22 May 2014 Daniel’s Bay to Kauehi, Tuamotus (Day 5)
We waited until half past nine before starting to go through the pass - at which time I'd guesstimated the current to be 1-2 knot going into the lagoon. Looking through binoculars, I could see some standing waves in the pass. They didn't seem too bad, but just in case, we rolled away the genoa and turned on the engine.
I think that we got it about right - we had the current with us and the standing waves were only a couple of feet high, so we soon powered through them. Once inside the lagoon, we motored east, straight into the wind. The water was 30-50 metres deep without any hazards apart from one small reef at 15:56.39S 145:04.69W, which must be a pinnacle rising up from 30 metres to just under the surface.
There are lots of places to anchor all along the long motu on the east side of the atoll, which gives excellent protection from north-east to south winds. I'm afraid that we suffered from "empty car park syndrome" and dithered about trying to decide where to park our boat, eventually settling down at 15:56.35S 145:03.38W.
The main reason for our indecision was that we were trying (and failed) to find a place to anchor that had a clear patch of sand. Everywhere seems to have coral heads dotted around in the sand. These are substantial lumps of coral that stand 3-6 feet off the sandy seabed and are perfectly suited to snag anchor chains. The water is 10-12 metres deep, so with 50 metres of chain out, any change in wind direction is likely to cause our chain to snag on a coral head.
Not only is this a problem when we come to lift our anchor, but it also shortens the amount of chain available. When the wind increases, we rely on the weight of the chain hanging down to absorb some of the snatch forces in strong gusts. If the chain is wrapped on a coral head, then we would lose this cushioning effect and more load would be placed on the chain & the windlass - not a good thing, some people have had their windlasses destroyed because of coral heads.
With this in mind, I’ve tied a couple of fenders onto the anchor chain to lift it off the sea bed and hopefully stop it snagging on coral heads. It took me a couple of hours of experimenting with different sizes of fenders and the position of them along the chain, but I think that I've got it sussed. With 50 metres of chain out, I've got a large fender at 20 metres and a smaller one at 30 metres. This lifts most of the chain off the sea bed, but leaves the first 15 metres on the sand.
We finished our various chores by four 'clock, cracked open some nice cold beers and chilled out - reading and gazing at our surroundings. This really is a lovely anchorage - the water is multiple shades of blue leading up to the white beach of the motu with palm trees swaying in the trade winds. To make things even better the water is flat calm, which is a great relief after the rolly anchorages of the Marquesas.
We had dinner early and the thing that struck both of us is that there’s no sound here. We’ve been so used to the constant blast of wind, the thrum of sails and the slamming of water into the hull that this is a shock to our systems – my ears are actually ringing because it’s so quiet.
23 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
We had a very quiet day, resting and catching up on a few things. Glenys spent quite a long time on her cookbook, entering some more recipes from all the scraps of paper that she’s accumulated over the years. I messed about catching up with my blog and then played the guitar for most of the afternoon.
It’s very strange that we didn't feel the need to go ashore or go swimming, even though we've been on board for six days, perhaps tomorrow…
24 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
We did some jobs in the morning, including dropping the main sail because we have yet another rip in it. This time the stitching on a one foot section along a seam has pulled away. The stitching must be getting weak on all of these seams and, because we have no way of tensioning the leech, the constant flapping is putting additional strain on the sail. On the plus side the sail material itself seems to be strong. We rolled the sail up and left it in the cockpit to tackle tomorrow.
In the afternoon, we went for a walk ashore. The motu stretches for miles around the perimeter of the atoll, but is only a few hundred metres wide. We first set off to walk across to the windward side, walking across rough bleached, broken coral. These atolls were formed millions of years ago when volcanic islands (similar to the Marquesas of today) sank into the sea under their own weight. As the land disappeared the surrounding coral was left behind, continuing to grow, forming a circular atoll. The small motus are literally formed from broken, dead coral and inhabited by salt tolerant plants. It’s very desolate on the windward side.
