16º 16.498s 142º 44.158w
Thu Oct 03 2019
September
30th we found ourselves at the Northwest channel into Makemo atoll, and after
consulting the “tidal guestimator” we elected to enter on an outflowing tide as
the wind was following the flow, so no wind over tide to create a standing
wave. If you haven’t encountered large standing wave conditions, my
recommendation is DON’T! From a distance things look OK but about the time you
realize “this really sucks” you’re in the middle of it with a wildly pitching
boat and seas breaking over the bow. We had such an experience at the Southeast
pass of Toau when we attempted to exit. Looked fine until we got into it and
then it was HOLY COW HOW SOON WILL WE BE OUT OF THIS MESS! Not just us – I
spoke with our great friends on Amelie and they had the same kind of fun at the
same pass, with green water breaking over the bow and the wave crashing into
their cockpit. Amelie is a 53 foot Oyster, center cockpit. You get the picture.
Anyway,
the water in the pass was pretty flat, but as usual there were some rather
interesting eddy currents that wanted to steer JollyDogs for us. I always hand
steer these passes so I’m tuned into what the currents are trying to do to the
boat. It’s a high gain maneuver. Even though the tidal guestimator suggested a
4 knot outflow, we only encountered 2 knots and soon we were in the lagoon,
steering for a nice protected anchorage about 10 miles down the atoll. Our pals
on SV Coastal Drifter had suggested this as a lovely beach with a reef
extending out to provide good wave protection from a Southeasterly blow. We
anchored in about 18’ of water using our “bommie tangling avoidance” technique,
installing floats on the anchor chain at 50’, 75’, and 100’, then the bridle at
125’. Once all was secure, we busted out the Tahitian rum and toasted our
successful passage, then retired for a nap. Later in the afternoon a shore
excursion revealed a large copra plantation complete with a seasonal cabin for
the workers. Upon further inspection we found a family graveyard, and a flock
of chickens found us. Darn things followed us everywhere, hoping for a chunk of
coconut or perhaps just some human companionship. Shawnee spied several baby
black tip sharks in the shallows while Isabel and I gathered a few promising
coconuts to support a Thai curry fix.
A
fine dinner aboard and we were all in bed before 1930 for about 10 hours of
much needed rest. We had some hard rain in the night but the morning promised
clearing skies so we began making preparations to motor down the atoll to the
village. Given time, our anchorage would have been great for a week of projects
and relaxing, but the weather forecast motivated us to be prepared to depart
Makemo the following day. Around 1000 the sun was out and we could see the
bommies just fine, so off we chugged. Most of the bommies were on our Navionics
chart, a few had been called out by Rob on SV Shindig, and we added a couple to
the database on the way down towards the village. About 3 hours later there we
were anchored in front of the village, and there was a supply ship on the pier
as well. There’s always a buzz in the air when the supply ship is in. Naturally
we were hoping to buy some fresh carrots and see what other goodies might be on
offer, not that we really needed anything.
We
walked all around and found the various grocery shops – all with sad looking
veggies. Either this wasn’t the fresh veggie supply ship, or they hadn’t been
unloaded and delivered yet. We did find the bakery and reserved a couple of
fresh baguettes for 0530 the following morning, and we found where we could buy
diesel by the liter. We saw large local cemeteries possibly one for Catholics
and one for “others”. The town was spotless and squared away, and sported a
local “college”, likely a boarding high school for the kids from surrounding
atolls. Everyone was friendly, smiling and greeting us, completely different
from Tahiti and Moorea where they’re tired of seeing the likes of us.
Altogether a great experience!
This
morning I reported to the bakery to collect our baguettes and returned to
JollyDogs to smiling faces, however after reviewing the latest weather we
determined we should depart ASAP. Isabel and I returned to land with our diesel
jugs and purchased 110 liters at 180 CFP per liter, or around US $1.60. Cheap
insurance, as the forecast led us to believe we’d be motoring or motor sailing
a good bit and we had burned more hours of diesel just getting to Makemo then
we’d expected. Nothing more useless than the diesel you left at the pump!
Fortunately for us and Shawnee, the shop that served up diesel also offered hot
croissants and pain au chocolates, so Isabel collected up a bag of those to
sustain us in difficult times. 110 liters of diesel in our jugs, the shop
keeper was happy to transport us down to the dinghy and help load the fuel.
Like I said, nice people!
We
got the fuel on board, finished preparing to depart, up came the anchor and
away we went. Out the pass with about 5 knots of current on the stern, so we
were looking at 9 knots speed over ground just to maintain good steerage. A
small 2’ standing wave in the channel which we passed through in about 30
seconds and we were away! Motored about an hour, but were expecting to motor
for about 18 hours, when all of a sudden the wind piped up and I raised the
main and rolled out the jib. We’ve been sailing ever since, now I’m alone –
Isabel crashed just after supper and Shawnee just a few minutes ago but not
before brewing me a great cup of coffee. Caffeine flowing in my veins – I’m
good until at least 0100 at which time hopefully Isabel will have gotten some rest
and be ready to stand her watch.
Just
another day in paradise. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment