"...a dramatic story of life, death, and the epic struggle of man against the forces of nature....gripping....compelling....a story as spellbinding and harrowing as any novel."
So reads the blurb on the back of the book I'm reading, called 'Rescue in the Pacific' about the 1994 "Queen's Birthday" storm. It's nothing like that here and now. In fact it's very pleasant indeed. The depth sounder and radar/chart-plotter problems seem to be sorted although the GPS is still down. It should stop us getting complacent in the Tuamotus which are almost entirely made up of coral atolls and reefs.
The idea now (according to my in-house tour guide) is to go first to the atolls of Manhini and Ahe. A lot of pearls come from these areas apparently. Then we are going to Rangiroa, maybe for some diving. It says in the 'Lonely Planet' guidebook that in one of the main villages on Rangiroa, around the middle of the day you could safely fire a gun and not hit anyone. We'll see. There might be a few 'popaa' about in the midday sun. 'Popaa' are westerners like us.
11:20.13S 140:49.60W Happy Hour, Wednesday 2 April, 330 miles from landfall
at Manhini
M