John threaded the needle perfectly and navigated us here to arrive just after dawn. Unfortunately we missed the morning slack after the high, and slack after the ebb wasn't technically until around 1 PM. We slowly tacked back and forth outside the lagoon entrance with only the reefed main, admiring the view of palm trees and motus from outside the atoll. At 12:30 we decided to give it a shot and had an easy 15 minute motor to the range inside the lagoon. From there it was another hour plus of motoring straight across to the East (weather side) of the lagoon.
We're anchored in 40' off of a motu to the north of the local pearl farm. We jumped in for a snorkel towards the beach but, gasp, the water is only 82 degrees. All I could think as we drifted from one coral head to the next was OMG. It is so beautiful here - above and below the water.
We ended the day with sundowners made of blended fresh mango, 7-Up, lime, and vodka over ice and we enjoyed them sitting in perfectly flat calm water. We figure the last calm anchorage we were in must have been Barra de Navidad in the 2011/12 season. And the last anchorage we were alone in might have been Carrizal, near Manzanillo this past winter. Ziggy is loving the stable platform as well and has been zooming around the decks and racing down below to start it all again.
Fortunately it all turned out well even though John was horrified when he realized we'd left the Marquesas on a Friday! We are thrilled beyond belief to be in this stunning place. How can it get even better than the Marquesas?
Linda
{GMST}16|04.282|S|142|22.034|W|Raroia|Tuamotus{GEND}
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