Day 4
8pm local
Anchored in Fakarava Atoll pos 16deg30.431S, 145deg27.6W
We arrived at Fakarava Atoll, 10 miles north of Faaite at around 3pm. We did 246 miles over the past 33 hrs at an average of 7.5 knots which for a cruising sailboat is moving it. Our top speed with 2 reefs in the main was 15 knots. At one stage shimmi went for about half an hour above 10 knots in a rough ocean, sometimes it feels as if just the tips of her keels are in the water. The sea was a rough as we have had, as the wind got stronger the swell got bigger and it was not fun, we were being thrown around good and proper taking a few breaking waves over the side and into the cockpit. There was a general sense of humour failure on board and we are all as sleep deprived as only yachties can be when they have to hand steer non stop. But it taught me a lot about how the boat behaves under all sorts of different scenarios. But that's enough yacht talk. We are now inside this beautiful atoll, the ocean floor below the boat is covered wall to wall in coral, as the sun set the fish and birds went bezerk all around us. We lost 4 spoons casting off the back of shimmi. One fish threatened to snap Andy's rod in half (it started going just above the reel), then broke the line. Another spoon went to a 4ft shark which nailed it 5m behind the back of the boat. Eventually got a nice size queen mackerel onto the boat. We are in an unspoilt paradise. Just a pity about the cigatuera poison which means that most of the reef fish are to be avoided, we threw the mackerel back as we cant take the chance of getting sick.
These atolls are unlike any islands I've seen. Most of the atolls consist of these massive clear blue lagoons, up to 40 miles wide, surrounded by a narrow ring of low lying sandy islets and coral reef. Some have a reef pass (opening) to get into the lagoon. These reef passes is where we hope to find surf. Each reef pass is different with its own quirks and dangers, in fact the Tuomotus used to be called the Dangerous Isles, they are still top of the list as the most dangerous area to navigate in, one of the main reasons is that they are so low, you can't see them until you are right on top of them. You also have to time your enter and exit of the reef pass as the current during tide changes can exceed 8 knots. Stronger than the engines on shimmi...
Anyway, the kiddies are in bed, Andy is picking a beautiful tune on his guitar on the aftdeck and my eyelids are drooping.
Thanks for following our motley progress once again!
Au revoir
G
