SEA BEAR

19th – 25th May Taiohae bay

Then bay is very big and able to accommodate lots of yachts at anchor so is a major gathering point in the Marquesas for cruisers. The town ashore is the biggest in the Marquesas so there are shops, a bank, restaurants etc so it is a good place to re-provision and relax. However all the supplies come in by boat which was due in a few days, in between shipments they do run out of things so for the first few day here the shelves were thinly stocked and they had run out of flour so there was no bread to be had.
Thom was anchored here so it was good to catch up and compare notes as it were on our Pacific passages so far. We also looked over each other boats which although the same model had a few differences in layout and set up.

Tuhiva

There were also here some other cruisers that I had got to know so it was a fairly sociable time.
Whilst here I took a few local walks and had a second go at repairing my leaky dinghy not entirely successfully.

26th-29th May – Baie Tai’oe
My next move was to another bay about 5 miles along the coast, Baie Tai’oe. The entrance to this was hidden and looked rather improbable at first entering between a rocky point with breaking waves and tall vertiginous cliffs and with quite a swell running a trifle daunting.

Entrance to Taioa bay

Once inside though it was sheltered, calm and peaceful and you couldn’t even see the ocean.

Taioa bay

Thom arrived next day with a new crew member for me. I had mentioned the other day when a group of us had a pizza together that I was a bit concerned about passing through the Toumotus or Dangerous Archipelego without a crew to watch for reefs and coral heads in the passes and here almost out of the blue was a volunteer to come with me.
Beside the spectacular scenery of this bay, one of the attractions was the 3rd highest waterfall in the world being up the valley. Next day I dinghied around to the village of Hakaui, population 10, and walked up the trail to Vaipo falls. The trail was wet and muddy and you had to ford a knee deep fast running river. You were rewarded with a wonderful view at one point before pushing on through the forest.

Vaipo falls

All around were the ruins of ancient paepae or house platforms, at one time the valley must have supported a large population.
I got back to the village before it started raining then had an exciting time going back out through the surf to the boat, thought I might get flipped but just took a wave aboard.
Went back to th e village next morning and filled my water cans and bought a whole load of fruit, a hand of bananas, pamplemousse, limes and a breadfruit

Mixed weather for the 450 mile passage to the Toamotos with very variable winds in strength and direction from SE to NE and 3 days of very cloudy grey conditions. However it was never too windy nor too rough so no complaints on that score. Another passage with no sightings, no dolphins, no whales and just one fishing boat as we closed on Ahe in the early hours of the last morning. Our trailing of a fishing line proved unsuccessful too. We managed to hook two, both reel screamers, both big but the first just bent the hook and the second broke the line like it was a piece of week cotton.

The Toamotos earned their reputation as the Dangerous Isles because the Motos & coral reefs are so low lying and hard to spot and we did not sight Ahe until we were about 5 miles away, a thin line of coconut trees fringing the horizon.

The outside reef Ahe

On Ahe there is just one pass into the lagoon, about 85 fett wide at its narrowest and just 3-4 metres deep over the bar. Through this rushes all the water in and out of the lagoon with the tides so a slack water passage is recommended. Only having the tide times for another atoll Rangiroa about 90 miles away we had to guess and rely on the look of the water. Motoring in we had about 2-3 knots of tide against us, so slow progress but plenty of steerage way. Once inside over the bar current slackened and we could follow the marked channel across the lagoon to anchor off the village of Tenukapara.

In the lagoon Ahe

Even though Ahe is one of the smaller atolls the lagoon feels vast inside and strange to be encircled by all the islets which comprise the rim. Strange too that night when the boat was so peaceful on the anchor, so still, no rocking or rolling, it was hard to remember when the boat had last been that quiet aboard, the San Blas Islands I think back in January.

Ahe

The people in the village are super friendly. I was outside the PO and a women asked if I had any music. She rushed off for a memory card and I put a lot of reggae on it for her. She gave me a whole load of bananas.

Off to another atoll in the morning.

