Tag Archives: motu

Boobies in Paradise

A boobie is a type of bird, so get your mind out of the gutter!  We discover several motus where many birds are mating for the season.  There are nests high up in trees, on the ground, and at eye level – basically everywhere!  But we of course focus on the boobies.

In the southeast corner of Toau, there are many little motus and spits of land that don’t even qualify as a motu.  We explore many of them in search of sea treasures and good photo ops.

One palm motu:  this beautiful spit of sand has one lone palm tree thriving on it.  There is not much to this motu other than the tree, but it is fun to share its small piece of paradise.

Toau Motu

Toau Motu

Three palm motu:  from afar, it looked like there were only three palm trees on this motu, but as it turned out there were about 8 bunched together.  Clearly someone is caring for them as they were well trimmed and the dead palms were removed.

Typical Motu:  covered with brush, trees, palms, and more.  This little motu had a small reef around it, lots of coral and rock.  And a surprise to us a tall wifi repeater (getting wifi from Fakarava and sending it to the pass anchorage).  Of course, we couldn’t get any wifi as we were not at either end of the repeater.

On the same motu as the wifi repeater are tons of mating birds including lots of boobies.

Boobies

We found lots of white, fuzzy baby boobies in the trees.  They are pretty easy to spot as they stick out against the green leaves.  The top left photo is of a mom still protecting her egg.

Baby Boobies

Baby Boobies

On the ground, on some bushes, and between the rocks were lots of baby bird eggs.

We were clearly disturbing the birds so we gave them a wide birth.  But even with our best efforts, they were unhappy so we left the boobies alone.

We had great fun exploring a lot of the motus in the SE corner of Toau, but it was time for us to continue SE.

Passage Toau to Fakarava

It is only 15nm from the Toau pass to the Fakarava North pass which should technically take us about 3-3.5 hours to sail.  However, the wind was not cooperating and we are had tack several times making our 15nm sail a 40+nm sail and taking well over 5 hours.  Lucky for us it was not a problem as we were trying to time slack tide at the Fakarava pass and our longer than normal jaunt worked out perfectly.

We get the hook down in time to enjoy a quick dinner at our favorite tapas place in Fakarava called Hirinaki Lounge and then we were off to bed as it had been a long day.

The  last blog we sail to and arrive in Toau and search for sea treasures.   Events from this blog post occurred mid-November.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Paradise on Puaumu

Puaumu is truly a small piece of paradise.  This little motu is located on the north end of the Gambier archipelago.  It is a private island owned by two families.  One is a friend of ours, Stephan and Manu.  Nobody lives here permanently, but the owners and their families do camp out for long weekends and holidays.

Puaumu Paradise

Puaumu Paradise

For some reason, cruisers don’t tend to come this far north so we often find ourselves alone in this beautiful, serene anchorage. Matt and I are able to cozy up to shore in between the large bommies.  Monohulls have to stay out in the deeper water as they have a long draft whereas we have a shallow draft at just over 1 meter.

Exploring the Motus

Matt and walk around the entire island which is a whopping 1nm.  It is not the distance but the terrain that make this fun.  The leeward side of the island is nice beach or small coral making it super easy to walk on during low tide.  However, the windward side of the island is covered in dead coral, large rocks, and debris making it a bit of a challenge to traverse.

We try to walk the island during each of the different tides.  When it is low tide you can walk along the water’s edge and find lots of sea treasures that wash ashore.  During medium tide you are a little higher on the coral shelf and high tide forces you up on the top of the coral shelf.  Always something new to be seen and found.

There are about a half dozen smaller motus south of Puaumu and two fairly large motus to the NW of the island.  As you might recall, Gambier is one large archipelago which has motus and small islands all around its outer edge that separate the inside lagoon from the Pacific Ocean. 

The red arrow is Sugar Shack located at Puaumu.  The two larger motus are on the top of the screen and the smaller motus are the light-yellow marks below Puaumu.  They are so small that they don’t have names.  It means that in a few decades they will be gone as they are slowly sinking into the sea.

Exploring by SUP

We are able to paddle board to a few of the smaller motus on calm days.  But the two larger ones to the NW of us require a little dinghy ride as they are about 1.5nm away.

These two motus are called Tepapuri and Teauaone.  Say those three times fast.

Motu Tepapuri

Matt and I walk around the entire motu which was about 3.5 miles over several different types of terrain ranging from sand, to small pebbles and shells, to rocks and large dead coral.

Coming around the corner of the motu sat this lone tree awaiting the rise of high tide.

