Ooooooh....scarey cloud!! This photo was taken on our way
from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus.


Here we are approaching Manihi, our first Tuamotu atoll. Notice how they
are much more difficult to spot than the Marquesas. This is why the Tuamotus
have always been called "The Dangerous Archipelego".


A view of the anchorage at Manihi atoll.


And here's Nancy on the beach at the motu we anchored behind in Manihi.


This is the reef at Manihi.


And this is another view of the reef. Notice how the Pacific swell comes
crashing against the coral and then just STOPS, making the
interior of the atolls as calm as a lake.


This is the village square at Manihi village.


And here is one of the 3 stores at Manihi village.
If we shopped at all 3 stores, we MIGHT find about 1/3 of the things we
needed for about 3 times the price of the same things in Mexico.


Walking to the ice cream shop.


Here we are at the ice cream shop.
That's the First Mate, Gerry (the ice cream man) and one of his kids,
and M.J. from "Island Sonata".


A Manihi sunset.


A new use for a radar dish: a salad bowl!


This is the pass into the atoll at Manihi.


The graveyard at Manihi village.


Here we are entering Anse Ameyot on the atoll of Toau.


And this is the anchorage at Anse Ameyot.


Manna, one of the men who work the fish traps at this motu,
invited us for a potluck where he cooked about 10 pounds of fish.


The First Mate doing what she likes best: hunting for shells on the reef.


And there she goes again!


A view of the Anse Ameyot anchorage from one of the fish cleaning sheds.


The First Mate picking out black pearls at Anse Ameyot.


This is Valentine and her grandson Steve.
Valentine and her husband, Gaston, became good friends of ours
while we visited their motu.


We had to take this picture in order to show the water color at Anse Ameyot.


Fish cleaning time at Anse Ameyot.


A HUGE Napoleon fish that was speared while this diver was tending his fish traps.


Valentine preparing poisson cru (raw fish marinated in lemon juice
and coconut milk, along with peppers, onions and garlic).


Gaston and Valentine


The First Mate, showing off a new treasure!


Eat your hearts out, all you single guys back home.
These young girls live on the motu at Anse Ameyot and would
LOVE to sail off with you to some distant land!


A view of the reef at Toau.


The Pig Farmer with his axe and coconut!


Laundry day on Gumbo Ya-Ya.


A view of the anchorage in Apataki atoll.


Here's what a coral head looks like from above the water.
These are the things you DON'T want to run into with your boat.


And here's a partially exposed coral head.


This is Mr. Assam who owns a pearl farm in Apataki.
When we went to his home to buy eggs, he cleaned
and gave us 3 really nice snapper-like fish.


These employees at the pearl farm spend every day grinding the corrosion off the oyster shells and then polishing them for eventual sale in Tahiti.


This is what the interrior of a motu looks like.
Very dense growth - almost totally unpassable.


Gumbo Ya-Ya at anchor in Apataki.


An Apataki sunset.