Tag Archives: dada

Seahorse Island

Gambiers Beauty

After several days of hosting people onboard Sugar Shack, partying, and eating like royalty, we needed to decompress!  We also needed to make water, do laundry, and scrub the boat. So, we headed to the North part of Gambiers.

On the way we passed by “Sea Horse” island…can you guess why?  Of course, in a month it will be called something different as the tree will grow and the shape will change…but still it was cool when we saw it.  It’s only in the Gambiers that we see shapes in the trees.  So pretty!

Seahorse Island

Seahorse Island

Our first stop was Two-Palm island.  When we first came to this anchorage there were three palm trees on the motu and we called it Three Palm Island (in April 2019).  One of the palms lost its top so we renamed it Two Palm Island in March 2020.  However, when we arrived in January 2021 there was only one palm tree left.  Not sure how their tops keep getting blown off, but they do.  It still does not take away from the beauty of this anchorage!

One palm island

One palm island

We took advantage of the crystal-clear water and spent 2 days making water, doing laundry and cleaning the boat.  We replenished the house batteries, filled the water tanks, and cleaned the water line. Whew!  And this is our “resting period.”

It was so nice to be back in gorgeous water!  We paddle boarded, swam, snorkeled, and enjoyed lots of water time.

After a few days it was time to meet up with some of our cruiser friends as we were taking them on a pearl farm tour.

Pearl Farm Tour: Dada

Matt and I took 3 other boats on a tour of Dada’s Pearl Farm.  It was Eve from “Auntie,” Seavett and Anaka from “Major Tom” and Russell, Kate, Choloe, Felix and Hugo from “Katherine De Fuego.”  We all anchored across the lagoon just north of Totegegie.  This is the closest anchorage to his pearl farm.  We then hopped in two dinghies and made the 1.5 nm trip across the lagoon to his pearl farm. 

I did not take a lot of photos or document what we saw because I have written about Dada’s Pearl Farm in past Gambiers posts (click here or here) to read more.  We picked a day with light wind and no swell so the journey across the lagoon would be easier and it was!

Everyone had great fun and learned a lot about farming, harvesting, and seeding pearls.

Dada's Pearl Farm Tour

Dada’s Pearl Farm Tour

Taravai Visit

We visited our good friends Valerie, Herve, Alan, and Ariki on Taravai for a few days where they showered us with love.  We had a wonderfully tasty lunch with them and enjoyed the anchorage all to ourselves.  The next day we had them over for lunch on Sugar Shack.

Valerie, Herve, Alan, Ariki

Valerie, Herve, Alan, Ariki

Matt captured some beautiful photos of the anchorage.  This is a photo looking out toward the main pass into the Gambiers lagoon.

Gambiers Pass

Gambiers Pass

This photo shows the beautiful reef

Taravai Anchorage

Taravai Anchorage

And this amazing drone shot shows the entire bay with the mountain reflecting on the water. Valerie and Herve’s house is in the middle of the bay – can you see it (to the right of the church)?

Taravai

Taravai

Taravai

Taravai in Gambiers

Stefan took us to his friend’s house where he runs a little pension (hotel) for island visitors.  They had a beautiful view.  It is called Pension Maro’i.

Pension Maro'i

Pension Maro’i

Spoiling wrotten

For many years I have dreamed of owning a long strand of pearls.  A strand so long that you could wrap it around your neck twice or wrap around your wrist.  But it is hard to pull the trigger on something like that when you are not bringing in the bacon.  I’ve looked at strands all over French Polynesia and the prettiest, most colorful pearls, with the most luster, at the most reasonable prices are here in Gambier.

When we first arrived I did not buy anything because it was our first stop in FP and I wanted to shop around to see if I could find better prices.  The second time I came back to Gambier it was covid and I did not want to spend money during the “unrest.”  Here we are the third and most likely final time and I think I am going to do it. I will just have to eat top ramon for the next 6-months 🙂

I found a long, single strand of pearls that had an amazing variety of colors on small pearls with lots of luster.  Most of the pearls are huge and don’t look well on me.  They look great on the Polynesians!  This particular strand had 130 pearls in near perfect condition.  Not 100% flawless, but colorful, with lots of luster, round, and all the same size.  The photos do not do it justice, but it is what it is.

