Febbraio 2011 2011

Hello everyone,

Thank you again to all those who, during the past month, have sent me their greetings. I send them mine, albeit a little late, for a wonderful year 2011.
The Eastern wind has delayed us a little on our way; we had to make a one-week stop on the atoll of Rangiroa, just long enough to encounter our friends from the Manta Ray Club team, including Yves Lefèvre, who had taken me diving in this lagoon during the shooting of my first documentary film about Polynesia, in 1993. Long enough also to visit the lagoon's southeastern part, where a surprising Christmas tree set by a local attracted our attention.
Then, after a pleasant crossing (a booby had come, on pour way, to rest on our lifelines), we managed to reach our favorite island, the one we only call "Anchorage number one". The big surprise was that numerou sea turtles had come, a few days before only, to bury their eggs in the sand, leaving deep, fresh tracks. There must be hundreds or thousands of eggs slowly hatching: I hope we will still be here to film the small turtles when they climb out of the sand and run to the sea!

Banana Split has returned to its favorite spot, moored to two palm trees, about 30 ft from the beach and from a beautiful coral reef : I have photographed both the coral and the boat, but as I do not have ( like David Doubilet , the world specialist of half underwater, half overwater photography) a lens sawn in two to compensate for the water's refraction, I had to take two pictures, one a few seconds before and a few inches apart from the second, and the assembling has been done by Francette in the most exotic graphic studio in the world, I am quite sure : Banana Split and its computers, on which we plan, during this stay, to work on several projects : adapting for the IPad our DVDROM dedicated to long distance navigation, a new photographic album for Gallimard, dedicated to the animals of the world, and working on our two next documentaries : Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and Japan.

When we take a break in these projects (which we all find very fascinating), we dive and swil around the boat, go visit the neighboring islets on our kayaks, or enjoy (with moderation) a drink to your health, accompanied for instance by a good plate of Raw Fish Tahitian style, or by Francette's brand new gastronomic discovery : yes, one can cook delicious "Cannelés" ( a characteristical pastry from the city of Bordeaux) in a lagoon of the Tuamotu !
Enjoy February

Antoine