Kauehi/Toau

This morning we are gliding through the incredibly blue water at about 3.5 knots on our way to either Kauehi or Toau with Legend II, new cruising friends, from New Zealand; they are very fun to adventure with. Yesterday afternoon, after anchoring in the most amazingly clear aqua water ever, Verner and Kathy picked up Robert, Kelita, David and I in their dinghy and we went into the village of Takaroa for a bit of exploring. It is a very poor village of pretty run-down little shacks, full of smiling locals reliant on pearl farming, which I believe doesn't bring them much. Life is definitely simple but the many children we encountered were full of energy and joy as they played futbol in the streets and rode bikes together. Plumeria trees are abundant with various colored fragrant flowers and cocoa palms sway in the breeze. The surrounding water is ladened with sea life but even the locals are very cautious about which fish they eat and how much, due to the coral reef disease of ciquatera, called la gratte in French, meaning the itch. It is better for cruisers to catch the mahi-mahi or yellowfin tuna on route between atolls, so that is what we are attempting to do. Unfortunately, Captain David just recently hooked a huge mahi and because his reel and line were too light, after a bit of a fight and having to stop him from taking all of the line, we lost him. Part of the problem was not being able to slow down while having the spinnaker flying, but the light weight tackle was also an issue; Captain Dave was definitely bummed! We are now using our drag line and hoping for the best. David and I both dropped into the pristine water to check the anchor and chain, before leaving, and were in awe of the clarity and color of fish and coral beneath Sidewinder. Off to our next Tuamotu adventure and the excitement of diving in these waters. Wish we had our underwater camera with us but look forward to the package waiting for us in Tahiti down the way.