Day 49 The pearl farm

Pearls from Mississippi?
We went ashore with No Regrets to find Enrique and try to arrange the pearl farm visit.
Because there were heavy rain squalls crossing the lagoon, we had to wait several hours. During that time we learned a bit about island life.
With 350 people on the island, everyone is related. The pearl farm is owned by Enrique’s mother. His father is the president of the island. Transportation to the farm was provided by his cousin... etc., etc., etc.
Because everyone is related, it is necessary for young men to go off to Tahiti for wives so that there is not too much intermarriage, Nonetheless, this island, like the others we visited in the Marquises, had at least one person who looked like the unfortunate result of inbreeding.
There are over 10 religions on the island including Protestant, Buddhist. Mormon, Catholic, Adventist, and several others we had never heard of before. Enrique belongs to a church that is a split-off of the Mormon church that we understood was unique to Polynesia. Several times we saw two caucasian young men in white shirts and black ties on bicycles who looked like Mormon missionaries.
Finally at around 11, we boarded a wooden boat with Enrique and his cousin Mario. Kurt called the boat a “rasta” boat because of it’s red, orange and yellow color scheme. These practical boats are flat bottom with outboard motors (90 HP) and are driven from the front with two levers. One controls the speed and the other direction. The driver sits in a “box” at the bow. It was interesting to watch Mario squeeze his Polynesian size in.
The pearl farm is a series of sheds on stilts in the middle of the lagoon. Half a dozen workers perform the seeding and harvesting operation that produces about $4,000 per month of revenue. (I took a lot of pictures so Loring can add this to his business). While we were there they were only seeding and we saw no completed pearls.
There are two stations that look very clean and professional. Each is equipped with tools that open the oyster, cut the tissue inside and insert a bead and a small piece of oyster flesh. The 1 mm bead is yellow and comes from Mississippi. We believe it is made from shells (sometimes the language barrier makes explanations less than exact). The ½ mm piece of oyster flesh that is inserted is removed from another oyster and is a piece that is adjacent to the black lip of the animal. This is what gives the pearl its black color that is unique to this atoll.
Each oyster shell has two holes drilled into it and a fishing line is attached that is used to hold the shell onto a cargo net like frame. These are suspended from metal frames and left in the water. After 9 to 18 months, the oysters are opened and the pearls are harvested.
At the end of this interesting visit, we headed for shore and got caught in one of the downpours we had seen all morning.
After drying out on the boat, we shared a nice dinner with Eric and Gisele from Far Niente.