Rangiroa – Fakarava – Return Tuamotu 2 July 2024 -Strong Winds

We woke reasonably early as we planned to leave around 8.30am for Fakarava, another atoll. The night had been quite windy but when we woke it was relatively calm. I checked the weather and it was as the night before namely 20-24 kts winds with gust up to 28 kts. The waves were to be about 2.7 meters and it was calming down over the next few days although the wind was a similar strength on Wednesday.

We had breakfast and then upped anchor about 8.15 and we left the anchorage about 8.20am. The anchor came up cleanly even though we had 80 meters out. We motored out to the cardinal and the mutu fame coral island we had to go around to get out of the passe. We came round the cardinal and headed toward the passe. There were some big braking waves on each side of the passe where the reefs were and there was disturbed water in the middle. We poked our nose toward the passe and had a look. Even though Low Water was at 7.55 am it still looked like water was going out and there were large waves outside. I swung round twice having had a good look at the passe and on the third occasion decided to go for it. We proceeded forward and were being pushed by the tide and making about 9 kts and we went through the troubled water and then we were through.

The waves on the other side were quite large and our course was to go back toward Ahe so we could then tack down the outside of the atolls toward Fakarava. This meant beating (going as close to the wind as possible) and across the swell. The waves were about 3-4 meters and breaking so after a couple of hours we decided to abandon this and tack back toward Rangiroa and go down between the atolls. This was also quite wet in that water would come over the deck and swirl down the deck drain holes with a sucking noise. It was clear if we did this that we were going to tack along the Rangiroa coast to get to the end of the atoll before we could bear away.

After some hours we were sailing in quite hard weather and it was not comfortable. Andy was not feeling great and Joyce did not like the waves. These conditions were quite hard on Stormbird and quite hard on the crew. As these conditions were likely to be the same for 2 days I thought that the best decision would be to turn back. Although we and the boat could have coped there was a risk that only I could continue to sail so I think sometimes in sailing you have to be realistic and so I decided to turn back. When we made this decision we were about 3 hours away from the passe and instead of beating we then had the wind behind us which seemed so tame in comparison.

The issue about returning is getting through the passe again in these conditions. If we made good progress we should arrive back about 5.30pm and before dark and this would be some 3 hours before slack water so the current could be quite strong against us.  It would be good to see what the passe was like rather than trying to enter it at night.  We arrived at the passe about 5.30pm and we could see large waves on either side of the reef and it was quite wavy in the centre. We had lined up on the leading lights and so I though well it is now or wait a number of hours and the waves in the dark would be difficult to judge. We lined up and I had the engine going quite fast and held us in the centre of the channel. This was quite difficult with the waves and I was having to steer quite forcibly to keep us in the right place. Our 7 kt progress came down to 2.8 kts due to the current coming out.

Whilst all this was going on we had company. A whole load of dolphins were playing in the surf and were jumping high in the air and slapping down into the water. They were having fun whilst we were concentrating on getting through the passe. It took a little while to get through the rough water and then we were through and we continued round the cardinal and back to the anchorage again.

We anchored quite close to where we were before and sorted ourselves out. I think it was the right decision and the wave height which was largely the issue was higher than forecast. You sometimes have to make such decisions.

We had a drink and tidied things away. Andy cooked macaroni cheese  and we had a salad. We are anchored again with the howling wind again. It should calm down again in 2 days and so we can try again. In the meantime, we are securely anchored and thanks for that.  The picture is if us sailing today although the picture does not really show the waves.

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