I am just about to drop the anchor in 9m of jewel-like water in Tahanea Atoll, another perfect gumdrop in French Polynesia’s Tuamotu Archipelago, when I spot three black-tip sharks circling OCEAN, our Dolphin 460 cruising cat. Silly thoughts follow: What are they doing here? What do they want? And why now when we are in the middle of anchoring?
A half-boatlength ahead, Harriet is in the water in fins and mask, scanning for a sandy patch among a seabed peppered with coral bommies. Suddenly she signals drop here. I jump from the helm to the foredeck and press the ‘down’ button on the windlass, rust chips flying as the chain rattles out. The 20-knot trade winds blow OCEAN back quickly. I’m clipping anchor floats onto the chain, every 10m, as 50m feet of chain pays out. When I scuttle back to the wheel and throttles, I hear a cry from Harriet: “TL! Can you keep an eye on me? There’re sharks over here!”
I stand watch on the cabintop as she swims back to , her head swivelling 360 degrees. I’m watching for sharks so I can – what? Jump in? Launch the dinghy? The dinghy is in the davits. The men in the grey suits disappear just as Harriet hauls herself onto the port swimstep.
