Arrival at AHE –Tuamotus 18 June 2024 – on Day 4.
I had the 9.00pm to midnight watch and we were able to sail at a reasonable speed so we did not need to use the engine to get us to Ahe by about 11.00am-11.30am on the 18th as planned.
Andy took over from me at midnight and we agreed we would see what the wind situation was like during the night and whether we needed to motor. The wind was forecast to drop and to move round believe it or not to the south. This would mean wind over tide at the Ahe entrance on the flood (flooding in) but not on the ebb (ebbing -going out) which could make the passage a bit trickier so we will just see.
Joyce woke me at about 4.25am as the wind had moved to the south and we were therefore off course as we could not sail closer to the wind as were heading south to get to Ahe. The wind was also quite light and variable. We therefore put the sails away and motored at about 4.5-5kts as we did not need to go any faster to get to Ahe on time. Once this was done I sent Joyce to bed as I was due to take over at 6.00am. We motored on and past the Isle Du Roi Georges, which actually are a set of atolls (islands) being the most Northern Group of Atolls of the 78 of the Tuamotus and Ahe and Manihi are part of this group. The first two islands were some 30nm away and Manihi which we were due to pass about 20nm away. There were no lights and my radar did not pick up its coast so it must be low lying.
We motored on slowly and by about 6.00am it was beginning to get light. We saw no other boats and hoped we were in the right place!. When we were about 12 nm from Ahe I saw something on the horizon on my left and before long it was clearly visible and what oddly looked to me was a cityscape horizon. There looked to be a whole load of high-rise blocks or skyscrapers. We continued on and other bits in different places appeared on our left and initially seemed unconnected. As time went on they began to join up in parts until it was clear that it looked like a large island and the skyscrapers were actually trees.
Ahe is a wooded atoll and is some 13 nm long and about 5nm wide and it is about 8nm west pf Manihi. Good radar readings can be had from 10nm and about then I turned on the radar and could see the curve of the atoll on the screen.
Just to remind you relatively young volcanic islands like the Marquesas are steep to. Over time, in a tropical sea, coral starts to grow as a fringing reef around the edges of the island and the island begins to sink. Because of their general conical shape, the islands become smaller as they sink, but the fringing coral builds upwards on itself. The outer part of the fringing reef continues to grow and remains near sea level, while the inner part of the reef dies off because conditions are less favourable for coral growth. This combination of sinking island and growing reef creates islands with a barrier reef like The Society Islands. Over a very long period of time, subsidence eventually carries the old volcanic cone below the ocean surface, but the fringing reef remains. At this point the islands become atolls like the Tuamotus. Ahe was such an Atoll with the reef all around and the is a lagoon. This is why they are generally a curved shape and Ahe is like this with only one single small passage into the lagoon. Ahe has a land area of about 12 sq km and a lagoon of 138sq km (53 sq miles}. There are about 550 inhabitants of which 200 live in the only village Tenukupara. Its highest point is 10meters (30feet). There are several pearl farms in the lagoon.
As time went on we could see more of the west coast up which we motored toward the only narrow pass on the Northwestern part. It is about 450 feet wide in its entrance but it reduces to a navigable channel of about 85 feet where the deepest part is 4meters (12 feet) with 1-2 meters depth on either side. As Stormbird draws 2.5 meters (8.4 feet) this does not leave much room for error. It is therefore quite narrow and seemed quite daunting. It says entry should be made during slack water since strong tidal currents affect the pass. It is also important that someone is able to look ahead at the different coloured water which demarcate the depths.
The reason for coming here was that it was one of the first atolls on the route we were taking (toward Tahiti) and had a secure anchorage. Once through the pass there was a buoyed channel to a village where there was an anchorage. We approached the pass which did not look that wide and we could see ahead some turbulent water which must be the shallow reef parts. We had done our calculations and High Water was about 1.54pm so water should be slack about 30 minutes each side. The chart plotter said HW was at 3.00pm. At 11.30am we had a look at the pass when we arrived we saw troubled water (overfalls) and thought that the troubled water was due to the wind against the tide going in against it. We put our nose in the channel and it was difficult to tell which way the tide was running. The rocks and beaches nearby did not look like HW. We therefore turned round and went away. We thought we should play it safe and wait for the calculated HW at 1.54pm. As read – you can calculate all you like but here it is our eyes which tells you what is going on and whether it looks right. We saw no other boats and there were none on AIS. We thought we would wait to try and get it right.
We sailed away with just a handkerchief of genoa at an angle for an hour and a quarter and then came back for the same time and as we returned it was about 2.00pm. The shore did not look any higher and we could see white water over the bar (the 4-meter bit) ahead. It was not huge but troubled. It seemed ok to go for it or it was now or forget it. Andy and I had electronic headsets on, which my friends David and Mark bought me some time ago and I have only used them a few times. This meant Andy could be on the front of Stormbird and we could communicate whilst I was on the helm through these headsets. It was a bit like beam me up scotty!!. Thank you David and Mark!
I had done my research about the pass and I had to stay in the central part of the pass until the red buoy on the left and then I had to turn to port and through the narrow and deepest part of the bar We lined ourselves up and Andy could see the different colours and depths and he could see I was in the central channel and advised as I went forward which was reassuring me as I navigated using the chart plotter and the route I had planned. Joyce acted as the communicator in between. We got to the red buoy and I began to turn to port with Andy guiding me and then we were into the turbulent water and continued through it into deeper water. We were through much to our relief and we then looked for the channel which we found from a second red buoy about 300 yards away.
We followed a series of buoys for about 6 miles to the village and these buoys were on coral bommies and you could clearly see the change in colour of the water when there were shallower parts. When we reached the village to my delight there was only one other yacht as I feared it would be full. I thought we would have to anchor outside the village and to buoy our anchor as described yesterday. However, we were able to navigate round the buoys and into the small lagoon outside the village and anchor just behind the other yacht. During all this the wind had been blowing 14-18 kts. The anchor held first time and we were in a nice pool surrounded by reefs. We had made it. I had a plan B but that would not have been good if we could not have got into the Ahe Atoll.
Once anchored we had a celebratory beer and sat in the cockpit and admired our surroundings. I can only describe it as like being in a huge lake. The shore is covered with trees with what looks like little sand islands where there are breaks every now and then. Therefore, whilst it is one atoll it looks like a series of islands and in parts looked at bit like the San Blass. There were lots of different colours of water demarcating the coral and the shallow patches. The lagoon looks vast and clearly the inhabitants get around by speedboat (of which we saw quite a few zooming about) and local knowledge allows them to navigate through the coral and bommies. In the channel when we were coming up to the village, depths ranged from 50 meters through to about 20 meters. It was quite quiet and felt an unusual yet unique place. We look forward to going shore and exploring the village and to doing some snorkelling.
We cleared up and I had a shower. We sat in the cockpit and waited for the sun to go down. The other boat ahead of us was showing off by the lady windsurfing on a foil. We now needed to relax and chill. It felt like it was that sort of place if you wanted to. We were after all in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Andy cooked the Pacific Wahoo which we had with purple mash and spinach. It was delicious and felt very fresh. It was great to be here and relived we had made it from the Marquesas – some 500 nm and just the three of us.
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