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Sunday, July 10, 2011
Papeete; Tahiti
Friday, July 8, 2011
On route to Papeete
23h00 UTC 08 July
Course: 240°
Distance covered last 24hrs until 18h00 GMT: 135 nm
Distance to Tahiti: 108nm
Position 16°55' S 147°51' W
All's well on board.
Well the rain cleared mid morning after a large squall that got us thinking that we would wait another day. We are pleased that we opted to go as the rain and squalls have stayed away so far. The pass was a little tricky as the tide was going out into a fairly rough sea. As we got towards the outside of the pass the waves were very steep and close together with some breaking standing waves. Fortunately our friend had just gone through and radioed us to say it was very rough but not for too long and once they were out the sea settled down. So in we plunged.... The first wave over left us with waterfalls inside as two hatches were still on their breather openings. Fortunately one was the heads but the other was above the chart table. Luckily most of that water landed on the floor. We could not rush down to close them as the boat was being tossed around with waves coming straight in over the bow. Well we were soon through that and the rest of the trip so far has been good sailing. The 3m seas on the grib files seem to be a large swell now coming in from the SE that is about 50m crest to crest. They roll us a little but they are fine. We are a little ahead of our schedule but will keep pushing on as the wind is supposed to get lighter overnight. We should get in to Papeete early tomorrow morning.
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Thursday, July 7, 2011
Fakaravai to Papeete; Taihiti
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Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Fakaravai; Taumotus
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Saturday, July 2, 2011
Kaueh to Fakaravai; Taumotus
Today we changed anchorages as well as atolls. We were planning to go to Papeete but the winds are very light and Papeete lies 280nm away. Rather than stay at Kauehi for a few more days we decided to head off to Fakarava. The lagoon was like a mirror today and we motored across to the pass and left with the tide. For most of the pass the water was still with a 3kn current. On the seaward side there were big swirls that pushed us around a little, but the sea was calm as there was no wind and therefore no waves. From pass to pass it was 32nm and we motored all the way. The pass into Fakarava is really wide and with some dolphins to escort us in it was very easy. The water was calm and we had a 2-3kn current with us. This atoll is so big that you cannot see the other side. It does pose a problem for coming in if there are strong winds from the SE to SW as you can be faced with considerably large waves on the inside. It is around 21miles wide on the inside and very deep with coral bombies that make it to the surface. This makes navigation around it interesting and best done with Polaroid glasses on and the sun behind you in the middle of the day. We are not that adventurous so we will stick to the main channels. The anchorage is good and we popped ashore to the shop, but everything is so expensive. We got some milk as our supply had finally run out and some brie to have with our sun downers/dinner. We only had a snack for dinner as it was so calm out at sea that Sandy was able to cook up a feast for lunch.... Curry stew. Colin the lazy ol' bugger sat with his foot on the helm steering, but gave up on that and put on the auto helm and he did not even catch a fish... needs to be fired!! Well before we do too much firing we will say bye for now and will chat again later.
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