South Pacific (part two)
The Tuamotu Islands
Click here for a map of French Polynesia.
July 22 finds us newly anchored at Maeva Beach, near Papeete, Tahiti. Our plan was to go ashore to check in with the Port Captain, Immigration & Customs, but the wind is so strong (over 30 knots) we have decided to wait until tomorrow. This gives me a chance to describe a few of our activities during the last month. Our last anchorage in the Marquesas was Baie Hana Moe Noe, Tahuata. This was a pretty bay where we spent a few days meeting old sailing friends and meeting new, trading beers with local lads for fish (bonito) and other peaceful cruising pursuits like sieving weevils out of the cocoa powder! Our 5 day sail to the Tuamotus passed quickly, the main excitement being a booby passenger and retrieving just a fishhead on the fishing line - whatever ate the rest obviously had large and very sharp teeth as the fish body had been sliced off very cleanly. We guess a big shark.
The Tuamotu Islands, named "The Dangerous Islands" by Bougainville on account of the low-lying reefs, are coral atolls entered through passes in the reef. We deliberately stopped at 3 of the less visited (77) atolls - Tahanea, Fakarava and Toau. With trepidation (and using radar) we skirted other atolls at night and tried to enter the atolls at slack water to avoid strong currents and wind over tide effects. Of course it was worth the effort. Deserted (except for crabs and birds) coral beaches, water of astonishing clarity, drift snorkelling from the dinghy on the incoming tide to see a wealth of marine life. One day Jim and friend from another yacht went off to enquire of a small coaster whether they had bread for sale and they returned with a gift of 20 baguettes! I should add that we were able to give some of these away to other yachties and we in turn were given freshly caught fish. Toau was where we stayed longest. Taupiri and Valentine (brother & sister) and their extended families gave us a wonderful Polynesian welcome. The children helped tie us to one of their mooring buoys and we were invited to dinner at Valentine's our first night there. The next day Taupiri and family took us hunting sand lobsters on the reef inside the lagoon, where we also saw rays, sharks, and small moray eels whilst walking about. The family dog, Tekila, a small terrier, came too and spent most of the time madly chasing small blacktip sharks in the shallows: he caught and killed 4 of them (up to about 2 and a half feet in length!!) Very impressive!! We later feasted on the lobsters, coconut bread, barbecued surgeonfish, couscous, rice and chicken stew. The next couple of days Jim was busy helping remake fish traps on the reefs whilst I laboured in the galley making food for when we later entertained the families, each of 7, on successive days. Then the day arrived that the fishing vessel was coming to deliver supplies and collect fish. So we leapt into action to assist in delivering the fish from the traps to the landing and then in sorting them. Hundreds of fish of an amazing assortment of colours, shapes and sizes, even after quite a few dangerous fish (including sharks, big moray eels, spiny pufferfish and stingrays) had been speared and tossed out of the traps. Most of the fish were threaded onto strings by type very efficiently by the family. At the end we were presented with a palm dish of ten fish. We had felt confident that we would not get ciguatera poisoning from these as the people knew their fish - until the doctor came on his monthly visit the next day and we learnt that Taupiri and one of this sons were both suffering from the toxin.
Ed: The most commonly reported marine toxin disease in the world is Ciguatera, associated with consumption of contaminated reef fish such as barracuda, grouper, and snapper. The fish accumulate the toxins in their flesh from algae in the water in which they live. It has only recently become known to the medical establishment, and is largely under-reported (especially in endemic areas such as the Caribbean) because of the generally non-fatal nature and short duration of the disease. At least 50,000 people per year who live in or visit tropical and subtropical areas suffer from Ciguatera worldwide. For example, it is estimated that only 2-10% of Ciguatera cases are actually reported in the United States. In the US Virgin Islands, there are an estimated 300 cases per 10,000 or 3% of the population per year; a similar rate is found in the French West Indies. In St. Thomas, a household survey estimated that 4.4% of all households suffered from Ciguatera annually (at least 2640 persons per year or an annual incidence of 600 cases per year); in Puerto Rico, 7% of the residents have experienced at least one episode of Ciguatera in their lifetime. The geographic range of the disease is becoming wider because of the increase in inter-regional transportation of seafood, and it has been contracted from eating fish in restaurants in the United States. The symptoms include gastrointestinal problems, headaches, numbness of the extremities, vertigo and weakness, and usually pass off within days without treatment (in severe cases medical intervention is necessary). The disease can be contracted by anyone on holiday in warmer climes.
The day before we left, the French Customs boat arrived . Their main purpose seemed to be to liaise with the two families and watch Rosette, Taupiri's wife, open up some oysters, remove any pearls and reseed them. However two officers took time to check us over: we were horrified to discover we were only allowed two litres each of wine and spirits, since we had stocked up mightily in Ecuador for the long haul through expensive French Polynesia. We were admonished, but the sun was shining and the pearls were calling - so no action was taken. Later Rosie was tempted by both Valentine's and Rosette's "black" pearls and in exchange for wine, suntan lotion, whisky, perfume and a little money acquired several of odd shapes shaded green/turquoise/silver - like mini Christmas tree baubles.
But Tahiti was calling - it was time to move on to the Society Islands.
