Jimmy Buffet Song

I know there are people who think life out here on a sailboat must be just like living in a Jimmy Buffet song. If you’ve read this blog long enough, you know that the challenges we encounter would contradict that notion. But, every now and then it does actually feel like we’re in Margaritaville with a Cheeseburger in Paradise with each of our Changes in Latitudes. That is how I felt one afternoon at sunset as we sat in the cockpit in a beautiful anchorage on Toau with cocktails in hand listening to Kenny Chesney sing about sailing in the islands. (If you didn’t know Kenny Chesney had sailing songs, check out his “Be As You Are” album.)

After we left Fakarava, we headed north to Toau just about 15 miles away. Our stay in Toau started out a bit raucous as we had a bumpy ride going in the pass in waves that could only be described as a washing machine. We hadn’t hit the slack tide and there was about 5 kts of current headed out of the pass against the wind. We pushed the throttle hard and were only making 2 kts over the ground until we were safely inside the lagoon.

We headed up north into the lagoon to a pretty anchorage just next to a large shallow flat. We were excited to meet up with our friends Marcus and Diana on Allora who we had met two years ago in Mexico. They had already been in French Polynesia for a year and loved this spot. Marcus is an avid fly fisherman, and the flat was full of bonefish which are a prized catch on the fly. Mike was eager to learn how to try and catch these elusive fighting fish.

Mike and Marcus headed to the flat one morning while Diana and I did some snorkeling around some of the beautiful reefs nearby. Mike didn’t catch any of the bonefish, but he did get to see Marcus get one. Not only do you have to stalk these fish in the clear, shallow water, but you have to keep the sharks away. I swear the sharks have some sort of sixth sense to know that there is a fish on the hook in distress. (I’m sure a marine biologist could explain it to me.) Anyway, Mike said it was a very cool experience.

We spent the next week at three different anchorages inside the lagoon exploring various reefs and motus. We even had several bonfires on the beach and we’re greeted by baby piglets that belonged to one of the locals living here. They were adorable. And, apparently the pigs like to eat coconut. I mean, who doesn’t?

We met several new boats in Toau, and a few of the guys were keen to go spearfishing. Mike hadn’t done any spearfishing since we arrived in French Polynesia for two reasons: (1) It is hard to know which fish are Ciguatera free and safe to eat; and (2) Sharks! We got the word from these other boats that the locals said the blue parrot fish were safe to eat in the lagoon. So, Mike was game to try and get us some fresh fish.

Mike got a couple of parrot fish for us without any incident, and they were delicious. But, on the last outing to try and spear a fish with the other guys, the shark situation got a bit too intense for Mike. And, Mike is not easily spooked. The first incident happened with Chris from another boat. He speared a fish and was holding it to his chest to swim it back to the dinghy. The sharks started circling him and biting his gun getting way too close and aggressive. Eventually Chris just let the fish go so the sharks could fight over it. Mike said he was genuinely afraid for Chris and glad he let the fish go. The docile looking sharks just turned rabid on an instant.

Next, Mike speared a parrot fish in a shallow reef area and held it out of the water as he swam to the dinghy. He had no problem and saw no sharks. But, when he headed back into the reef, there were sharks everywhere. Apparently Chris had shot a fish but it got away. The sharks swarmed to get the injured fish. Then, the sharks came at Mike biting at his gun. He even butted a shark in the head, but it was undeterred. Mike ended up dropping the gun and backing up against some coral as the sharks still went after the gun on the sand. The frenzy soon died out and Mike picked up the gun again and headed back to the dinghy where I was waiting. He said he was done spearfishing for a while. I don’t blame him. Yikes.

We hung out in Toau a bit longer than we originally anticipated while a weather system moved in. There were a couple of squally days and some stronger winds, but nothing too terrible. Once there was a break in the weather, we decided to head over to Anse Amyot with Allora. Anse Amyot is on Toau, but it is outside the lagoon. It is what is called a false pass, because although it looks like you could enter the lagoon from the ocean, the reef would block your entrance. There is a protected anchorage there, and we heard the diving was superb.

We spent two days diving at Amse Amyot which was some of the most unique diving we have done. Outside of the anchorage on either side of the entrance is reef that drops off dramatically almost like a vertical wall. Once you are down about 40 feet, you can look over the edge into the deep blue which goes down several thousand feet. It was a surreal experience to feel like you could just fall into the deep abyss. Of course, we didn’t fall as we were diving and could easily control our depth. We ventured down the side of the wall to a safe depth to check out all of the coral and fish that the wall held.

The second day diving was the best. We had waypoints from another boat to a dive spot about a mile south of the anchorage along the wall where there were caves to explore. They weren’t caves exactly but better described as grottos. They were carve outs with overhangs where hundreds of fish gathered underneath. It was here that we saw the largest moray eel we’ve ever seen. We also saw several species of fish that we’ve never seen before. And, the colors were amazing against the bright blue background of the deep ocean in the distance.

But, I think the highlight for Mike was seeing a 3 ft long Whitemargin Unicornfish. It is a weird looking fish and hard to describe. He was silvery blue with a pointed spear off his nose and a fan shaped tail with long streamers. If you have a chance, look it up. He was just sitting stationary about 75 feet down along the wall while smaller fish were performing a teeth cleaning service for him. Another weird thing we’ve learned that happens with certain fish is teeth cleaning stations.

We wanted to stay in Anse Amyot longer, but we had committed to being in Tahiti by a certain date. So, unfortunately more diving and exploration will have to wait for next time as we make our way to the Society Islands. We’re already plotting out how we can come back to the Tuamotus, because we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of these really unique atolls.

~katie