Well, we made it through the pass, now have our refrigerator up and running again and got a good night’s sleep so the next logical thing to do is head to shore to see what’s here.
On our way to shore we pick up Linda from SV One Fine Day and take her into the village with us. Ed is taking diving lessons. Today is his last day of lessons and Linda has been stuck on their boat the last few days while he’s been taking his course. We are excited to see her as we’ve really missed them over the past 10 days.
The village here is quite quaint and like all the others it is well maintained and the people are very friendly. We walked through three stores and picked up a couple of things. We actually paid $12 USD for a 28 ounce jar of Skippy Peanut Butter! And we bought TWO!!! We’re sort of addicted to peanut butter and the 8 huge jars we bought in Mexico are almost gone. As Dan says, “It’s only money and you can’t take it with you.”
Ed’s class was over around 1130 and we hooked up and went to a little place on the shore for lunch. Ed arrives shortly after us and we all order hamburgers. I don’t know why. The only burgers I actually love are those from Duffy’s on Anna Maria Island in Florida and Animal Style Burgers from In & Out in California. But, for some reason down here in French Polynesia it seems I eat a lot of them and most are just not very good. This was one that falls in that category. I do love the French fries though. Instead of putting ketchup on them they put a dollup of herbed butter on them. Yes, you read correctly…butter on French fries. And is it ever good. Of course I can feel the fat clogging my arteries with each bite, but you only live once.
Ed talks Dan into going out with the dive class for their afternoon dive. In the morning dive they saw hundreds of sharks at the entrance to the pass so Dan’s hoping for some great pics and video. After lunch we come back to the boat and Dan starts to get his equipment out. “That’s not good,” he says. “What’s wrong?” I ask. “My regulator is broken.” There goes a few hundred more dollars I think to my self. It’s always something out here. As always he’s pretty casual about it. Not too much really gets under his skin. He decides to just rent the equipment from the dive shop. Ed stops to pick him up and I stay behind to enjoy some “me” time on board Dazzler.
It turns out they didn’t see much in the way of sharks but they did have a great time and that’s all that matters.
The following day we all decide to go to the store to pick up some fresh baguettes. They are so good and made fresh each day. This girl who rarely eats bread or butter is now eating fresh baguettes and buttered French fries. I’m going to have to stop this soon or I’ll be as big as a house!
We beach the dinks down buy the church and walk to the two small grocery stores nearby. We pick up a few items and run them back to the boat before we all head to the Havaiki Pearl Resort to have some lunch. We check out the pearl shop as we are trying to purchase some pearls for a dear friend but they don’t have what we are looking for so we head to the beachside restaurant.
We are the only four people sitting under the thatched roof, sand floor dining area. They also have tables in the crystal clear water but we are not prepared to sit in the water. While we are there we see a couple of black tip sharks swimming around as well as some beautiful tropical fish. People sitting at the in water tables are throwing scraps out for the sharks. I don’t know, something about that just doesn’t seem right but you know, to each his own. Lunch is very good. Hamburgers again! This time they are thick and juicy and very tasty so I’m glad I ordered it. Once again the fries come with herbed butter. Oh yeah.
We spend just three days here in Fakarava as we are working against the visa clock and the delay in Nuka Hiva waiting for the generator put us a couple of weeks behind. I sure would have liked to get to the south end of the atoll. I hear the snorkeling there is awesome but I’m sure we’ll find more wonderful places along the way.
The morning of the third day here we, as well as Ed & Linda, depart Fakarava. This time we have timed our exit through the pass to coincide with slack tide and it is very uneventful. We are very thankful.
Next stop…Toau! It’s just a day cruise so we will arrive later this afternoon. Hopefully we will get in some snorkeling here as we’ve been told the water is crystal clear and there’s lots of beautiful coral.
Until next time,
Jilly & Dan
Dazzler's Watch 