Bye Bye Tuamotus! Hello Tahiti!

Well this morning we waved goodbye to the Tuamotus as we set sail on a one to two-day passage to Tahiti. We hope to get there in time for the Tahiti Moorea Sailing Rendez-vous which starts this Friday and brings together many of the boats that crossed the Pacific this season. It should also be a great opportunity to bring together lots of kid boats!

The Tuamotus have really been a highlight and I know we could have easily spent longer here. The snorkeling and diving were spectacular. I have never seen so much live coral and swimming with many sharks was exciting. The real highlight however was swimming with giant Manta Rays. These animals are amazing to watch, can have wing spans as wide as 10 feet and seem to be from another world. They would swim right up to us and around us and I was even able to touch one. I have heard stories of people even riding them but, we did not as they did not seem that receptive. We've been told that they will let you know if you can ride them though not yet sure how they share that information with us! I shared with Danielle and Harrison that that day of snorkeling might be the best they will ever have as very few people have the opportunity to see these animals let alone swim with them.

Getting to Papeete will be quite an adjustment for us. Since leaving Mexico in early April we have either been on uninhabited islands or very rural islands with populations ranging from 100 to 2000 people. Papeete, with a population of over 150,000 people will be quite an adjustment, though we are looking forward to it. Danielle, in particular as she is hoping to go see the last Harry Potter movie which she tells us is now out.

That is all for now,

Michael (in the Pacific, enroute to Tahiti)
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At 6/22/2011 20:42 (utc) our position was 16°13.63'S 146°37.68'W

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