Plan B?

But then I saw this beautiful, one of a kind creation that was 40% less expensive.  I tried them both on, looked at them in and out of the sun and asked my friends for their opinions.  If you zoom in you can see the gorgeous colors. The two outer strands are purple and pink, the two inner strands are green and blue and the center strand is pearl.  Simply gorgeous.

Funny thing is I knew what I wanted, I just couldn’t pull the trigger because it was more expensive than I wanted to spend (I am unemployed after all).  I was searching for the 2nd best thing which I knew would not make me as happy. In the end, I was able to negotiate the price of the long strand pearl necklace down.  I bought the one I loved and wanted and am thrilled to pieces.

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

Harvesting French Polynesian Pearls

Pearl lovers will be intrigued by how French Polynesian pearls are harvested.  Last year, we learned a lot when we visited Dada’s pearl farm on the east side of Mangareva (see post).  This year I organized another pearl farm tour with a fresh batch of cruisers.  Lucky for us, they were harvesting the pearls so it was perfect timing.

We were anchored in the far NE corner of the Gambiers archipelago – near an island called Puaumu.  We had cruisers from 4 other boats join us on Sugar Shack where we made a short motor to the north side of Totegegie which is closer to the pearl farm.  From there we jumped in 2 dinghies and made our way across the lagoon to the pearl farm which was about 1.6 nm away.

Dada and his brother own the house (or shack) above the water, but they lease the space in the water.  Yep, they have to pay rent to have this facility in the water.  In addition, they rent the space where they farm their pearls which is about 3-5 miles away from their processing facility.

Dada's Pearl Farm

Dada’s Pearl Farm

Dada is an excellent teacher, tour guide, and host.  He speaks English wonderfully and has been featured in several magazines. 

The Process

Dada grows some of his oysters from babies.  However, he also has to supplement his stock by purchasing young oysters from “growers.”  These young oysters are placed in round netting in shallow water so they can be monitored as they grow.  After 3/5 months they are considered mature enough for the next phase.

Harvesting begins next.  The divers retrieve the nets and bring them to the processing facility (blue house over the water).  They are pressure washed and then expertly opened a smidge where a divider is placed.  Dada had two people doing this process.  You have to be very careful not to damage the oyster.  There is only a very small area on the oyster that can be opened.

Opening and inserting the dividiers

Opening and inserting the dividers

The prepped oysters are then moved to the “seeders.”  Dada’s seeders are actually stuck in China due to the virus so he had to rent seeders from another pearl farmer.  Harvesting is very specific to timing.  If Dada could not find seeders, he would stand to risk losing his harvest.

Harvesting

Harvesting is a meticulous job.  The workers arrive around 0800 and work until the days harvesting is done (usually around 5p-6p).  They work 5 days a week which doesn’t sound bad, but it is exhausting in its perfection.

The seeder takes the oyster shell with a divider in it and places it in a clamp.  Using long, skinny tools, they exam the oyster and check for sickness and colors. If the oyster is healthy, they will insert a nucleous to start the pearl process.  The nucleous is made of shell and comes in various sizes.  The nucleous’ are the little white balls in lower photo.  If you zoom in on the top photo you can see the pearl in the oyster’s pocket.

Insertion of nucleous & nucleous

Insertion of nucleous & nucleous

The divider is then removed and the shell is placed in a bucket.  Once the bucket is full, another worker comes in and ties the oyster back to the pocket nets and prepares it for the submersion process.

Seeding the Pearls

There were two seeders.  One was doing the initial seed (with the young oysters) and the other was doing a second seed.  The second seed removes the nucleous which is now covered in a pearl outer shell and inserts another nucleous the same size as the original pearl.  The pearls on the black cloth are sellable pearls.  The three blue buckets represent varying degrees of quality of pearls.  The white balls on the lower photo are nuclei waiting to be added.  A seeder can harvest between 700-900 pearls a day.  Imagine that tedious work over and over and over for 5 days a week, 10 months a year.