We walked along the windward shoreline, looking for shells. Glenys picked up a few, but they’re mostly worn smooth by the crashing waves. There’s a large cairn which I guess has been built by cruisers, so we added our own coral rocks to it. We eventually cut back to the leeward side and came across the remains of a building and a small dwelling that appears to be used as a temporary home for people collecting coconuts and making copra.
Copra production is found throughout French Polynesia and used to be the main industry of the Tuamotus until tourism and pearl farming took over. Coconuts are collected from the ground, split in half using a machete, then left to dry in long “walls” for a few days. The coconut flesh is extracted using a curved metal tool called a “pana”, and then laid out on concrete slabs to dry in the sun. These drying tables have roofs that can be slid into place when it rains. The Copra is shipped to Tahiti where it is pressed onto oil to be sold to food and cosmetics companies.
Back at the boat, I dived down to check our anchor chain and it’s lying on the sand alongside a huge coral head, so my cunning plan of using fenders to suspend it isn’t working. We look to be okay as long as we don’t get any very strong winds from the south east.
25 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
It was a nice day with light winds, so we set the sewing machine up on the front deck and worked on the main sail. Glenys first hand-stitched the one foot long tear to hold to hold it in place then put three rows of zigzag stitching along the seam. We then spent three hours reinforcing each of the other 14 seams with two rows of stitching.
The biggest problem with working on the main sail is that it is so big and bulky. The sewing machine only has a one foot arm, so we’re restricted on how much physical material will fit underneath it. We only managed to sew four feet of each seam from the leech, but hopefully that will be enough - all the problems that we've had so far have been at the leech.
I’m fairly convinced that the fabric of the main panels is still in good condition, so I don’t think that we need a new sail just yet - we need to find a sail loft that will be able to replace the leech seam and run a couple or rows of stitching down each seam. We’ll have to try to find a sail maker when we get to Tahiti.
Later in the afternoon, we went snorkelling. I first checked the anchor chain which was caught on a coral head, so I dived down to 10 metres and untangled it. We then went and had a look at the shallower coral heads – it was okay, but there’s a light dusting of sediment on everything and the fish are all quite small. However, I did have three sightings of a Black Tipped Shark – now was it three different sharks or the same shark three times?
Glenys looked around for a few minutes and then went back to the boat to clean the water line, which is in a disgusting state with 8 inch long green fronds and large Gooseneck Barnacles. We last cleaned the hull in Fatu Hiva only a month ago – it’s amazing how quickly stuff grows here.
26 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
The list of stuff that we have to buy for the boat is growing, so we both spent the morning looking through marine and sail-making catalogues and producing a list with catalogue numbers and rough costs. When we get to Tahiti, we’re hoping that we’ll have a decent internet connection and will be able to compare prices from various suppliers.
We have three choices – buy in Tahiti; buy in the USA & get it shipped to US Samoa; or wait until we get to New Zealand. Unfortunately, we ought to buy some things quite soon, such as a dinghy, so we might have to accept the higher cost for things in Tahiti.
In the afternoon, we got on with some jobs. Glenys did some sewing repairs and cleaned more of the waterline, while I looked at our battery monitor and the fluxgate compass which have both been playing up. I pulled the fluxgate compass apart, but couldn’t see anything obviously wrong. The gimbal seems to be smooth enough, so all I did was to put a few drops of WD40 onto the small connector contacts to try to clean them a bit. I’ll have to keep an eye on the autopilot.
27 May 2014 South East Anchorage to Tearavero, Kauehi, Tuamotus
We went over to Tearavero which is the only village on Kauehi. There was hardly any wind when we left and it’s only ten miles, so we motored. On the way, we spotted a few fishing buoys. We’re not sure if they were a pearl farm or individual fishing traps, but we gave them a wide berth. There was also a small reef just under the water at 15°56.17S 145°03.73W – we’re glad that we were keeping a good watch out.
