a number of the islanders who passed by on what appeared to be evening paseos. The women were typically well-dressed and all were very friendly. We discussed US and Tahitian politics (the locals like McCain), relations with France (not wild about the French role in local government), the quality of fishing here (good - everything from mackerel and grouper to large tuna), etc.
There were three generations of Forneaus at dinner ranging from a four month old to Forneau himself. We had a spectacular spread with a 'poisson cru' salad, breaded and fried fish, various
kinds of potatoes chow mein (a favorite here), baguettes etc., etc. etc. It was very delicious. It was also quite nice for me as it gave me a break and I did not have to cook dinner. Forneau's best friend, his wife and youngest son were there too. He is a fascinating guy who was born on a 'motu' (a little island made up of nothing but coral and it's derivatives), moved to Tahiti as a young man, started a successful construction company, was a nightclub singer, married a Frenchwoman and has 8 children (living on three continents) and 7 grandchildren. All very interesting and fun.
We will get ready to leave tomorrow morning as early as possible for Tahiti. Hopefully, we will have a good wind for the passage. Sally will join me in Papeete on June 1 and we will continue our trip together from there.
I first sighted Manihi at 05 50am. It appeared to the north as a series of low hummocks standing individually in the sea. By the time it was fully light at 06 00am, it was clear that Manihi is quite long at about 20 nautical miles and shaped roughly like an amoeba. Lots of Palm trees and fringing reef which is usual to this sort of volcanically-formed island.
We had to wait for low tide to transit the pass into the atoll's lagoon. So, we took a quick look at the pass to see how hard it might be to get through and then waited outside for about two hours until the tide was low and the current slack. We came through easily and anchored in about 45 feet about 3/4 of a mile from the Polynesian village here. Unfortunately, I think that I may have landed our anchor in some coral that I could not see at that depth. Tomorrow, I will free-dive as much of the rode as I can to see if the hook is trapped. If it is, there is a local diver here whom I 
can hire to retrieve the anchor for me.Part of Manihi's economy is based upon farming black pearls. Before we leave here, we plan to take a tour of one of the family-owned pearl farms to see how they are operated. Should be interesting. Incidentally, the diver owns the pearl farm and is also the baker - he's a one-man conglomerate.
On May 23, we arranged to have dinner with the extended family and friends of this fellow - named Forneau. (He is the one who is his own little conglomerate.) We arrived at the Forneau house about 18 30 and were treated to an hour or so of conversation with the men of the family while seated on chairs in front of the house, more or less in the road. So, we also met a number of the islanders who passed by on what appeared to be evening paseos. The women were typically well-dressed and all were very friendly. We discussed US and Tahitian politics (the locals like McCain), relations with France (not wild about the French role in local government), the quality of fishing here (good - everything from mackerel and grouper to large tuna), etc.
There were three generations of Forneaus at dinner ranging from a four month old to Forneau himself. We had a spectacular spread with a 'poisson cru' salad, breaded and fried fish, various
kinds of potatoes chow mein (a favorite here), baguettes etc., etc. etc. It was very delicious. It was also quite nice for me as it gave me a break and I did not have to cook dinner. Forneau's best friend, his wife and youngest son were there too. He is a fascinating guy who was born on a 'motu' (a little island made up of nothing but coral and it's derivatives), moved to Tahiti as a young man, started a successful construction company, was a nightclub singer, married a Frenchwoman and has 8 children (living on three continents) and 7 grandchildren. All very interesting and fun.We will get ready to leave tomorrow morning as early as possible for Tahiti. Hopefully, we will have a good wind for the passage. Sally will join me in Papeete on June 1 and we will continue our trip together from there.
