Hi Guys,
It had to
happen ! After all the other stuff and nonsense we've had......we feel we
deserved it...... a Great day! After a
calm and gentle night, we woke up to a lovely sunny morning, and a bay full of
feeding Manta Rays, winging their way around all the yachts at anchor. Mary and
Rod went out in the dinghy to observe them, and to try and obtain a couple of
shots of them with their wing tips breaking the surface, as they do, looking like a pair of sharks. After a while
Steve joined us in his dinghy.he had been on his way to snorkel around the
other headland, and so had his kit on board. So we pooled our resources, and
decided to go for a swim with the mantas, and film them. Steve went first, and
after about 10 minutes he returned to the dinghy, and we swapped over. It was
really special to be able to swim amongst these giant rays, as they glide by so
effortlessly, flapping their wings slowly, and then gliding, rather like
pelicans. They were oblivious of our presence, and only turned away at the last
moment if we happened to be on their flight path!
We were
later joined by some other yachties, who could see that they posed no threat,
and were content to stick around feeding on the red plankton , with their wide open mouths, and purpose shaped fins, out like scoops. They stayed around for
a few hours, giving everyone a very special experience. I was relieved to see
that nobody tried to invade their space, crowd them,or do something silly.
People just marveled at their size, and grace. When we eventually get home,
and start putting some of the footage together for one of the "Journey of
Sheer Tenacity" clips, I can see us choosing "Swan Lake " as the
back ground music!
The weather
still looks good for us to do an overnighter from here to Nuka Hiva, so we
intend to leave just after lunch tomorrow, aiming for a morning arrival in
Taiohae Bay, where once again, we will have to set a stern anchor so that we
face into the swell which enters the bay. Scott Free will probably do a stop
over at Ua Pou, but we feel we could spend the 2 days getting our sail repair
under way, and they will catch up with us again in Nuka Hive again. And probably
tell us about the Amazing Ua Pou we missed..... What can we say,but Oh Poo!!
Tonight we
have arranged to have sundowners with an Italian couple, Marizia and Alesandro,
who were part of our line handling team for our Panama Transit. Alesandro hurt his wrist on Sheer Tenacity,
while Marizia was on Scott Free. They have just arrived here on their own big
steel boat, after doing their own Panama crossing, stopping at Galapagos, and
doing the 3000 mile "puddle jump" to the Marquesas. We also met up
with Jean and Alan Ward, on their yacht Tuatara. They were the New Zealand
couple we met in DesHais Guadeloupe, and again after we both sailed to Antigua.
They are now just a short hop away from completing their circumnavigation, and
have a wealth of experience to share about NZ, where to go there, how best to
see the country etc, quite apart from all their local knowledge about
Fiji,Tonga, Samoa as well! Guess we will
be sharing a beers together before then!
One better
day!
Love and regards to all, Rod and Mary
No comments:
Post a Comment