Rangiroa - Tuamotu 26 June 2024
We woke early to go ashore for some bread and we got to the shop by 7.30am but they had sold out. We were able to order for the next day and did and we also bought some potatoes, prawns, some more cheese and some juices. It was nearly £33 for these few things.
We returned to Stormbird for breakfast. En route we saw a boat callout Quetzal which we had seen not only in Nuku Hiva but they also came into Ahe before we left who were coming into the anchorage. We went to see them and said hello and suggested where they may anchor to be helpful. We had breakfast and thought we would go ashore and have a walk. We suddenly heard a man called help and saw a swimmer in the water. A dive boat went past and they circled him and then went off. Andy and I decided to go and help him. When we got there he did not want help and said he was worried about boats speeding through the anchorage and he swam back to the large oyster behind us. We then saw that Ouetzal had a problem and they had a large piece of coral stuck on their anchor and were having trouble getting it off. Joyce and I went to help them and we used their hammer to try and get bits off but it was well stuck on its point. Between us all got it off. He said his name was John and the boat was from Fort Lauderdale. I said to John they would be welcome for a drink this evening.
After rescuing we went ashore and decided to leave the dinghy at the hotel and we walked up to the road. I wish I had suggested we hired bikes but we did not and walked along the main road. At the time we did not realise it was 5 miles to Avoratu, the other village by the other pass. We walked in the heat and looked at the reef on the north side- see picture of the day. We continued past the odd dirt track which went off to private houses or dive centres. We came to the airfield which was quite busy as there were flights today and we saw 3 land and take off during our walk. There was a bank so we got some cash out and walked on. There were supposedly three snack bars through the next stretch but all of them were closed. We came across a shop and had an ice cream and then we ordered a taxi to take to the end. This took us at least 5km and he dropped us off at a snack bar. We had a look round the village and the Passe Avoratu which showed quite a lively current and then returned to the snack bar for lunch which was quite good. It was clear that this village seemed to be a poorer than Tiputa. Opposite the snack bar was a wharf where we had stopped the day before to let some people off before we returned to Tiputa and on the bottom by the wharf was a whole load of dark sharks (not reef sharks) who were asleep on the bottom. The map we saw recorded this place as sleeping sharks!!
We got a taxi back to the public beach which was to the west of the Kia Ora Hotel and we decided to have a swim and a snorkel. This was refreshing but the coral was dead or dying but there were quite a lot of fish. We dressed and returned to the hotel and dinghy and the New Zealanders who had been on our trip yesterday came to say hello and we chatted. We returned to Stormbird and had a rest. We then did a few jobs and I charged the batteries.
John from Quetzal came with his wife Tedji for a drink. It turned out that John Kretschmer is a famous sailor and he basically takes people as a business on ocean or long passages and he has been sailing since he was about 19. He has recently been to Antarctica and Argentina and Chile and Cape Horn and the Beagle channel. He thinks he has sailed over 400,000 sq miles and has written several books and many articles. His website is www.johnkretschmersailing.com – look him up – he is a bit of a legend. His wife Tedji helps with all the shore admin etc although she also sails quite a bit. They were grateful that we had helped them. It’s amazing who you may meet on this type of trip. We had a lovely hour or so chatting etc and we filled them in re the atoll.
After this we just had bread and cheese. The wind was now getting up and its blowing quite hard and we are moving a bit due to the swell caused by the wind. It will get worse tomorrow but for now we are fine. We had a great day despite the wind and saw more of the atoll from land this time. We may be here due to the weather for another 5 days or so as it may be difficult to leave the atoll due to the conditions in the passes and where else can we go until the weather calms down. I think the strong wind is called a Makemo out here and really strong winds a Super Makemo.
We will see what tomorrow brings but we feel safe on Stormbird and are well dug in here.
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