Treasure in the Tuamotu

–By ALMA

DEBONAIR at anchor near the motu we mapped.

There’s treasure in the Tuamotu. If you are already in the Tahanea Atoll and just want to get to the point, then skip to the end of this post where there are photos of the treasure map we created. But I hope you’ll stick around to read the rest of the post!

Tahanea Atoll is a great first stop in the Tuamotu. It’s a beautiful, uninhabited atoll, and it’s also a nature preserve. This means that there are many birds and lots of coral reefs to snorkel. It’s also upwind of many of the atolls that cruisers go to. I hope that you visit Tahanea and find our treasure.

A first sketch of the motu with distances and directions marked.

The Mapping of the Motu

Making the final map.

Kids from three boats, Alma, Arlo, Anna, Sophia and Teo, went ashore to map a previously unmapped motu. First we all ran around the little motu to get a sense of it. When we got back to the beach where we had come ashore, our parents gave us the tools that we would need: a hand bearing compass, a clipboard, and a 100 meter tape measure. We measured our walking paces to measure distances. To map the island, we walked from point to point measuring in various directions on the hand bearing compass, to find the proportions of the motu. Next, we plotted the points on a universal plotting sheet that provided a compass rose. After that we walked around the motu again to sketch in the shape of it. Finally, we decorated our maps with colors, and sea monsters, and compass roses, and legends, and more. Suddenly we realized that you can’t make a map without adding treasure!

Treasure

Just before we left the anchorage, a few of us went ashore to put treasure in a jar. We also put in a log book to record everyone who’s found the treasure! Then it started to rain, and we all took cover under a tree. Once the rain had stopped, we walked all over the motu until we found a good spot to bury the treasure.

The five of us bury treasure.

We dug a hole, buried the jar, and built a cairn over it to mark the spot. Next we paced out the distances for the directions for how to find the treasure. And now we’re sharing it with you. We hope that you enjoy finding the treasure as much as we enjoyed mapping the treasure and burying it.

The map of Axe Motu. Look carefully at the map to find the point marked “Start Here.” You’ll also find latitude and longitude coordinates for a couple points of the island.
Directions to find the buried treasure.

7 thoughts on “Treasure in the Tuamotu”

  1. Alma,

    Pacing? Compass? Really?

    Surely you know where you can borrow a GPS!

    🙂

    Enjoy your blog. A lot. A GREAT trip.

    Mark Schrock. (Nancy’s cousin).

  3. I wished I could go there and locate your treasure. You kids did an amazing job, the mapping, drawing and then burying your treasure. I hope you will get many responses in the future. I am happy to see that you did it the old fashioned way, not using GPS! You could be put anywhere and with the right tools can find your way home. Thanks for sharing .

  4. Really enjoy your blogs. Just can’t imagine doing what you all are doing but sure sounds like you all are having a great time and learning so much. Carol Feyh, friend and classmate of Jason’s Mother

  5. What an awesome idea! I hope the people that find it in the future are able to send you an update to let you know what they’ve added to the pot. What a huge adventure you guys are having!

    Lou Anne

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