Ahé

Leaving Manihi was a sport.  We let 2 squalls and their related 25-28kt gusts pass over us until we decided to raise anchor, with just over an hour to spare before slack water at the pass.  The question was, how was our 150-lb Raya anchor doing?  Was it stuck in one of the "bommies" surrounding us?  Was our 1/2" chain wrapped around a coral head? The only way to know was to put the windlass to work.  Slowly, JP maneuvered us towards the anchor (he always sets a MOB point on the electronic chart when we drop anchor) while the Maxwell 4000 took the chain in... to the 1st floater... good... to the second floater: hiccup, grind, but finally loose... now to the anchor, but the big Maxwell complained... uh-oh... deftly, JP maneuvered to port--no dice-- to starboard--no dice-- ahead... and pop went the chain-anchor load, finally free.  Phew!  One anchor up!  We got to the pass 30 minutes before our calculated slack water and since it was flat as a pancake we decided to go through.  Yeah! One full "lagoon cycle"--as we count them-- of enter-anchor-raise-and-exit without damage.

Ahé is Manihi's twin atoll, about 29 NM of navigation, but only 9 miles from coast to coast as the crow flies.  We dodged squalls the whole way, yet we were determined to catch a fish by trolling the lee side (west coast) of the atoll.  A good thing too that rewarded us with a 24-lb wahoo. We were 90 minutes early at the pass but with squalls coming at us and the wind ramping up already at 20 knots, we decided to go in: it looked a lot better in the pass than outside!  JP throttled Big D up and we went in, taking care of staying away from the fish parks and other traps peppering the pass on the lagoon side.  A sharp starboard turn took us into the channel to the village but I never left the deck.  It's not the "bommies" and other coral heads you have to worry about; it's the pearl buoys.  These round floaters encroach into the channel without shame, barely visible in the water, especially in any kind of chop... and chop we had!

The anchorage at the village (South 14°32.20 - West 146°21.434) is a lagoon inside a lagoon, protected from all sides.  Still, nasty bommies (coral columns) dot the northern end of the anchorage.  Nervous, we scanned-and-dove them: 5 feet is too close for comfort!  Re re-anchored a bit closer to the dock South 14°32.217- West 146°21.43.  Problem was, when the supply boat "Mareva Nui" showed up the next day, we were asked to clear the anchorage!

Supposedly, Ahé is the capital of pearl farms, the lagoon being praised for its water quality.  So, we decided to visit a pearl farm.  There, we got the story: mom-and-pop farm where oysters are seeded with large nuclei of low quality produce a pearl of low quality.  We politely declined to purchase a lot of 15 pearls for only $100.  No wonder that most of the pearl farms have closed down! 

Navigating the Ahé lagoon is confusing.  Whereas the general rule of navigation inside the lagoons is to keep the green marks to starboard while navigating counter-clockwise, it's not so in Ahé.  Its TRICOVERT (Tribord/Vert = Starboard/Green) on both sides of the pass!  In Ahé, you will find green marks to starboard from the pass to the village (going east) AND green marks to starboard between the pass and the airport (going west.) This kind of makes sense since the western side leads from the pass to the airport and is not very close to the reef...  We sure were glad that Frank pointed that out to us.  "Call me on VHF10 when you get to the last red mark and I'll guide you in," proposed the restaurateur.  And well he did because, as a squall caught us by surprise while underway in the lagoon, we really could not see much in the pouring rain and 30 knots of white foam coming at us!  We anchored close to the beach, finding a clear blue spot between massive coral heads and suspending our chain on fenders as usual. 

Cocoperle Lodgeis one of the most searched-after destinations in the Tuamotus.  Frank and Jeanine are marvelous hosts.  A life-long restaurateur, "patissier, confiseur, chocolatier," Frank's table is a marvel.  Jeanine takes pride in creating an atmosphere of relaxed refinement, while it is evident that both of them care immensely for their atoll, its fish, its shells, and its native forest.

Fishing, of course, is Frank's passion.  His clients return year after year to go on fishing expeditions.  Generous with his knowledge, Frank gave JP a private lesson on fishing techniques, lure selection and placement, and we'll see if our catch improves.

Jeanine, meanwhile, is a marvelous cook and we celebrated JP's birthday with a memorable dinner of home-smoked Wahoo, dumplings of Parrotfish in Pencil-Urchin sauce, home-grown baby butter lettuce (in the Tuamotus, this is a true luxury), and a dessert of a sumptuous chocolate-guayava tart with mango-banana sherbet.  Now, that was yummy!  Wine? There is a winery in Rangiroa which produces some decent white wine, but we abstained, JP happy to just nurse a chilled Hinano "ambree," the dark-side of the original Tahitian Hinano.

La Forêt Primaire - The Native forest in Ahé is a surprise.  Who knew that such a lush, cool forest existed in the atolls?  Long ago, all the atolls of the Tuamotus were covered with a green forest of tall trees, bushes and low brush, native while flowers that only bloom at night and whose perfume is much sweeter and stronger than the Tiaré.   We dinghied over to walk under the tall fronds and were just in awe.  How sad that some 150 years ago the missionaries eradicated all the forests to plant coconut groves, now gone wild and untended.  We can only hope that a conservation group will try to save one of the only 3 small forests in the Tuamotus. 

Dive N'Co (tel: 25-51-85) - VHF Ch 10 - Just one "motu" (small sand island) away from CocoPerle, Gilles & Cathy are establishing a dive operation.  This dynamic couple is doing what many cruisers dream of doing.  After more than 10 years providing diving charters on their own sailboats, from the Caribbean to Panama and French Polynesia, Gilles & Cathy have found the atoll where they want to settle.  They are the perfect complement to Coco Perle, yet independent from them.  Gille's reputation as a supreme divemaster has spread through the cruising community and we were actually looking for him, thinking we would find him in Fakarava.  Well, he has settled in Ahé and JP took advantage of the encounter to dive the pass.  DiveN'Co is a work in progress, about to become a haven for cruisers, complete with dive club, snack, Internet and laundry service.  Yes, one can anchor right in front of their motu!  And, if you come from the Marquesas, please bring them a bag of good soil since they are planning on growing their own!