Greetings from yacht Ensemble.
We've spent a pleasant day at Takaroa with the crew from Seaquest. We'd anchored in the Eastern part of the lagoon, opposite the causeway and about 10m off the coral. A beautiful spot - with a constant 10 knots of wind helping to keep the boat cool. It would have been interesting to explore the rest of the lagoon - 12nm across - but it is riddled with pear farms and fishing nets - and you are supposed to be escorted - so instead we decided to have a leisurely day on board.
Seaquest invited us over for coffee - that turned into lunch and beers ( - so the work on the generator will have to wait for another day). After a swim and a nap we planned to go onshore and explore the town. Unfortunately (predictably) - once Magali's head hit the pillow it was lights out for hours - so she elected not to come ashore. So I piled onto the Seaquest dinghy for a look at the town. The dinghy ride itself was an adventure - and finding a passage through the coral was a challenge. The return journey in the dark would be even more so. We eventually made it ashore and found a small 'Magazine' directly opposite where we beached the dinghy. They were 'All Blacks' fans - and informed us that there was a bigger shop and Pizzaria in town (the bakery had shut down).
We have previously sampled the pizzas at establishments on both Nuka Hiva and Hiva Oa - and were impressed. So we figured we'd extend the tour to the Tuomotos. The only problem with this Pizza establishment - was that there were no pizzas. (Monty Python would be impressed). The only thing on the menu was steak and hamburgers and chips. 'Nada' pizza, nada beer, nada wine, nada dessert. So we went for a combination of what was available and watered it down with American champagne (Coke) and Fanta. The service was good - and the the meal tasty enough - but not exactly a culinary delight.
Today we got up early and set sail for Ahe. The plan is that if we don't make sufficiant progress we'll stop in Mahini. Unfortunately - there is not much usable wind - so it looks like a motor sail at best.
Cheers
Dave & Magali
12April2012 008