Tools of the Trade for the seeder

Tools of the Trade for the seeder

Oysters inside colors start to become more vibrant with the sun.  The colors of the shell are indicative of the colors of the pearl.  The 7-pocket nets with the newly seeded oysters are labeled with colored thread, and submerged 4-5 meters under the water for 18 months.  They are taken out every 3 months to be washed and cleaned to ensure healthy growth.  Typically, the oysters will only be out of the water for 45 minutes.

Using Every Part of the Oyster During Harvesting

Every single part of the oyster is used.  The pearl, the oyster (meat), the shell.  The meat is sold to locals who eat it. The shells are sold in bulk to buyers (usually China) who make buttons and jewelry.  The top photo is a bag full of shells being shipped to China.  The bottom photo are the broken shells that will be sold to different buyers.

Inside of the Oyster

Dada showed us the inside of the oyster which has 5 parts.  Top photo:  1 is the sack where the pearl grows.  It excretes the stuff that coats the nuclei and creates the pearl.  2: is the part of the oyster that grows from the inside of the shell to the outside.  It allows the oyster to “stick” on to other things like coral or rocks.  3: is the main part of the oyster that is edible raw.  Yep, I tried it!  4: is the part of the oyster that can be edible if prepared properly (we did not eat this part).  5: is the pearl.

Inside the oyster shell

Tools of the Trade for the seeder

The Oyster Business

Dada’s expenses as a pearl farmer:

  • Pays Tahiti rent for the water space under his pearl processing house (annual)
  • Tahiti is paid rent for the water where his oysters are placed inside the lagoon (annual)
  • $2500 per seeder (monthly
  • Transportation (to and from China), housing, food, and daily transport (annual)
  • Local workers including divers, boat drivers, pressure washers, and cleaners/openers
  • Shipping of pearls back to Tahiti to be evaluated.

Sure is an expensive to run a pearl farm.  Especially when you consider that only 40-50% of the oysters produce a sellable pearl and only 20-25% produce “quality” pearls.  Usually they sell their pearls in bulk to China or Japan which reduces the price even further. 

Right now, Dada’s pearl farm is generating 60,000 pearls.  Normally, he will produce 100,000 pearls a year so things are tight due to the virus.

Pearls are judged on their color.  French Polynesian pearls are known for their dark colors.  Deep blues, greens and purples.  The light-colored pearls are not desirable.  The pearl is also ranked by shine / luster and quality (lack of indents, marks, lines).  The final evaluation is the thickness of the pearl.  The distance from the outside to the nucleous.  This is done with a machine and not the naked eye. 

Makes you appreciate your pearls a little more.

An Abundance of Junk Pearls

Dada had invited us to visited him at his home in Rikitea.  So, a few weeks after our pearl farm visit, we met him onshore.  He had bags and bags and bags of pearls all over the place.  Most were considered “junk pearls” and are not sellable. But to us they were lovely.  He brought 5 or 6 bags of the junk pearls for us to come through.  There were thousands of pearls to go through and it was over whelming.

Bags and bags of discarded pearls

Bags and bags of discarded pearls

We had Dada turn a few of our pearls into jewelry which allowed us to watch yet another step in the life of a pearl. 

  • First, he expertly reviews he pearl to determine where to put the pendant hook. Usually he covers up an imperfection.
  • Next the pearl is placed in the grips and a thin drill is slowly guided to the desired location.
  • The pendant hook or earring backing is placed in the hole to ensure the depth is correct.
  • The pendant hook or earring backing is glued into place.
  • Vice grips are secured around the pearl to let the glue dry.
  • 5 hours later the jewelry is completed.
Dada creating some jewelry

Dada creating some jewelry

The group from left to right: Chris, Neils, Lynette, Me, Dada, Elainise, Missy, Yanell, Floris, Ivar, Fred and Jacques.