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American Spirit II - Day 100; The Water Taxi, The Aquarium and Swimming with Sharks; Sunday, April 13, 2014



Got up at 3:35 AM. Awakened by someone using the head at that time. Couldn't go back to sleep. The aft cabin I sleep in is adjacent to the head.



Breakfast at 7:00 AM because Stephen was going on a dive and Joel was going to Flomaida to help with an engine problem they have.



I departed at 8:00 AM with Tracey from Folie a Deux to find an ATM, to locate the Catholic Church and determine what time the Palm Sunday services are going to be held. In order to do this, we had to take a water taxi across the pass to the town on the other side. 650 francs round trip. A little over $7.00. We found the ATM, the church and that the services were at 6:00 PM. While on the 'other side' of the pass we saw Caduceus motorsail thru the pass. It looked like they were barely moving as they fought their way against an outgoing 4 knot current. With what looked like rapids behind them; and breaking waves off to one side.



Once across the pass again we went to a grocery store, where I bought T-Bone steaks, chicken, sausage, French fries, potatoes, junk food and various other items for the next 10 days. Two bags of groceries, which cost 23,645 francs or about $263.00. The groceries filled one canvas ice bag and one other large plastic bag. Groceries in French Polynesia are double what they cost in America. We were back at our boats by noon.



Once back at the boat Joel and I went to visit Martin and Elizabeth from Caduceus. After that, we hopped in Follie a Deux's dingy and went to the dingy dock, then to a restaurant overlooking the pass. There we could see the dive shops dropping off customers to drift snorkel the pass. The water was flowing into the lagoon. Other dingy's were hovering over SCUBA divers who were in the deep part of the pass. They also were drifting into the lagoon.



We got back to our boats around 3:00 PM, and then boarded Follie a Deux's dingy again around 3:30 PM for a ride out to the pass to drift snorkel ourselves. On the way we picked up one crew from II Audacious. However, once we got there the current had already reversed itself and was now flowing out to sea. No drift snorkel today. We'll try again tomorrow. We then proceeded to The Aquarium, where we tied the dingy to a mooring buoy and snorkeled. Under our boat on the bottom, which was about 15 feet below us, was a large moray eel. As the day before, the fish were everywhere. Again today, I saw fish that I'd never seen before. There were Trumpet fish, Trigger fish, Flutemouth fish, different types of Wrasse, different types of Surgeon, different types of Unicorn, Masqued Razorfish, Yellowtail Coris, different types of colorful Damselfish, different types of Snappers, different types of Emperor fish, Parrot fish, different types of colorful Butterfly fish, different types of Angel fish, and others that aren't in the fish identification cards that I purchased.



As it was getting later in the afternoon, it was getting darker in the water. I was surprised that I hadn't seen any sharks, until Joel told me that the sharks were on the other side of the reef in the deep water, and that they were swimming into the reef on the other side looking for other fish to eat. I followed him over to the deeper side and immediately saw a 5 or 6 foot black-tipped shark. In all I saw 5 sharks. One, about 3 or 4 feet in length, was chasing a fish and looked as though it was going to devour it right in front of me. It didn't, though I don't know why. I chased another small black tip shark with my video camera,in really clear and shallow water. It finally put on the after-burner and sped away.



Getting back in the dingy was a challenge. Even though we had a rope type ladder with plastic steps, its not easy climbing back on board. We then headed back to our respective boats, which were only 500 yards away.



At 5:10 PM I headed to the dingy dock to get a water taxi to cross the pass so I could attend the 6:00 PM services on the other side. Unfortunately, the taxi service ended at 5:00 PM; and the pass was too rough for me to cross in my dingy with an electric motor. Not big enough or fast enough. I then headed back to the boat and watched the sunset with Joel and Stephen at 5:50 PM. I thought for sure that there would be a green flash, but there was not.



Dinner consisted of ham, baked potatoes, some sort of apple in syrup in a can, and French bread.



After dinner we watched the movie Saving Private Ryan. Stephen's selection. Lights out at 9:45 PM.



It appeared that maybe half of the 39 Rally boats were in Rangiroa at this time.



Brian Fox


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