Arrival to the Tuomotus Archipelago

5/24 coordinates 16 38.278S,143 34.854W
We completed the 3 day passage from the Marquesas Islands to the Tuomotus with great time. We had great wind the entire time and towards the end met up with a few squalls to wrap it up. Have to say that we felt a bit like we lost our sea legs after those weeks in the islands and were grateful for this small three day passage to be over. Mother nature made sure it went out with a big bang for us.

Bruce was on watch and we were within site of the Makemo atoll approximately 7 am after our third night out. You need to time your arrival just right so can enter the narrow passes through the coral reefs at slack tide and we were a bit early. Having encountered a few squalls along the way and needing to slow our time down we had reefed in the main and rolled up the majority of the jib for our travels.

It had been a very comfortable sail downwind considering the 25 - 35 knot ENE winds that had consistently swept us along. Bruce woke me a bit early to let me know that he had broke my record for sighting the highest wind speeds of the trip and I might want to be on deck to help as this next squall was coming through. It apparently packed up to 50+ knot winds and when we went back to check the recorded highs had apparently reached gusts up to 70 knots. Whew. By the time I had my lifejacket on the down pour was in full swing so we got a nice shower while we rolled in the remainder of the sails. I do remember thinking how sweet the rain water tasted as it pelted us for the next 15 mins. or so.

We rounded up into the weather and rode it out as we were heading towards our destination with a bit greater speed and intensity than we had envisioned. It was tough to say if the entrance to the channel was tumultuous due to the weather or due to the normal currents that flow out of the atoll pass. Even with all the rapids we had encountered in British Columbia and Alaska, we had never seen anything quite like this. The only way to describe it was like riding the boat through an angry washing machine. The directions given in our chart books left us wanting a little more, line up the white beacons and aim for them. When the lighthouse is at
270 degrees to you take a heading of 147 degrees. Hmmmm. Considering we could see the reefs on either side we had to trust it. Of course when it rains it pours right. So now would be the only conceivable time that our depth sounder should go out. I am not sure if it was a curse or a blessing to not know how shallow we were. We avoided the coral heads we could see and once we entered the atoll, all was calm.

A local ship the Kura Ora was docked at the towns wharf for deliveries of town supplies, fuel and small boats to the island. Very fun to watch. The locals shuttle their boats back and forth with loads from the ship to shore to help speed the process up. They kindly came out to greet us and show us where to anchor. We were the only sailboat in the entire lagoon. We hadn't experienced that feeling since Alaska.

Thus began our introduction and adventures to the Tuomotus. They are amazingly genuine, happy and friendly people. There is much more to come. Island life is good.
Lisa and the boys

TheMartins on Ohana Kai
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