Tahanea -Faaite -Tuamotu 20 July 2024

It was another windy night and although the alarm anchor did not go off I got up to check on things. The wind was howling and there was a swell but we held well.

We had decided to head for Tahiti which was some 290nm away and if possible we may break the journey by anchoring off Faaite. This atoll is only about 10 nm Southeast of Fakarava. It is unusual and has an anchorage outside the atoll just outside its Northern passe. This means you do not have to worry about the tides and you can leave any time. The question is whether in this weather it will be useable.

Once we woke we had a good filling porridge breakfast. Low water in the passe was about 9.24 but we thought we could go about an hour earlier when the tide was still going out. As we were having breakfast we saw two catamarans approaching  the passe from the Lagoon on the chart plotter and watched as each in turn went through the passe. We could not see the passe itself as this was blocked by a mutu. We could see their masts as they went through and on the plotter we followed them and they went up to 9.4kts with the tide. It did seem bouncy outside the passe.

We did not want to stay another rolly day at anchor so thought we should go and see if we could anchor at Faaite. If not we would continue to Tahiti in one go. We therefore upped the anchor which took a bit of time as we had to untie three fenders we had attached to the anchor chain at various intervals. The anchor chain came up reasonably smoothly apart from one point but that cleared. The wind was howling 24-26 kts and we motored over to the passe. It took a little time to get adjacent to it and I went more over to the east side as there is a west setting current on the ebb (when it is going out). The passe looked reasonably calm but there was disturbed water and breakers to the outer end. Well, we had seen two other yachts go through so we will do the same.

I lined us up and we motored forward and our speed began to increase from about 5.5 kts to 9.5 kts and we held our course well and then we approached the breakers and disturbed water and we crashed into it with spray coming on to the deck and coach roof. It  looked worse than it was and we had this for about two hundred meters and as we came out of it Stormbird was soaked but we were through. We then put up our Staysail and set our course to go out passed the bulge of Tahanea and then on to Faaite.

We were not in a rush and even under Staysail alone we managed between 5.3 and 7.5 kts. The sea state was quite disturbed bearing in mind force 6-7 winds for a number of days. However, it was on our starboard quarter initially and we rolled a little and we continued this course for about an hour and a half which got us past the bulge. We then gybed which gave us a good course down the east side of Tahanea and then on down the east side of Faaite. The waves were now on our port quarter ( I think they were 3-4 meters maximum) and this was more comfortable and have us some extra speed as we surfed down them. The wind was forecast to be 17-20 kts with gusts up to 24kts. We found that the wind was never less than 20 kts and that the gusts were generally 25-27 kts and we saw 32.1 at one point (just into a force 8). Stormbird took it in her stride and just having the Staysail up meant it was reasonably comfortable and we were not strained in any way. We even sort of kept up with the two catamarans we could see ahead of us who had gone through the passe before us.

The morning went on and we were doing one hour shifts and had some lunch and our arrival time was showing 3.30pm which was fine. We thought the other two boats were going to where we were but they peeled off east of Fakarava. We carried on and came to the end of Faaite. I doubted whether with the swell and the wind whether the anchorage would be settled enough. However, it was worth a look. We sailed round the end of the atoll toward the passe and I could see troubled water. We put away the Staysail and motored across the passe which had a current coming out which could be seen about half a mile from the entrance out at sea. When we entered the current it moved us around and tried to push us out to sea. It did not take long and we were through. I looked over to where one of the books and the chart plotter said was the anchorage and the sea state looked quite calm and further west I could see the outer reef. It looked possible. I motored forward and it was very deep until the last 50 yards from the mutu when the depth came down to 12 meters.  This is where they suggested dropping the anchor. The water looked very clear and we could see sand and darker patches so we dropped it on 12 meters and but the time we had dug the anchor in we were in 22 meters.  So, from where our anchor is the sea bottom had sloped.

We held and it was relatively calm although the wind was still howling. We had a cup of tea and were glad that this was workable. We would see the outgoing current some 50 yards away but this did not affect our anchorage. We were the only boat here and we could not see any by looking through the passe to the lagoon.

We rested and Joyce made a loaf of bread and Andy and Joyce made bangers and mash with carrots and courgettes for supper. It was good to be here and after a leisurely breakfast tomorrow we will head to Tahiti. Th wind should calm down a bit overnight to about 20kts which will help ease the waves and give us a good wind to head to Tahiti.

The picture of the day is looking back at the Tahanea passe after we had passed through. The picture does not really look that bad but it was boiling like a cauldron.

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.  

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk