Kauehi
Spoiler alert: we made it to Tuamotus. About 500 nautical miles, from Marquesas to Tuamotus, was nothing compared to our big voyage across the Pacific, but still I felt some trepidation after reading accounts calling this crossing “The Beast”. Later I came across an account that said “Best crossing we’d ever had”, so naturally I took that account as the final word and stopped reading any more of those nasty passage accounts. On the Pacific crossing, I was duly aware we’d be crossing the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (before we reached Galapagos – known for doldrums and can also be unpredictable). Turns out we’d be dealing with South Pacific Convergence Zone now. Fronts, troughs and lows blast out of New Zealand and then stall out over Tuamotus. Whaaaat?! Luckily we did not get beasted. It wasn’t exactly pleasant sailing either (think roller coaster), but we picked our weather window and were able to make the crossing uneventfully. There were, however, quite a few squalls around us. For the first time I altered course based on radar information – radar is amazing. Here’s an example:
Entering the Pass
This is not something you just show up and do. No, not at all. Tides come in, tides go out, and water rushes in or out of the atoll creating: standing waves, big current, and eddies. The guidance says “Don’t take this lightly.” or, if you listen to the most gloom and doom book we have, “Skip the Tuamotus; you are going to crash” (or some words to that effect). Depending on the atoll and number of passes, and size of pass(es) the effects may be lesser or greater. So if you have a large atoll with one small-width pass the effects can get you into oh sh*t territory. We firstly picked Atoll Manihi because: a) it was one of the closest from our jumping point, Ua Pou, Marquesas b) it was on the right path based on our wind and intention to go to Tahiti soon. But on further inspection, “newer” information suggested we’d be asked to move if we anchored there. So we picked Kauehi instead for its easy, wide pass and location fairly close to our original choice. But we still needed to make sure and enter at or near slack tide. Tides ebb and flow two times a day and between ebb and flow is slack, so also twice a day. Since one is probably gonna be at night, you really only get one shot per day at slack-tide-pass enterting. After three plus days sailing, 495 nautical miles, we arrived at Pass Arikitamiro wonderfully wonderfully wonderfully right at slack tide!
Snorkeling the clear blue at last
Being on the water does not mean being in the water. Until Kauehi! I’m exagerating of course but quick look back of our previous spots, as regards to snorkeling, goes something like this:
- Georgia, USA – murky, coffee-like cold water
- Floriday Keys, USA – entirely viable spot but for us: boatyard [2014], boatyard[2016], in-transit staging ground [2017]
- Cayman Islands – 7 mile beach is sand; beautiful but not a great snorkel. Elsewise we were scuba diving.
- Panama – murky water compared to Cayman and Panama was go go go time: boatyard or other errands to prepare for South Pacific and the Panama Canal. When we had any down time we choose to go see land-based sights.
- Marquesas – for the most part, dark water with black bottom and mud run off from rivers
- Kauehi – wowsers!
