The atoll of Toau is mostly owned by a Chinese businessman
who runs a black pearl farm there. There is one small islet (called a motu) that is owned by one family, and is run by the formidable Valentine.
Valentine is a 40-something year-old woman, who is married to Gaston. Her sister, mother, step-father, and various nieces, nephews and cousins live on this little motu. There is a lovely spot to moor right in front of their compound. Valentine and her step-father, Philippe, guided us in safely with their small boat, and helped us tie up to a mooring ball.
Valentine runs a small restaurant and small pearl farm on their motu. She and Gaston harvest coconuts and make copra, which they take and sell in Tahiti. They catch, clean and sell fish to the ships that come weekly to a nearby atoll. She is the pastor of the church, whose congregation consists of about 5 family members. She takes care of her mother, who has had breast cancer surgery and diabetes. She takes care of the yachties who come to visit, and sends Gaston out to fish for food. She cooks, cleans, and keeps her little part of the world in order. She refuses to sell their motu to the Chinese businessman, because her father’s dying wish was that the family stay there together, forever.
Valentine and Gaston (sounds like a Disney movie) decide when the restaurant will open. We were there about 4 days, and it was only open one evening. She visited the 4 boats that were in the anchorage, and informed us that dinner was at 7:00, and the price would be $30 per person and $15 each for Molly and Jessie. There wasn’t really a choice as to whether we would attend; I think the price of the mooring buoy was that you were expected to come to dinner at least once.
There were about 20 people for dinner, and we sat at one long table and ate family style. Valentine had made Poisson Crue, crab, tuna sashimi, parrot fish with coconut breading, fresh lobster, coconut bread, and coconut cream pie. Just for me, since I am not a big seafood person, she “killed the old red rooster” and made a chicken stew served over rice.
It was fun to meet the other boaters, and find out where they had come from, and where they were heading. There was an older German couple, who left their home in Frankfurt over 7 years ago. They were on their second tour of the South Pacific, and were able to give us a lot of information about what little islands were “must-sees”. They must have been in their early seventies, and had no idea when they would stop cruising. They were still having a good time, and that is what counted.
There was a French couple there who were headed toward a new career in New Caledonia. His expertise was in ecology, and he had been hired to help some factories on that island perform their jobs in a safe and politically correct manner. He had been doing the same job on another island in the South Pacific for the past twenty years. His 2 children and wife had been living abroad (and aboard) for most of their lives.
There was a couple from Spain, who had been cruising for at least 5 years. They picked up a homeless dog in Surinam, who stayed on board their boat and barked constantly. The couple spoke 8 languages fluently. And there was us. Molly and Jessie charmed everyone at dinner, and we heard many comments about how polite and intelligent they were. Most of the cruisers thought it was sad that we only had two years to cruise, and thought we should just keep on going, right through the girls’ high school years. They thought it was terrible that we wouldn’t get to see the Mediterranean, and visit Greece and Italy by boat – “the only way to see those countries”.
Valentine sold us some of her pearls, and I traded some spices and olive oil for two very big tuna steaks. We went to church, and doubled the size of her congregation. The songs were in Tahitian and French, and she and her mother harmonized nicely.
If you think of an atoll as a pearl necklace shaped in an almost-closed circle, each pearl is called a motu. About 90 boats a year visit Anse Amoyat, which is the name of the small motu we visited. In my mind, it will always be known as Valentine’s Motu. She rules over Gaston with an iron fist, and he meekly bows to her bidding. When she says “fish”, he jumps into his boat with various family members and doesn’t come home until he has a boat load of fish. Jim went spear fishing with the boys twice, and said he never worked so hard in his life. They fished outside the atoll in the ocean, in very shallow water with steep waves. There were large sharks all around, and the fish were wiley. They seemed to know just how long the line on the spear guns would reach, and kept their distance. Jim came back exhausted, but glad that he went with some real pros.
We left Valentine’s world and sailed to Rangiroa, the last atoll we would visit in the Tuamotus. Since Rangiroa is the largest of all the atolls, we thought this would be a great place to stock up on all the items we desperately need: fuel, water, propane and food. Unfortunately, it is a very rough anchorage with none of those amenities, so we are leaving tomorrow morning and limping our way to Tahiti, where we will fill our coffers for sure. The winds are supposed to be favorable, so we may not need fuel, and we have plenty of bottled water for drinking. Who needs showers, anyway? There will be some new parts for our watermaker waiting for us in Papeete, along with a couple packages of mail and books. Yippee! Books! Plus, Jim and I will get to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in a real restaurant.
We will post pictures to our website from Tahiti. Happy June!