May 25 - Tanikely National Park

Pos: S13deg29.016min/E048deg14.352min. Last night we experienced the dreaded Nosy Komba Roll, which was bad enough to prevent us from sleeping soundly. Shortly after first light, we raised anchor and departed, glad to get away from the constant beam-to motion that was so uncomfortable. We motored the 5 mi to Tanikely National Park, and took a mooring in 35' water. There were a few moorings further in, but depth would become an issue. The water was crystal clear to over 40', and I took the opportunity to use our hookah rig and change out the MaxProp zinc anode. Schools of fish swam around us, some of the larger ones actually bumping our hull! At the beach, we paid 10000Ar each for the Park entry fee and walked to the old light house structure. Built in 1908, it no longer is functional, but there is a small museum with placards in 4 languages, and we felt it a good place to learn about the history of the area, as well as imagining school children learning and enjoying a picnic lunch. There are two varieties of lemurs on the small island, but feeding them is prohibited. Dark skinks scampered everywhere, and the view from the light house was awesome. We snorkeled after lunch, accompanied a turtle for about 10 min, saw a small gray shark, and lots of beautiful kinds of fish. A nice place to visit, and anchoring is allowed in sandy areas just in front of the beach (about 35'-40' depths); this is considered a day anchorage as it's somewhat exposed.