Saturday, May 29, 2010

May, 29th Spearfishing in Moorea

Yesterday, we moved over to Moorea (the island just to the west of Tahiti) we spent the day here and plan to leave tomorrow afternoon for Huahine about 80 Nm further west.

Before leaving Tahiti, Will and I went in on the purchase of a shiny new spear gun with dreams of catching fish dinners for the rest of our pacific tour. Today, while anchored in the beautiful and crystal clear waters of Moorea we got to try it out. The days total...4 fish after about 6 hours in the water before noon and then again until sunset. Not exactly the 19 that we had in Takaroa but it's a start. Will claimed the first 3 and I nabbed the last bugger. They were all small parrot fish which we had some experience catching in Takaroa with our friends there. Unlike in Takaroa however, the parrot fish here seem to be very intelligent and we soon found ourselves trying to hide the spear gun until the last possible moment. Surprisingly the fish here seem to know exactly what we were up to and they were very careful to keep their distance from us and run away at the slightest sign of our hostile intentions.

Meanwhile, Adam and Amanda made a trip to shore to hike around and explore the local stores, trails, and mountain vistas. The anchorage is very picturesque with high green mountains just inland of the shore. Inside the outer reef, the water is very calm and flat and we can see straight to the bottom in about 25 feet of water.

With some luck and more practice, Will and I hope to improve our spear fishing technique and maybe we will find some fish that have never seen a spear gun before.

-Alan