Takaroa
Arrived at Takaroa, position 14 degrees 27 minutes South-145 degrees 01 minutes West, entered at 10:00 am. I stood on the bow to look for coral, we went through some rapids too. Then into a pearl field. Big buoys everywhere. We saw how pearls were grown. Did hitch-hiking, to get around that village. The market had US products, corn flakes, pork & beans, & Doritos. We talked to some swiss boaters at the wharf, they said that rats ran on their boat that night. Luckily they didn't get in.
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The typical pearl farm is built not on the edge of a lagoon, but in the center. Access to the oysters is easier here as they hang suspended from ropes that cross the lagoon. In a connected series of buildings standing on stilts, the work of the farm takes place: implanting or "grafting" the nuclei, cleaning the oyster shells, and removing the grown pearls. |