August 11, 2007 - Rangiroa

Yesterday we both had tremendous luck hunting for shells. I picked up a large branch murex, while Sten found a good size cowry of the same type as my trophy from Apataki in perfect condition. In exchange, I managed to leave some skin on the reef. What a silly way to ruin a perfect tan.

This morning we woke up with the urge to move on. It might have had something to do with the chop rolling through the anchorage, keeping us from sleeping through the night. We worked our way down the south coast of the atoll, past the Kia Ora Sauvage. It was cool to see our favorite spot from our honeymoon again.

This is a picture of the Savauge from our honeymoon. It served as both of our work computer screen savers for two years, helping to keep us focused on our goal of getting back here on our own boat.

We would have loved to stop, but unfortunately, the chop was even worse there than in our old anchorage, so we kept going. We gave it one more try on the south coast before admitting defeat. While all this wind makes for a tough night's sleep, the sailing is excellent. We screamed across the lagoon and returned to our old anchorage in front of the Hotel Kia Ora just in time for sundowners. While we were gone, a few more mega yachts arrived to class up the joint.