Makemo, if you look in the dictionary for the definition of tropical island paradise, it will say Makemo. Imagine an island the size of Catalina, that sinks leaving nothing but a tropical reef around the edge. The lagoon in the middle is a 24 mile wide lake, 100 feet deep in most places with coral “towers” growing to the surface. Careful lookout is required but the coral heads are easy to see from the Gray Matter pilothouse.

Arriving Saturday morning at the Makemo atoll we entered through the pass one hour before slack tide on a 4 knot ebb tide, it was a bit of a wild ride, but Gray Matter was up to the task. Once inside, we surveyed the town and then headed for the northeast corner of the atoll, making a 8 mile trek down the lagoon. After sunset, the only light on shore was the airport beacon at the pass 8 miles away.

Ashore we found an old building that may have been part of a pearl farm. Hiking over to the ocean side of the reef was walking on the moon through broken coral. There was a nice forest of palm trees, and not much else.

An ancient piece of coral.

A lonely house.

A sense of isolation.

Sunday morning we weighed anchor and headed back to the pass and the village. Based on recommendations from the guidebooks, we decided to med-moor to the pier. As we approached, we could see the supply ship and two masts already at the pier. We squeezed Gray Matter between the two 30 foot sailboats, only to quickly meet the owner of the French boat. He and his wife were cruising the Pacific and found jobs here (she’s a nurse, he’s a teacher), so they stayed and are living here (in a house). He advised that “we look a little close”, and the supply ship will leave at 2pm, maybe you might want to move. We will move over to the supply ship pier later this afternoon.

First med-moor for Gray Matter.

Supply ship in action.

This is by far the biggest town we’ve seen in French Polynesia, at least 10 square blocks, so we will explore more with the bicycles.

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