We left Ahe in the morning and had to motor following the channel  across the lagoon in the teeth of quite a strong head wind. Marie joked that once out through the pass perhaps there would be no wind  and after negotiating the pass through the reef that is the way it turned out to be as we set our course for Rangiroa about 83 miles away. Light winds persisted so it was a slow passage but come the dawn we were about 14 miles off Tiputa Pass, one of two entrances to Rangiroa atoll. Land was not sighted till later about 7 miles away, such is the low-lying nature of these atolls which can make approach quite dangerous.

According to my tide table it should have been about 1hr after low water when we entered the pass and so should have had the tide with us. Judging by the rips and standing waves I thought and indeed found out otherwise and the we had wind against tide making for a fairly exciting entrance of Tiputa pass with Sea Bear surfing down the backs of the waves. It turned out later we impressed a few watching cruisers with our entrance. I later found out that apparently the tide turns maybe 1-2 hours after high or low water, although the tides are very unpredictable and sometimes you get days of outgoing tides at the passes with no inflow at all due to winds and southern swells causing water to flow in over the reefs between the motus in the south of the atoll.

Tiputa pass in a quiet mood

Anyway safely through the pass we were in the lagoon and found a peaceful anchorage off Kia-Ora beach. There were quite a few other boats here unlike Ahe and the atoll was much  more touristy.

A welcome beer at Lili’s

After a few days here I set off for Tahiti leaving Marie behind who wanted to spend more time in the atolls.  I exited via the other pass, Avaturu and armed with more knowledge had  slack water for exit.

Once again I was bedevilled with very light winds as I made my way west along the north of the reefs before turning between Rangiroa and the nearby atoll of Tikehau and setting a course for Tahiti about 180 miles away. In the first 24 hours I made a measely 65 miles and in the dawn light passed the island of Makatea about 12 miles off on the port beam. The afternoon bought better winds and progress was good. Just before sunset I spotted a sail astern, a rare sight for me on passage but it took a long time to overhaul me. Just before dawn the lights of Tahiti were spotted and later the island was revealed.

Tahiti landfall

I eventually I entered Papeete harbour and  moored alongside a pontoon in Papette marina. This is in the heart of the town alongside a busy boulevade and quite some change from the anchorages I have been in for the past months. It has much changed since Moitessier’s day but it was here that he finally ended his epic 11 month and one and a half times circumnavigation of the world.

Morning Papeete marina

Staying at Marina Papeete I was able to complete a few maintenance jobs, chase around after a sailmaker and get the leaky dinghy repaired, that is as well as a little exploring of the town, dining out at the Roulettes (mobile food vans) at the plaza and quaffing a few beers with friends, Thom from Fathom, Adva from Waterhoen, Oceana and Alice from Danika and Dan from My Dream were all here.
Then it was off to the airport in the early hours to meet my best friend Wendy who flew out from UK to join me for a while. She had bought out my new camera. Gave her a traditional Tahitian greeting of a garland of flowers.

Tahiti welcome for Wendy

After a few days we headed to anchor off Maeve beach just a few miles away, a very popular anchorage this off Marina Tanina, with maybe about 150 boats at anchor.

Dawn at Maeve Beach

My new GPS/plotter arrived to replace the old GPS with burnt out screen, that will make navigation a deal easier.
We had an aborted go at reaching the south of the island, but turned back before exiting the pass in the reef when wind and rain arrived but after a couple of days set out again. Out through the reef via pass Tappuna with dolphins for company we sailed south then turning Pointe de Marua we followed the reefs to Teputa pass which we entered and proceeded to anchor at Port du Phaeton, a lovely lagoon behind the reef which was so sheltered that it felt like you were anchored in a lake.

at anchor Port du Phaeton

Here we tried to visit the Gauguin museum, a few miles along the coast, but it was shut for refurb so we contented ourselves with a walk around the botanical gardens there, then back to Tavarao on the bus for a delicious lunch, tuna of course.

Bassin de Papeari