Chapter 151: Sailing into danger…

We enjoyed our visit to Nuka Hiva and the Marquesas but on Saturday it was time to move on.  Bob went ashore in the morning to visit the market for some final fresh produce and we lifted anchor to set off around 9am.  We had friends on S/V Fortuna who would also be making this same journey so we had a “buddy boat” for the passage.  Our next destination, known as the dangerous archipelago, the Tuamotu Islands, was approximately 450 nautical miles away. 

The Tuamotu Islands are a French Polynesian chain of around 76 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world. When it comes to exploring the South Pacific, the Tuamotus has long held a reputation among sailors for danger due to the shallow, sharp reefs that surround the atolls, the coral formations within the lagoons, and the especially strong currents going in and out of the atoll passes. Prior to the ability to utilize modern technology including satellite overlays, these reefs and currents caused many a shipwreck, especially at night when it was impossible to see the atoll formations rising up out of the water. Barely rising above sea level, the atolls are low-lying and are made up of large fringing reefs and tiny motus that encircle a lagoon. It is the most interesting place I have ever seen.  Within the lagoon, it can be mostly calm while you can walk out to the edge of the atoll and see the ocean outside crashing against the reefs. Visiting here requires advance planning and research to safely navigate the atolls.  So months ago, I began reading all I could about the atolls and what we needed to do and learn prior to visiting. I might have driven Bob a bit crazy sending him articles about downloading satellite overlays, how to float anchor in coral, and general info on the various atolls to consider visiting. But all this info definitely was helpful coming into our first atoll, Raroia.

The passage to Raroia took 3 days and was one of our least favorite passages so far.  We finally had wind but unfortunately it was on the nose.  There was also considerable swell. This equaled massive amounts of water breaking over the bow of the boat and considerable heel.  It was not a very comfortable passage.  Add in the occasional squall, leaking hatch, and non-functional radar to make it a bit more challenging.  And of course, because we finally had wind, we needed to try and slow down so as to arrive at the right time to the entrance to the atoll.  To enter an atoll, you need to arrive at slack tide.  However estimating when slack tide is going to be turns out to be a bit challenging due to the lack of tide stations throughout the archipelago and the effects of each individual atolls size and pass configuration. After some research and consultation, we determined the best time to enter would be around 9:30 am.  We arrived slightly before that and while we waited for our buddy boat to arrive, we watched the pass.  It appeared to be fairly wide and without breaking waves, all good signs.  But unfortunately, the day was partly cloudy which makes it very challenging to see the reef structures and coral in the water.  Because we had good intel from some other boats who were inside the atoll and we had good satellite overlays, we decided to enter despite the clouds.   Fortuna entered first with us close behind with Bob at the helm.  The pass itself was way less scary than anticipated.  We had very little current so we must have planned our entrance timing for slack better than we thought.  Once inside, I took over the helm and Bob moved forward to the bow to help navigate.  The route and satellite overlays were great – we moved the six miles across the lagoon toward the anchorage without issue.  Once in the anchorage, then things got a bit more tricky.  You need to find a spot to drop the anchor in sand that is far enough away from any bommies (coral structures sticking up from the bottom) that you won’t hit them or wrap the anchor chain around them. Bob was a great navigator, providing me with instructions for the helm and we safely anchored on the first attempt! Hooray! I could finally take a breath after being nervous about navigating into an atoll for months! 

The anchorage is a truly beautiful spot.  The water is so blue and so clear.  Within minutes of setting the anchor, we saw our first blacktip reef sharks swim by. Near our boat are several bommies and we could see a variety of small colorful fish swimming around them in addition to the sharks.  There is a small village on the southwestern side of the atoll (population 253) but where we are anchored is uninhabited.  There is a small cruiser created gathering area on the shore near our anchorage affectionately called, “the twin palms yacht club”.  It basically is an area where cruisers gather on shore and they have created a spot for photo ops and to hang a float or sign with your boat name, geocache treasure, an area for bonfires, and a hammock strung up between the trees.  On Thursday, we visited the “yacht club” and went on a short exploratory hike to the ocean with the crew of Fortuna.  We also gathered some coconuts to take back to the boat.  We quickly learned that opening a coconut is a lot harder than it looks.  We did however successfully have fresh coconut water to drink and then removed the coconut meat to shred.  Emily on Fortuna made some amazing macaroons and I made a tofu coconut curry as well as a cucumber coconut salad which were pretty good.  Harvesting our own was fun to try but definitely messy and very labor intensive.  

We are planning to stay here a few more days to continue to enjoy the beauty of this lagoon. We hope to do some snorkeling and Bob is learning to scuba dive. We also have some boat projects to finish including measuring for a new mainsail to be made. You can’t ask for a prettier place to do boat work!

Next up: the Makemo atoll!