A Few Good Finds

Matt found a long rope and decided to bring it back with us to make a tree swing.  It was super heavy.

I found the best treasure of all!  It is a glass pearl float.  Back in the old age (not sure how long ago, but it was a very long time ago), fisherman used glass floats.  Now they are hard plastic which is far more durable.  I am trying to talk Matt into letting me keep it so I can add it to my garden when we find ourselves on land.  Check out our next blog with more on this glass float.

Looking glass

Looking glass

We decided to take Sweetie to the edge of the reef, after we circumnavigated the motu. As we got closer, Matt had to walk the dinghy in as it was too shallow to use our outboard.  We secured Sweetie and then walked to the breaking waves where they were so clear you could see the reflection of the reef below in the curl of the wave.

We were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow after a rain shower.

Puaumu’s beauty has no limits.  I love that the water inside the lagoon is so vastly different from the water outside.

Events from this blog post occurred during March 2021.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.

Tikehau Anchorage

Tikehau Tranquility

We visited Tikehau last year and frankly, it was not one of our favorite atolls in the Tuamotus.  However, we did not really give it a fair chance.  The weather was horrid and we ended up hiding inside our boat at one anchorage during most of our stay (blog post 12/2019).  So, we decided to return to Tikehau on our way through the Tuamotus.

After our wonderful sail from the Society Archipelago, we had a smooth entrance through the pass and headed straight for our anchorage.  There is only one channel inside the lagoon which starts at the pass and ends at the village.  The rest of the lagoon is littered with bommies and small motus that pop up in random places.  In order to traverse the lagoon, you have to constantly monitor the charts and have a look out.  The photo below shows Sugar Shack at the pass anchorage (the red arrow), then the channel pink lines with red markers (that look like “i”) down to the village.

Tikehau Navionics Chart

Tikehau Navionics Chart

We ended up anchoring about 1 mile from the village at the first orange anchor. After the channel ended we navigated our way to an anchorage in front of the Pearl Beach Resort Tikehua.  Our friends on Jolly Dogs, Maple, and Moggy were here as well. 

Exploring the Motus

Matt and I had great fun exploring the surrounding motus in search of sea treasures.  Each motu is unique but they all share basic characteristics.  They are fairly flat, covered in coral, little bit of sand, and lots of coconuts.

The first motu we came to actually had this really pretty pinkish sand.  When the sun shone on the sand it would turn maroon, brown, and a little orange.  Really pretty.

In between the motus are little rivers or pools of water that flow from the Pacific to the lagoon.  Top photo shows us at one motu, overlooking the water between to another motu with the boats at anchor behind.

The water inside the Tikehau lagoon is really warm, like bath water.  Which is super fun, but not as refreshing as you’d like on a hot day.

Motu Tohuarei

After a few days at the Pearl Beach Resort anchorage we picked up the hook and headed to a new motu.  Only 3nm away, yet it feels like a new world.    This pretty little spit of land is literally in the middle of the lagoon surrounded by its own reef.

Matt breaks out the drone to give you a bird’s eye perspective.  Truly beautiful.

Tikehau Anchorage

Tikehau Anchorage

We explore the motu and snorkel all over the reef which are teaming with schools of fish and coral.

Blessed with a beautiful sunset each night.

Pass Anchorage

It was hard to leave considering we had this little motu all to ourselves.  However, it was time for us to head to the pass anchorage to prepare for our departure from Tikehau.  We took a new route across the lagoon instead of backtracking.  Sugar Shack have 3 sets of charts and me at the bow as a look out – so why not.

On the way, we passed by another little motu called Motu Mauu which would have been fun to anchor at if we had time.  Super pretty with lots of coral and fish around it.

Always on the look out for the bommies which can be small bits of land sticking out or coral heads just under the surface. The one in the photo was pretty easy to spot, but some are super hard to see if the sun is not just right.

Bommie hiding under the water surface

Bommie hiding under the water surface

7nm later we arrived to the pass anchorage where 9 other boats were located.  So much for the peace and quiet.   The good news is our friends on Hoodoo are here along with a lot of birds!

We enjoy snorkeling the pass and doing slow drifts with the incoming tide.  The pass is full of lots of fish including a huge school of barracudas, tons of puffers, a few eels, and flounders.

We are so glad we came back to Tikehau.  The tranquility of this little atoll (during good weather) was amazing.  The warm waters, friendly people, and pretty motus were wonderful to explore.

Events from this blog post occurred around the 3rd week of November, 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.