Day 47 Too much adrenaline

"Two" close for comfort
The guide book reminds sailors that the Tuomotos are atolls that may only be a few feet above sea level. The highest point is often the tops of the palm trees thus they may only be visible from a few miles away. This is a big change from Isles Marquises that tower thousands of feet above the sea and are visible from over 40 miles away.
Not long after sun-up we spotted the rough outline of land on the horizon. Without the GPS it would be very difficult to see which outline was our destination. Finally we were able to pick out Manihi and to see the separation between it and its neighbors.
As we approached closer we saw birds flocking near the water so we put out the fishing gear and headed for the birds. As we passed through the flock, we had a large strike and quickly lost one lure. After tying on a new one, we headed back through the flock. This time Andy wanted to be the one to land any fish we caught. His wish was granted quickly as the pole bent down with a new fish. Andy fought him to boat and got him close enough to see that it was a nice tuna but at the last moment, the fish dove under the boat and got away.
With that piece of business out of the way, we headed for the pass into the atoll. We had read all of the instructions we had available and determined the best time when the tide would be slack (between one flow and the next). As it turns out, our calculation was not correct. To complicate matters, just before we approached the entrance, a squall passed by and the sea was stirred up with whitecaps. Mark steered past the entrance and then turned East so we were virtually surfing on the incoming waves. Under engine power, Southern Star can do about 6 knots through the water but with the strong following sea we were doing over eight.
The pass is very narrow and there is coral on both sides so the entrance is tricky under the best of circumstances.
As we entered the narrowest part, suddenly we saw a large dump truck on a flat barge coming toward us. Could we have both made it? We will never know because at the last moment, the barge turned off and was out of our way.
Just as our hearts began beating again; we squirted through the pass and all we could see around us was the bright aquamarine of shallow water. There was no place to go so Mark headed straight at the orange mid-channel marker. As we passed the shallowest part, the depth gauge read just a little over 7 feet. Our draft is approximately 5 feet. Two feet to spare is too close for comfort.
Immediately, the depth began to increase quickly until it reached around 60 feet and we were safely in the atoll. Mark went below for a change of underwear and came topside again to guide us to safe anchorage.
No Regrets was anchored close to the only village and about one-quarter mile from the entrance. After a little exploring, we finally joined them. We were the only two sailboats in the lagoon. We later learned that the last boat to visit was 3 weeks ago.
The view around the atoll was very unique. The 17 mile length is long enough so you cannot see the other side. The shore is only 300 feet wide and while it is relatively calm in the lagoon, the sea on the other side may be surging. It is easy to see that if the ocean rises from global warming, many of these atolls will disappear. The lagoon itself is multicolored - dark blue where the water is deep, aquamarine where it is shallow and brown where the coral heads are just below the surface. Houses on stilts are scattered around the landscape. These are the pearl farms where the black pearls are grown. Tomorrow we hope to visit a farm.
With enough excitement for one day, we retired early.