We left Makemo just after sunrise so we'd have lots of time to get to Tahanea. This also corresponded to slack tide so heading out of the pass wasn't too bad as there was just the current from the "overflow" effect.
We had a great sail to Tahanea with trade winds moving us nicely. Tahanea is a smaller atoll that is on the way to Fakarava. Our arrival in Tahanea corresponded to slack tide as we had planned. Coming in through the channel was a bit lumpy with all the confused waves but it wasn't too bad. We anchored in nice clear water again and could see some coral heads down below.
Malcolm was going to swim over the anchor and see whether it was set nicely. This is a pretty common practice, especially with coral heads around. Dina is very nervous about swimming with sharks. Every atoll has lots of reef sharks so she isn't going to do much swimming or she has face her fear. She decided to go with Malcolm. It would be two minutes, one out to the anchor and one back.
The anchor was fine. The reef shark looked fine too. Dina was frozen. Malcolm watched the shark swim away and heard Dina scream. Chuck and Lauri had paddled up behind us in their kayaks and Chuck's black "shark fin" shaped paddle was a foot away from her.
Even though our friends from Free Spirit had accidentally scared the heck out of Dina, we had them over for drinks and appetizers. Since we hadn't seen them in a while we just kept talking, eating and drinking and talking and drinking. Eventually we called it a night.
The next morning Dina invited Chuck and Lauri to snorkel with us. That would give the sharks other targets. It was pretty good snorkeling and Dina stayed in the water and wasn't too concerned about the two black tipped reef sharks we saw. Malcolm got a photo of one. They are looking for tasted fish, not people.
Afterwards we got ready for an overnight sail to Fakarava. Apparently the best diving in the Tuamotus is in Fakarava.
