Well, all good things must come to an end, but also it's time to prepare for our upcoming passage down to Raroia and Makemo, two of the more interesting atolls in the Tuamotus. So, after a lovely breakfast we prepared JollyDogs to get underway, and given the forecast Isabel dictated that we would begin with 2 reefs in the main sail. The forecast did look a bit sporty and it was going to be a beat back to Taiohae, properly done it would only require 1 tack.
Out of the bay we motor sailed, rolled out about half the jib, and soon found ourselves in 20 gusting 25 knots and seas on the port forward quarter, anywhere from 1 to 2 meters. Plenty of green water over the bows and the occasional spray into the aft cockpit. Sporty indeed.
The farther we got from land the calmer the seas became, as if the interaction with the land mass amplified the wave action. Sailing 45 degrees to the apparent wind in these conditions yielded about 10 - 12 degrees of leeway. About an hour into our journey the chart plotter and our guts told us it was time to tack. We were rewarded by a nicer boat motion due to the change in the wave direction as it was more on the starboard beam. We laid the bay just fine and sailed right on in, once in the lee of the cliffs we rolled up the jib and dropped the main. Isabel motored us on in to select an anchoring spot, and we found a nice hole near our pals on SV Flip Flops. Pat and Celine have become experts at managing the anchor and bridle, soon we were securely moored and back into "living and hanging out" mode.
Cell phones started dinging as emails and texts started rolling in - as long as they're short with no attachments the cell system here is up to the challenge but keep your expectations low if you're coming for a visit.
Tomorrow we'll wander ashore for some decent WIFI internet access, a trip to the medical clinic for some routine checkup stuff, and to investigate the provisioning situation. Last chance for goodies, and a real fuel station. Gotta keep that dinghy fuel topped up for our upcoming snorkeling adventures!
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