Leaving the Marquesas for the Dangerous Archipelago

 Reluctantly we left the beautiful Marquesas May 21 st as a favorable weather window appeared for a nice sail to the Tuamotus (theoretically).  If we missed this weather it would be at least 10 days until we might be able to leave.  Although the Marquesas are fantastic, we have a lot of things we want to see and do ahead in the Tuamotus and Society Islands.

After getting out of the lee of Ua Poa, day one of the crossing lived up to stories and descriptions of ideal trade wind sailing in the south pacific.  The breeze was and an incredibly steady 12-14 knots from the east with comfortable seas allowing us to smoothly glide along toward our destination with good speed.   To top it all off we saw a beautiful pod of dolphins.

Day 2 started out much the same as day 1, but by as the day progressed the skies clouded over.   Night brought heavy rain which did not let up until morning.  This rain was colder than the rain at the equator and Carrie and I donned our foul weather gear.  Even with the rain gear we were immediately soaked right to the skin and we did not sleep at all.

Day3 was wonderful again, allowing us to forget the night before!  As we neared Kauehi, our destination atoll, the weather turned sour again.  It was the wee hours of the morning and the crew was catching some much needed rest and Dave was on deck furling the jib and dropping the main as the wind died.  Then we were slammed by a full on squall.  The water went completely white.  The rain was blowing horizontally and there was so much wind and water it was difficult to breathe.     Dave hopped up to release the mizzen sail but it was so dark and rainy that seeing the lines was next to impossible.  Luckily Sophie appeared offering her help and she shone the flash light allowing Dave to release the sail.  We were safe and we survived a nasty White squall.

In the morning things were grey and cloudy as we neared the pass into the atoll and again a massive pod of dolphins came to greet us.  These lovely creatures made us all forget the bumps of the night before.

In order to enter an atoll requires going through a pass.  Passes are usually only safe at slack tide.   The entire water of the tide has to squeeze through the often very tight passes.

After safely navigating the pass we radioed our friends on “Day Break” to let them know that the pass was safe for entry and they entered behind us.  The skies were still grey but as we followed the channel towards the village anchorage, the sun started to burn away the clouds and by the time we arrived at the anchorage the spectacular view of our first south pacific atoll lay before us.  We had survived the passage and our first pass in “Dangerous Archipelago” (i.e. Tuamotus).

Pristine beauty of our first atoll

Yael wind surfing in the Kauehi atoll.

From the beautiful anchorage we were able to go into the village.   A mere 150 people live on the atoll called Kauehi.   We walked through the very simple village.  We met the self-proclaimed ‘mayor’ named “Adram” who farms black pearls.    He invited us to his home where he and his wife welcomed us with exceptional generosity of spirit.  They showed us black pearls and Dave picked out the finest for a necklace for Carrie as a birthday gift.   Adram’s wife offered Carrie a ring she made with her own hands as a birthday gift.  She then drove us around the atoll on a tour to her cousin’s property at the far end of the atoll.  It is an old pearl farm and they have thousands of old mooring balls which they have piled up against the bases of coconut trees to make “jolie”.   It was an exceptional day for all of us and particularly for Carrie on her 35^th birthday. 

We spent 3 days in all at this atoll and with some degree of sadness about leaving,  made ready for passage to our next stop in paradise “Fakarava” 30 miles south.    It is extremely important to plan for entry through passes and atolls.  There are currents,  tides and light to consider.  Once through the pass the atolls are also very tricky to navigate as there are coral heads like ‘mine fields’ waiting beneath the surface.  We had a couple of close calls in the Kauehi  lagoon.

Fakarava

We sailed an uneventful overnight  passage to Fakarava in order to arrive at slack tide in daylight at Tumakohua pass.  This is a world class diving location.  At the side of the pass there is an old Polynesian village complete with grass huts where guests can  stay.    It is a deep pass with steep coral side walls.  Multiple species of sharks make this pass their home.   We swam in little lagoons in the village in the company of needle fish,  “Napoleon fish”, “meroux” and black tipped sharks.