Makemo

The Adventures of the Sailing Vessel Roam

Pearl float washed up on Punaruku beach, Makemo

The Tuamotu atoll of Makemo witnessed an ancient battle between the legendary Polynesian hero, Moeava, and the giant Patira. Patira was jealous of Moeava’s romantic inclinations toward Huarei, queen of the island of Tepukamaruia. The two agreed to fight it out on the island of Makemo because that’s how things went down back then. Moeava showed up early and in David-and-Goliath-esque fashion, arranged a slingshot to take out Patira when he arrived. A large, smooth stone and a shot to the head. That stone remains in the Makemo lagoon today. Not much is known about Moeava and the queen’s relationship after that, but hopefully, it worked out.

Polynesian hero, Moeava.

We sailed here from our rest stop in Tahanea in the last of a westerly weather window and spent a week traversing the lagoon. It is a beautiful atoll with friendly people—about 800 full-time residents.

We stopped first in the Punaruku anchorage for a few days to rest, walk the beach, and snorkel the nearby reef. We had it to ourselves.

After a few days, we moved on to the far southeast end of the lagoon to get a break from the southeasterly breeze. It is a big, beautiful anchorage. There is a copra shed on the beach, and we met the guys stationed there harvesting copra. They offered us coconuts to drink. Their English was as limited as our French. And, and they seemed pretty intoxicated (from what we never could figure out). But they were friendly, and we returned with some of Pam’s freshly baked cookies as a thank you for the coconuts.

Everyone in Makemo lives in the town of Pouheva. You can anchor off the town, but it can be bouncy if the wind is south of east, which it was when we were there. We hung out for a few days because the shipping schedule showed the supply ship Nuku Hao was due on Sunday. Locals we asked thought it would show up (nobody ever seems sure of these things).

We anchored off the town quay for several days waiting for the arrival of the supply ship. We hoped to restock our fresh food. The supply ship delivered lots of stuff but no fresh food. That’s how it goes out here.

The supply ship usually brings with it everything from fresh food to diesel for the generators to a new, giant outrigger canoe for the village. And indeed, the Nuku Hao did show up on Sunday afternoon. Anticipation was high. Pam and Al went ashore to stand watch in the grocery store, ready to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables. And…. Nothing. No fresh food at all. That’s how it goes.

We took that as a sign from the universe and sailed for Tahanea the next morning.

A Few Photos:

Land ho! A dawn landfall on the northwest pass of the Tuamotu atoll of Makemo. Our first time visiting.

Sunset beach walk at the Punaruku anchorage.

Napolean, Heiarii, and Ebert hold down the copra processing camp on the southeast side of Makemo. They are happy to have visitors.

Copra is made from coconuts. Processing it is hard, hot, dirty work. These guys are camped out for weeks and months at a time cracking open cocunuts and drying the copra. Copra is the main export in the Tuamotus. It’s used in cocounut oil, cosmetics, skin care products, pharmaceuticals, supplements, and animal feed.

Napolean offered to cook up some coconut crabs for us.

Snorkeling the “Swedish Reef” in the southeast anchorage. It’s named for the blue and gold coral formations (the colors of the Swedish flag). Having lived in New Orleans I’d argue for the name, “Mardi Gras Reef.”

The pros use a machete to open coconuts. It is probably best that I don’t have one. Al makes short work of it with a cordless drill. Drill a hole, insert a straw and voila! Fresh coconut water!

Pouheva, the main town, is very picturesque and well kept. Everyone we met was very friendly and happy to see us.

You have to appreciate the long arm of Coca Cola marketing and distribution. No matter where you go in the world you can find a coke.

Heading out across the lagoon. We have to keep a sharp eye out for coral formations that rise up to the surface (sailors call them “bommies”). We use a combination of visual navigation and satellite photos. Pam has the iPad with Google Earth. Al is at the helm and focuses on what is directly ahead. I often stand on top of the bimini for a better perspective. You can see a big bommie at the top of the photo.

---

Excerpts From Our Log:

Makemo

Sun Jan 19 2025 18:45 UTC. 16 30.948s 143 49.266w. Log: 5420

All is well. We are presently anchored in Punaruku Anchorage, Makemo atoll, Tuamotus. We left Tahanea at dusk and enjoy a solid beat in 10-14 knot winds and slight 3’ seas under a reefed Main and full Solent. Full daggers.

We arrived at the Makemo West Pass precisely at high slack tide just after sunrise. The low sun angle made it impossible to see the coral heads in the lagoon. We motored the 8 miles to the anchorage using google earth satellite images.

Makemo East

Wed Jan 22 2025 00:15 UTC. 16 39.341s 143 23.563w. Log: 5455

All is well. We are presently anchored on the east end of Makemo’s lagoon. We motored here from our previous anchorage. We passed through the village anchorage but found the wind direction made it uncomfortable bordering on untenable. So we motored on for calmer waters.

We went for a beach walk and met three copra farmers. They cut a coconut for us to drink and offered to cook up a coconut crab for us. Pam will bring them some homemade cookies tomorrow.

Pouheva Makemo

Thu Jan 23, 2025 21:48 UTC. 16 37.588s 143 34.267w. Log: 5466

All is well. We motored for an hour west toward the main town. We managed to tuck in behind the town quay to gain shelter from 12 knot ESE wind and fetch. Hopefully the wind will back to the ENE in the morning and smooth things out.

We found a few decent grocery stores ashore. Unfortunately all three of town’s restaurants were closed so Pam is in the galley again tonight.

The bakery has our bread order and we will be ashore in the morning to collect it.

The supply ship is slated to arrive on Sunday and hopefully we can wait for it.

—Jim

Punaruku, Makemo (again)

Tue Jan 28 2025 02:50 UTC. 16 30.908s 143 49.284w. Log: 5483

All is well. We are presently anchored back in Punaruku, 9 miles from the NW pass on Makemo. We enjoyed a three hour broad reach with Jack and a reefed main. Daggers at 1/3. The light angle wasn’t great for dodging bommies but we had saved a track on our chart plotter from last week and were able to follow that. Still, everyone is on high alert when sailing through this minefield.

We will head out of the NW pass tomorrow for the 7 hour run back to Tahanea.

—Jim

---

Comments:

Al March 10, 2025, 10:00

Love it…those warriors have evolved into the intoxicated copra guys!

Jim B March 11, 2025, 13:21

Wonderful pictures. Thanks for giving us such a vivid picture of the experience through your descriptions and visuals. Wow!