The conditions were so calm that we took the opportunity to re-calibrate the flux-gate compass, after I’d had it in pieces yesterday. This involves motoring around in slow 360 degree circles while the autopilot works out the deviation of the compass. After the process was completed, I slightly adjusted the reading so that it accurately matched our main magnetic compass and the “course over the ground” reading from our GPS. Embarrassingly, this is the first time that I've done this in three years of living on the boat.
Halfway to the village, a big squall hit us giving us 30 knot winds and nil visibility, so we turned off the engine and drifted a-hull for fifteen minutes until it had passed by. Unfortunately, the rocking and rolling affected the fluxgate compass and it was 20 degrees different from the magnetic compass after the squall. Perhaps I'm going to have to get a new one.
We looked at the recommended anchorage to the west of the village, but it was 12-15 metres deep and the charts show that the shoreline dries at low tide, meaning that we would only be able to get ashore at certain times of the day. So, we carried on around the reef to a much nicer anchorage to the North of Tearavero at 15°48.97S 145°06.49W.
It’s a fabulous anchorage being 5-10 metres deep and very well protected from the south to north east. We anchored in 7 metres of water, quite a way from the beach because it’s very shallow close to the shore with lots of coral heads - the water colours are stunning when the sun shines. “Ameho” is the only other boat and has been here for nearly a week, so they gave us a bit of local knowledge.
We went for wander around the village, which didn't take long. There’s a nice little church with shell decorations and one small shop which is only open in the morning. I guess that there are about 300 people living here and it would seem that the major industry is copra, because there are piles of coconuts in practically every house.
28 May 2014 Tearavero, Kauehi, Tuamotus
There used to be many pearl farms in this atoll, but there is now only one, which is run by the husband of the lady who runs the grocery store in the village. Didier from “Ameho” told us that they had organised a visit to this pearl farm, so we went in early to see if we could tag along on the trip. The lady at the store thought that there was no problem with us going along on the tour, but was uncertain when her husband would be back from the south end of the atoll.
We went back to the boat and called in on “Ameho” who said that they’d agreed to meet the guy at 11:30. We all went ashore at the arranged time, but he didn't show up. His wife said that he’d be back in an hour or so. Didier said that he’d ring him on his mobile phone, so we all traipsed back to our boats to wait. By two o'clock in the afternoon, I’d had enough waiting around and we gave up – Didier had tried to call the guy every 30 minutes, but he never answered his phone. We’ll just have to visit a pearl farm at the next atoll.
I went snorkelling, but the water was very cloudy with only a few metres visibility. However, there are lots of tiny fish and beautiful stands of Stag Horn Coral. I was dismayed to see the harm that our anchor chain has done to the coral – a few large stands of staghorn coral have been smashed to pieces even though I've tried to suspend our chain above the coral heads with a fender. Looking at the damage, I wonder if it would be better to let the chain drop down to the sea bed. It will snag on coral heads, but may do less damage.
29 May 2014 Tearavero to South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
It was a miserable morning with 25 knot easterly gusts as squalls passed overhead. After breakfast, I tried to call our friends on “Vanupieds” who were due to arrive today and to my amazement, “Lil Explorers” called me back. We've not seen them since we went up the Rio Sambu in the Darien region of Panama last October, so it was great to hear from them. They were still 25 miles outside the atoll heading for the south-east anchorage, so said we’d meet up with them later.
“Vanupieds” called us back and so did our other friends on “Nuwam”. They were both approaching the atoll, so we arranged to meet them at the south-east anchorage. We tidied up and then headed off for the short ten mile trip. A few minutes later, we wished that we’d stayed at anchor because the wind picked up to 30 knots, making it very uncomfortable. We were okay for the first 20 minutes because we were on beam reach, but we then had a very uncomfortable hour, motor-sailing hard on the wind with just a scrap of jib out.
