In the town of Vaitahu on the Marquesian island of Tahuata, we met a very friendly shop owner named Jose. He told us a very impressive story about the black pearls of the Tuamotus.
On these tiny islands live pearl farmers who produce impressive black pearls in such great quantities that you can acquire them for next to nothing. What they don't have a lot of on the islands, is wine.
Jose told us that a one-liter box of wine (which he sold for 750 PF) could fetch 5 or 6 pearls. He instructed us only to look for perfectly round pearls ... the bigger the better. If we were lucky, perhaps we'd be able to trade for an R-20 (a perfectly round pearl 20 mm in diameter). Such a pearl would sell for perhaps 1,500 PF in the Tuamotus, but a jeweler in Tahiti would buy it for 2,000,000 PF!
We had heard similar stories before. In fact, many other cruisers stock up on wine and rum in Panama specifically for the purposes of acquiring black pearls.
We were suspicious. If it was possible to make that much money shipping pearls between the Tuamotus and Tahiti, why did Jose run a shop on Tahuatu? Why didn't he just buy a boat and start ferrying pearls himself? In fact, many of the Tuamotun atolls have airports - why didn't anybody just fly back and forth with loads of pearls?
Also, were the pearl farmers that oblivious to what they had? If one of them pulled an R-20 out of an oyster, why didn't he buy a plane ticket to Tahiti, sell the pearl and fly back (with enough money left over to buy a car?).
Nevertheless, we didn't want to miss a good opportunity, so we bought four boxes of wine from Jose and stowed them onboard.
About a week later we arrived at Takaroa and entered the pass just after sunrise during slack high tide. We anchoring, dinghied to shore, and began our ritual hunt for ice cream - but this time I had two boxes of wine in my backpack in case we crossed paths with some pearls.
We had no luck on the ice cream - there was no electricity in town and the person in charge of fixing it had a hangover from the night before. We were told he gets drunk every weekend (nevermind the fact that it was Tuesday). However, we did get directions to a house that sells pearls. We stopped in and were shown an unimpressive batch of oblong and discolored pearls that weren't legal for export. These pearls were priced for 1,000-1,500 PF each (certainly not the cheap R-20 we were looking for).
We soon realized our earlier instincts had been correct - round pearls are rare. When found, they're shipped right out of the country to the highest bidder. Also, the population of Takaroa is 90% Mormon and since they don't drink alcohol, our wine certainly wasn't going to do us any good.
We figured we wouldn't be leaving the Tuamotus with any pearls, so we decided to do some exploring instead. Five kilometers up the road, we were told, was a 200 ft steel shipwreck on the beach. We decided to check it out.
We began hiking up the road and the first car that passed stopped to give us a ride. Inside were four people in their twenties. Ruo, Jeanlou, (both males), Vehia, and Hinanui (both girls) are from Tahiti, but spend some of their time living at Vehia's family's house on Takaroa.
What followed was an adventure that we won't soon forget. After taking us to the shipwreck, they invited us to their home on the opposite shore. We moved the WTP in front of their home, but didn't spend any time on it during the next three days.
We slept in an empty house next door to theirs, ate every meal with them, and enjoyed their terrific company. They took us lobster hunting at midnight (no luck) and spear fishing during the day (lots of luck). We showered twice daily in fresh rainwater from a cistern. Every meal was a delicious feast on a porch over the water. We played with their dog, cat, two puppies, and one kitten, met their intriguing neighbor Robert (whom we feasted with on our last night - and even had ice cream for dessert); got a tour of the village, met a family of artisans who weave palm fronds, and learned a lot about Pumotuan culture, history, and language.
We left on the fourth morning for Tahiti. Before departing, Jeanlou gave us all necklaces that Vehia had made the night before. Mine is black with a single dark pearl in the middle. The pearl is about 8 mm in diameter and shaped like a football. It has two ridges, some divots, and a few scratches. It's the kind of pearl that isn't worth much in a jewelry store.
However, this pearl represents all the kindness and hospitality that Ruo, Jeanlou, Vehia, and Hinanui showed us during our short stay.
This black pearl that I'm leaving the Tuamotus with isn't an R-20. I can't trade it for a car, and it isn't going to make me rich. However, because of my visit to Takaroa, it's worth all the more.