Jun 17
Paradise . . .
. . . is a naked girl floating in a crystal clear lagoon with no other humans within 50 miles!
POST DATED
(written 6/12)
We entered the lagoon at Tahanea without incident; like Makemo, we experienced about a 2knot flood which zipped us right through the narrow pass. When we arrived there was one other boat a half-mile distant; they left later that afternoon, leaving us with another lagoon all to ourselves. And again, it was glorious. The water was crystal clear–we could see the bottom to at least 200 feet.
The next day we dinghied over to another pass that was narrowed by reefs on either side, and we snorkeled alongside the dinghy, drifting with the current pulling us back into the lagoon. It was acres of aquarium, perfectly clear, colorful fish of all sorts that I can’t identify.
We had two days of perfect calm, where the water went glassy; each night the stars were clearly reflected in the surface of the water. We were the only ones anywhere. We took the dinghy into the middle of the lagoon to watch the sunset, everything was perfectly still. A bold little 4ft shark circled the dinghy as if he was going to do something about it. I cannot give words for the quality of the sunset that evening. We slept in the cockpit, woke to the sun warming us, jumped right into the water to cool off.
June 18th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Excellent photos! Sure glad you have those mast steps. Now does all that preparation and hardship seem a little more worthwhile? You guys definitely EARNED this trip. (By the time you return they will be releasing iPhone26 which will feature the South Pacific transport app with a rotating dial to select which island you want to be beamed to.)
June 18th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Beautiful absolutely gorgeous……….
Do you have a camera attached to the top of the mast?
William and Amanda
June 18th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
definitely more worthwhile 🙂
June 18th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
william–
nah, we have mast steps that let me climb up for photos (or to jump off the spreaders into the water, when I’m looking for a bit of excitement to wake me up)
June 28th, 2010 at 7:24 am
Hello Matt & Karen, I am so glad to have taken the time to get the updates on your progress after crossing the big pond. I like the Tattoo, and read with great interest your adventures. Those NoNo’s are particularly haunting a fine example of those Little Things In Life that can have such an uncomfortable impact. Were the Nono’s bite a challenge to your natural antibodies? Red Ant bites in this part of the south automatically become infected and usually leave a scar that lasts up to two years. FYI Deb and I wish you well on your journey and look forward to the updates, sorry if I have missed other’s that I have not come across since today is 6/28/10. How did the BBQ goat turn out?
John & Deb
June 28th, 2010 at 7:25 am
Left you with wrong email address….here is the correct spelling jrobx@charter.net
July 6th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Hi there, beautiful photos. What Internet connection are you guys using out there?
July 6th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Excellent Photos Matt! Love the one from the top of the mast. Wish I could take my girl and we could sail and frolic around naked. 🙂 Looks fun!