Robert from “Nuwam” called us up on the VHF to confirm that the anchorage had good protection because they were also suffering, motoring directly into the strong wind and only making 1-2 knots headway. We dropped the anchor in the South-east Anchorage just after mid-day and thankfully, the water was lovely and calm in the lee of the motu. “Vanupieds” arrived mid-afternoon and “Lil Explorers” arrived just before dark making it just four boats in this lovely place. The afternoon remained very unsettled with squalls coming through, but by eight o'clock at night the skies had magically cleared – very weird.
Claudia & Tierry from “Vanupieds” and Robert & Heidi from “Nuwam” came over for sun-downers. We've been bumping into them every so often since we first met them in the USA in June 2012 - the last time was in October last year, so we had lots of catching up to do.
30 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
The weather was still grotty with squalls, so we pottered around on the boat for most of the day. We went over to visit “Lil Explorers” to catch up on their adventures for the past six months. It was total chaos. Courage and Shannon have five kids and a teenager on-board their huge catamaran and they hadn't managed to tidy up after their four day passage from the Marquesas. To make matters worse, it was Intrepid’s birthday and the kids were very excited, running around and creating more mess. We stayed for an hour and returned to the tranquillity of Alba.
The weather was a bit better in the afternoon, so went for a snorkel on an isolated coral pinnacle that we’d passed by on our way to Tearavero. It’s very spectacular dropping down from the surface to 12 metres depth, yet it’s only 20 metres in diameter. Unfortunately, we were only there for a couple of minutes before a six foot White Tipped Shark swam close beneath us and then came back over the top of the shallow reef to check us out. It seemed too interested in us, so we ran away.
We’re not too sure how to handle sharks, mostly because we've not seen enough of them to be able to read any patterns in their behaviour. While we've done scuba dives with sharks, we've always been in a bigger group and it’s a lot more unnerving to encounter on when there’s just two of us. Logically, there’s no reason why a smallish shark should attack us larger humans, but are they territorial or get aggressive in close proximity? I just don’t know.
Back at the boat, I snorkelled on some of the coral heads in the anchorage and saw quite a few large, 2 foot long grouper, which would be great to eat, but there’s the constant threat of Ciguatera, so it’s not worth the risk. I really must try to talk to a local about which fish are safe to eat. Another reason not to spear-fish in these atolls is that, in some places, we've been told that you have less than a minute to get a dead fish out of the water before a shark arrives…
31 May 2014 South East Anchorage, Kauehi, Tuamotus
It was lovely day, so we went back to the pinnacle (15°56.17S 145°3.73W) to do some snorkelling, this time with reinforcements - “Nuwam”, “Vanupieds” and Courage & Cassidy from “Lil Explorers” came with us. This time, I equipped myself with our 6 foot long pole spear as a shark deterrent - it probably wouldn't stop an attacking shark, but it made me feel better.
The snorkelling on the pinnacle is excellent. The water is clear and there are large schools of good sized snappers, with grouper prowling around below. Some of the grouper are four foot long monsters - I had a great time diving down to 12 metres and checking out the fish. The grouper are cautious, but not terrified like in other places where there is lots of spear-fishing.
The White Tipped Shark appeared after twenty minutes, but kept close to the sea bed and away from the eight noisy splashing humans on the surface. I felt much braver being armed with my pole spear and with the odds of being bitten reduced to 8:1, so I dived down to get a closer look at it. I must have watched the shark for fifteen minutes and in that time I never saw it catch a single fish. It was constantly swimming around the reef and through tunnels in the rocks, I guess looking for isolated or slow moving fish. It didn't seem interested in us at all.
In the afternoon, Glenys went ashore for a walk along the windward side of the Motu, while I stayed on board pottering about and going for a snorkel in the anchorage. Again I saw many large grouper, so I guess that the locals don’t hunt them. I also saw a huge Green Moray Eel.
We went for drinks aboard “Nuwam” with “Vanupieds” and had a good evening, but drank a little too much rum.
- << Prev
- Next