13 May

Yesterdays "notes" from Callisto:

We have been in the village of Avatoru on the atoll of Rangiroa for the past few days. The 150 mile sail down here was a little different from what we have become used to with squalls and rain and either no wind or 30 kts from all different directions and this kept us busy with sail changes for most of the trip. We even had to motor for a few hours during a calm spell. The entrance to Rangiroa was quite easy despite a 3.5 kt current against us in the pass into the lagoon. Once inside, there is again flat calm in a vast inland sea and we are anchored up off the main village of Avatoru which is a little bigger than Fakarava but not much. Rangiroa is one of the larger atolls at least 20 miles long and we have been diving on the reef at the pass to lagoon entrance. The water is an impossible blue and the clarity is the best we have seen. It's like swimming in an aquarium, especially with the sun overhead. We saw thousands of species of fish, rays and reef sharks and we'll probably dive every day untill we leave.
An added attraction here this week is a series of canoe races and fishing tournaments for the whole of French Polynesia all happening about 50 yards from Callisto so we have a grandstand view of the proceedings. Yesterday was the single man canoe race over an 8km distance. There were 51 entries for a first prize of $2200. Today is the inshore and offshore fishing competition and tomorrow is the highlight 6 man, open ocean canoe race from Rangiroa to the nieghboring atoll of Tikehau (about 25 miles). This is a big deal with teams from Hawaii and Samoa competing for a prize of $11,000.
Lots of people in the village this week and the local reporter from the Papeete newspaper is due to come out to the boat to do an interview with us. Still no internet for photos but I'll try from Papeete next week.