Fakarava, Tuamotos

Monument on the way in to Fakarava

After a week in Kauehi, we headed over to Fakarava to pick up Booker's nephew, Lewis.
We did well on the pass out of Kauehi with 1 kt of current pushing us out.  We figured that 6 hours later the curent would be ingoing at the Fakarava pass.  The wind had picked up and that may have changed the dynamics of the atoll because we has 4 kts against us with 5ft standing waves.  It was kind of fun surfing a standing wave doing 1 kt.  It was a nice long ride but we didn't get anywhere.

The anchorage was windy, not good holding, had a small mooring ball that kept hitting us when the wind shifted, and had a lee shore on a coral island. Not my favorite place

Fakarava has 2 expensive grocery stores, and not much as far as restaurants are concerned.  We did some walking and headed out to Toau.

 The Fakarava Church was similar to Hauehi but bigger.  Notice the shell strung ceiling fixtures

 The only hotel that had a possibility of Happy Hour didn't start until 6PM.  Dinner had to be ordered in the morning.  Not very conducive to cruisers, but beautiful surroundings.