When we checked in with customs in Papeete, Rob was told that there were more cruising boats passing through French Polynesia than normal this season, but that doesn't agree with what we are seeing. The anchorage off of Marina Taina in Papeete was the emptiest I've ever seen, and we aren't encountering as many cruising boats as we normally do out here in the leeward islands. We don't know where all the other boats are. Perhaps we are behind the main surge of boats heading west this season. It's fine with us. We like having paradise all to ourselves.
We spent last night anchored in the lee of Naonao Motu out on the south coast of Raiatea's fringing reef. The anchorage here is in a spot where the surf that comes over the reef flows into the lagoon and scours a twelve foot deep spot in the otherwise shallow sand bottom right next to the island. The snorkeling here is great. The trees on the motu shelter the boat from the trade winds, and the one knot current keeps the boat pointed to the south parallel to the motu's shoreline. It is a pretty small anchorage, but very popular, and I've seen as many as six boats moored here at the same time. I've been here nearly a dozen times before, but I don't recall ever having it to ourselves like we did last night.
All of my previous visits to Naonao have been on my own thirty three and thirty five foot boats, both having just a five foot draft. I've never had a problem with depth here, or anywhere else in French Polynesia. But Van Diemen is twice as long as my little boats, and draws three feet more water. It is amazing what a difference three feet makes. We bumped the sand bottom both entering and leaving Naonao on Van Diemen. It was no big deal as we were just inching along at the time, but it's a reminder that we need to pay closer attention to the depth on this cruise.
The weather remained unsettled yesterday with squalls everywhere on the horizon. We powered south inside the lagoon from Taputapuatea and made it to Naonao between showers. The sky opened up shortly after we were anchored and poured until mid-afternoon when we went in for a drift snorkel. Later in the afternoon Rob and Renee took the dinghy in to the closest village on Raiatea to look for fresh baguettes. No luck on the bread, but Rob did come back with a new Spanish made backpack.
We woke up this morning to clear skies and light winds and we are hoping that the unsettled weather is behind us as we continue our circumnavigation of Raiatea.
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