Moving to Toau Tuamotus

The last update we were in Rotoava on Fakarava enjoying the internet….Kathy had 750 emails and I had 450…..whoa!!!! And, good news, the market/portfolio is still up…..bad news the Giants are in 3rd place, 2 games out!!!!

We did do the black pearl thing while in Rotoava. 7-10 years ago the pearl business was booming. Fakarava had over 20 pearl farms. But, there became an oversupply of pearls, the market crashed and many farms shut down….we can see the remnants of many farms…very sad. The French government stepped in, regulated the market and we understand the market is coming slowly back. There are many farms starting on Raroia but only 3 farms remaining in Fakarava. We took a tour of Hinano Farms…..it was ok….the farm on Raroia was bigger and more interesting. The guide did say it takes about $8 to grow a pearl and 1/3 are saleable. The market got as low as $3/pearl…..you do the math….ouch!!

But, the quality he was selling was good/excellent and Kathy is all fixed up with a cute 3 pearl necklace and some earrings and some for gifts. And, it didn’t break the bank…..John-boy is a happy camper!!!!

There was nothing really special about Rotoava. It is a village of 700 people, very clean and very, very quiet and it’s a place cruisers can get internet and fresh veggies/fruit and a bakery…..can you say croissants and baguettes 🙂 ))). We are all stocked up to make it to Tahiti. However, we did manage to eat out twice…..nothing really special but it was nice to be with other boaters at a restaurant enjoying the beautiful atoll scenery….plus, we did get an ice cream fix…..and Kathy did not have to cook…..LIG!!!!!

On Wednesday, 5/29, we traveled to Toau, another drop dead gorgeous atoll, and unfortunately our last in the Tuamotus. It was a run of 40 nm in fairly boisterous seas….15-20 kt winds and 4-7′ seas all on our starboard aft quarter…..so not too bad of a ride. We timed the north pass about an hour after slack tide….we did this on purpose as we wanted to ensure an outgoing tide as well as listen to the morning SSB net while at anchor. Speaking of the anchor, Mystic is really liking the coral anchor dance…..we danced for a good 5 minutes before we broke free…..ugh!!!! Anyway, we were met with a few small breaking waves in the pass and got up to 9.5 kts. But, it is a wide open pass so no big deal. Final Pass count: MM – 5, Pass – 3…..yes!!!!… we finally got the hang of it after being down 0-3!!!!

There is really no pass at Toau…..it is just a protected cove/break in the atoll. But, it has moorings for about 10 boats and enough room for a few boats to anchor. We are too heavy for the moorings so we anchored we hope in sand!!!! And there is a family that lives ashore that welcomes cruisers!!!!!

The good news for the passage: we caught our biggest Mahi ever – 58″….oh wow……it jumped like 20 times then just rode the waves as I struggled to reel her in…..man was that fun or what 🙂 ))))) Kathy got some good pics!!!!

The bad news: The Balmar alternator did not produce…..WTH…..this is the one we spent 3 days replacing in Tahanea……ugh!!! Needless to say I was a very frustrated boater…..arghhhhh!!!! But, after a strong scotch the night before I donned my ER clothes and started to problem solve the next morning with an ok attitude….everything looked fine except the 15 amp fuse was badly burnt….WTH…..how did that happen…..actually one of the spade holders was burnt…..but, the fuse tested ok and same w/holder…..but, maybe it was intermittently not making a connection…..so, I changed the fuse and holder…..ran the Alternator for 10 min and all was good….got to 140 deg F producing 80 amps…..belts looked good also….no dust at all. So, maybe good to go…..will see when we go to Tahiti next week. But, one ponders, what caused the fuse to get so hot and melt the plastic holder…..hmmmm??????

More boat stuff: The watermaker has developed several small leaks….ugh!!! I took the clark pump off today and was able to fix 3 out of the 4 leaks…..several compression fittings…..but, there must be a leak inside the clark pump….probably a bad o-ring. We do not want to take that apart while we still need water so that will have to wait until Tahiti and a marina. Good news is we have all the spare o-rings!!!!

Weather: We want to leave Monday for Tahiti. The forecast yesterday said no way but maybe Tuesday. The forecast today said no way at all until maybe Thursday next week…..ugh. There must be some big storm way south of us as the winds are getting to be 20-25 kts but the seas are 14-18’……think we are staying for a while 🙂 ))))

Hope all is well!!

Relaxing in paradise John
Mystic Moon
Toau Tuamotus