Rangiroa, Tuamotus
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Tue 22 Apr 2014 03:58
We arrived through the Tiputa pass on the eastern side of the island and anchored just off the small settlement there. The pass here is a lot more temperamental than the one into Fakarava, there are sometimes huge, 3 metre, standing waves, and a rolling swell threatening to take you on to the rocks at any minute! Luckily we got there at about he right time, and apart from nearly 5 knots of current against us, it was an uneventful trip through, escorted by the pod of dolphins we had with us, leaping over the bow in the waves.
The dolphins here in the pass are what makes the diving in this area famous. We dived the pass on the second day, and although we saw sharks, dolphins and numerous other fish, it was a bit second best to Fakarava, I think we have been really spoilt by diving there and nothing will quite measure up! You can hear the dolphins a long time before you can see them, and in our second dive, we didn't see them at all. They can be friendly and people have been really up close touching and playing with them, but we didn't get that near when we were there.
The Tiputa pass on a nice calm day
The dolphins
An inquisitive turtle
The main industries here on the island are tourism, obviously, and pearl farming. We went to the Gaugin Pearl shop and had a tour of the farm to see how the pearls were 'made'. Tahitian black pearls are now almost all grown or cultured. It is estimated that only 1 in 10,000 shells actually has a natural pearl inside, so a Japanese chap decided to invent a way of 'culturing' or growing the pearls.
Each individual shell is left for about three years to grow. After that it is time for the pearl to be grown. Each shell has a piece of mantle, mother of pearl, inserted, along with a small bead, about 6mm round, formed from mussels found in the freshwater Mississippi River. After two years the pearl will be ready to harvest. The mussel bead forms the nucleus of the pearl around which the rest will grow. The first pearl will be about 8mm. When the pearl is removed, a second, larger bead is inserted which is about the same size as the first pearl. The second pearl grows round this bead and will be about 10mm. Once this is harvested the process is repeated. The third and largest pearl is usually the last time the shell is used. Although pearls can grow to 20mm, the largest is usually about 12mm.
The oyster shell with the mother of pearl inside
Harvesting the pearl
Lots of pearls!
The shrine at the local church, decorated in local style
On our last day, we went on a boat trip with the crews of Brizo and Chez Nous to Les Isles Recifs, reef islands. We didn't really know what to expect from the the trip except for a boat ride to a beautiful anchorage! The area they took us to was gorgeous! We did a great drift snorkel, had a fabulous fish lunch and made baskets from palm tree fronds in the afternoon. All in all a very relaxing and chilled out day.
The snorkelling site at Isles Recifs
Pat from Brizo, Donna from Chez Nous and I in our handmade hats, a bit dark but you get the idea!
Basket making classes
Then we were off to Tahiti. We worked out the timing for the currents in the pass, cleared through that and set the sails. It was all going wonderfully until.....
The headsail foil separated and torn the sail almost in half - another thing to add to the job lists in Tahiti, there is always something!!
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