Two At Sea

August 26 – September 14, 2013

We spent about 3 weeks in this beautiful anchorage. This may seem like a long time, but we had several windy days that kept us on the boat. We were learning firsthand that anyone who plans a trip to Fulaga should allow enough time for those enhanced tradewind days when you need to hole up. During this time, we rather enjoyed these “snow days” on the boat, although two in a row might bring on some cabin fever.

When the winds were down, we enjoyed further exploring the area, a few more snorkeling excursions, spending time with our friends on Bright Angel, and getting to know some of our neighbors in the anchorage.  (You can click to enlarge/scroll through the galleries below.)

Here, we seemed to naturally wake up very early and enjoyed having our coffee in the cockpit. The combination of cloud cover and pre-dawn light made this a beautiful pastel world, the water changing from cornflower blue to powdery greens and teals. The beaches glowed white, the sandspit especially striking against the colors of the water. We could often hear the distant rumble of ocean waves crashing on the reef outside the atoll.

In the evening we’d return to our cockpit for sundowners and watch the sunset colors, much more fiery than those of sunrise.

This anchorage turned out to be a great place to ride out one particularly windy period we had. We knew it was coming and wondered if we should move back to the more-protected anchorage near the village, but in the end we decided having miles of room and a nice sand bottom was a good bet. We were right; even when the wind got to 30 knots we were comfortable. –Cyndi

September 2013

The standout feature of the Sandspit Anchorage is, of course, the sandspit itself. Covered at high tide, it starts to reveal itself more and more as the tide goes out. Low tide makes for a spectacular walk on the spit, going way out into a sea of shallow blue water. Beautiful! Below, a gallery from our walks (click to enlarge and scroll). –Cyndi

August 29, 2013

Today we did more exploring in the lagoon. As the crow flies, it’s not that big, less than four miles across at its widest point. But along with the vast stretches of sand and shallow water are groups of motus, small rock islands. They range in size, some no larger than a boulder, while others are large enough to have their own beach (even multiple beaches). Sometimes a group’s islets are small and widely spaced, while others have formed a world unto themselves with a maze of waterways, hidden pools and beaches. I have no idea how long it would take to explore all these groups, but I have a theory that if a person were really determined, they could discover a new beach for each day of the year in these islets.

There was an intriguing group of motus near the pass we named Shark Pool. We took the dinghy over along with our gear. While the snorkeling wasn’t impressive, being in the water here was magical! Swimming in the clear, shallow, blue-green water amidst these rock islets was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While there are a few places on earth like this, they’re rare, and we’d been fortunate to visit this one.

Below, a gallery of photos from our motu swim; you can click to enlarge and scroll. –Cyndi

August 28, 2013

In the shallow lagoon between the sandspit and the rim of the atoll, the water would change color with the ebb and flow of the tide, the passing of clouds overhead, or the wind as it rippled across the water. The shades of blue were endless.

Looking at the multitude of pictures taken here as the water changed color, I’m sure there were at least 50 shades of blue, but I’ve pared it down to a gallery of 9 favorites (click on images to enlarge and scroll through them). I believe that, for many of us, seeing colors like this is good for the soul. I know it’s good for mine. –Cyndi

August 28, 2013

Today we went out to explore the snorkeling in the area, deciding to start with the beautiful blue pool we’d discovered earlier. It was just a matter of landing on the beach nearby and carrying our stuff since the walk wasn’t very long.

I didn’t think that pool could get any bluer, but today the breeze would catch the water and send a cascade of neon purple-blue ripples across its rich blue surface. With the low tide, there was plenty of white sand to set off those shades of aqua, cerulean, and electric blue. I’d put this on my “Small Wonders of the World” list, places which lack size and grandeur but are still remarkable. I could have watched the show of blues all day, but we were here to snorkel and headed into the water.

In the pool we found some large butterfly and surgeon fish, but they were pretty sparse. We decided to check out another pool further up, and while there were more fish there, we thought we could do better. There was a gap in atoll, and right outside was the large, well-protected area of water between the atoll and the reef that surrounds it. We expected that area to be teeming with life, but it would be a challenge to get there: we’d have to swim against the incoming current to get through the gap.

We tried and found that by staying under the ledge at one side, we could just make our way through. Outside, the water was well protected, dropping to maybe 10 feet deep. There were lots of coral formations, but most of the fish seemed to enjoy living amid the rocks along the wall of the atoll. They were large in size and number, including the biggest Picasso triggerfish we’ve ever seen.

We drifted along the outside wall of the atoll, not worried about getting back in because there were more gaps ahead. We soon spotted a large gap and headed that way. There we discovered the sort of snorkeling we’d hoped to find: a beautiful area with large rocks, huge coral formations, canyons, pillars and a lot of fish. (There was one pillar that looked like something out of a Disney fantasy, not like anything I’d ever seen.)

We let the current carry us in through the pass, and it felt like flying over a cliff above a small canyon full of fish and rock formations. The fifteen-foot depth made for darker blues and greens here, its own magical world. On the bottom rested a nurse shark, and from then on we called this “Shark Pool.”

Of course we wanted to go though this pass again and again; so we found a spot where we could find handholds in the coral to pull ourselves through the strong current of incoming water. It took some effort, but once we were through we could turn and ride the current in again, me flying over the pool from above while Rich went deeper, close above the canyon floor.

We got some video which doesn’t come close to doing this place justice, only getting snippets of the experience, but you can get the idea. I added on a bit of video from a small batch of coral in the lagoon. Mostly that area has sand bottom, but any patch of coral has its own fish community, much like this one. –Cyndi