Well we entered the pass on the West side and proceeded directly to Anganui Bay on the West side of Taravai Island, a lovely spot with excellent protection from the Northeast through the Southwest on Sunday evening the 7th of February, anchoring in 16 meters. Great place to recover from a trip that included pounding into Easterlies. From there to the village of Rikitea on Tuesday February 9th where we anchored offshore from the local power plant in 14 meters and good holding and about 3.5:1 scope. Protection there was from the North Northeast anti-clockwise around to the South Southwest. Rikitea was great! We visited the local Gendarmes to check in, visited the mayor’s office to pay for trash and recycling services, stopped by the local clinic to get my ears looked at (all good in there now, and no charge), and we let Jojo’s restaurant feed us a couple of nice lunches. Jojo’s offered complimentary wifi that worked occasionally. When the Nuku Hao supply ship came in we humped 300 liters of diesel out to the boat. We walked a bit around the area, caught up with old friends, and scored pamplemouse and mangos from a couple of friendly locals.
We blew off the Valentine’s Day Sunday BBQ shindig at Herve and Valerie’s so we could instead be kiting out on the East side reef, heading over here on Friday February 12th to a spot just North of Tauna motu. We both improved our kiting skills, enjoyed a curry potluck on the beach with all the other boats, and snorkeled on some beautiful corals and fish. Anchored in 5 meters with great holding in sand and no bommies requiring chain floats, the water only had a light chop in 12-18 knots breeze. The waves do get across the reef in places and if a strong Southern swell over about 2 meters develops it’s apparently not a great place to remain.
By Wednesday the 17th the robust Easterly trade winds had died down below 10 knots so it was time to explore a bit more. We motorsailed back towards Taravai, and using an old track from SV Pitufa and our better judgement as we proceeded around the West side of Taravai towards the Southwest and into a bay on the backside of Isle Agakauitai. There we found absolutely flat water with excellent protection from the Northwest anti-clockwise around to the Southeast, with some exposure to winds from the East that could funnel between Ile Agakauitai and Ile Taravai. We anchored in 16 meters there with a 4:1 scope and found excellent holding in sand. The snorkeling there was excellent and revealed some really large unicorn and parrot fish as well as the largest grouper we’ve seen in the entire country. Ciguatera doesn’t affect fish, but humans can die from it, and with the ciguatera problem so severe here the fish get the last laugh and grow quite large, dying from old age or the appetites of a larger member of their food chain.
On Friday the 19th we moved to the bay by the old village of Taravai where Herve and Valerie host the Sunday cruiser's BBQ. We got the hook down just before a monster squall attacked with high winds and bucketing rain. Here we’re anchored in about 15 meters with excellent holding and 4:1 scope. Protection is from the Northwest anti-clockwise around to the South.
There’s a bugger of a blow coming in about 5–7 days, and we’ll see the possibility of winds up to 35-40 knots mostly from the Northwest but there may be a strong rotation around the clock as the center of the low could pass right over our heads. That presents a bit of a challenge as we’ll have to try and decide which anchorage will provide the best protection. The timing couldn’t be worse as the Taporo 8 cargo ship is scheduled to arrive on Friday when the storm may be at its peak. We’ve got groceries and a shipment from the USA coming on that ship - somehow we’ll need to remain safe and still collect our stuff.
We spend a lot of time considering our safety and the best places to hide. Let the games begin!
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