Of South Sea atolls, shark suckers & more.

We are on our way to the atoll of Fakarava, which has been classified as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO “because of its exceptional ecological value”. Expectations are high, especially after being marooned for days in Makemo, where we had to take shelter for a couple of days against a sea that evolved from “agitée” to “forte”. “Forte” meaning that the ocean outside the lagoon was once again far from being “Pacific” with waves reaching peaks of 6 meters with an overall average of 2,5 meter high. Thank you, but no.

O2 has been our steadfast ark for quite some time now. Through salt, snow, rain, and shine, she has carried us across oceans, into inlets & fjords, up rivers and into bays & coves, and now even into atoll lagoons- never mind the remora fish- revealing a myriad of wonders this planet has to offer. Sure, technical boat parts tend to fall apart at regular intervals. But when they do, My Captain is always on standby to MacGyver them back to life until the spare part or a more professional component arrives. One such crucial spare part—the outdoor Garmin touch screen—is waiting for us in Fakarava. Here in the village of Makemo, we were approached by a nice young man on his tricycle, enquiring whether we were O2 ‘s crew. Yes, we are. “Please contact my friend in Fakarava, your part has arrived. Here’s his whatsapp.” In Africa, this would be called “radio-trottoir”. Here, it even bridges over 100 nautical miles. We feel marooned, but the few people around keep an eye on us. 

Mid June, our son will bring suspension parts for our Watt&Sea hydrogenerator, which we nearly lost due to broken bolts and brackets. A brand-new throttle setup will arrive in Tahiti with our brother-in-law when he visits us in July. And in August, a friend will carry a set of extra steering cables and an MPTT or a “Maximum Power Point Tracking” device which maximes the power output of the solar panels and which has now sensor issues. With a little help from our friends, we keep it all under control.

Apart from repairs, My Captain is also into upgrades, such as the newly installed forward scan—a welcome gadget in this underwater maze of lurking coral heads. However, the installation process proved to be a bit hairy, what with the ocean water spurting in at full force the very moment My Captain removed the lid of the through-hull onto which the forward scan needed to be mounted. A through-hull, as the name suggests, is an opening in the boat’s hull that goes all the way through to the water below. This can serve various purposes. Naturally, it must be kept tightly sealed at all times – until you need to open it up for some reason or other. This “opening-up” can be quite a nerve-wracking undertaking. 

Equally stressful is a Captain who stubbornly insists on entering a lagoon long after the right moment has passed, and night has fallen (around 5:30 PM).  The original plan was to sail from Makemo to Fakarava in two leisurely day trips with a stopover in Tahanea. However, an unpredicted feeble wind slowed us down so that we didn’t reach the Tahanea pass on time. Thankfully, that same feeble wind suddenly picked up to 25 knots as we approached the pass in the pitch-dark, with only the wishy-washy charts to guide us. Only then did My Captain reluctantly accept defeat and agree to sail in one go through the night to Fakarava. I couldn’t have been more relieved, and I happily started up another vampire watch under a moonless yet starry, starry sky.

Those nerves are completely at ease now. We have both reached a state of zen instead. Because here we are, in Fakarava, where sharks act cool and where everything shimmers in hues of gold and blue. We truly feel like we have Mother Nature on our side.