French Polynesia - The Tuamotus

Date: 21st May 2023
Location: 70 miles from Tuao, a coral atoll

No internet connection here so this comes to you again via our HF radio. That means no pictures either.


French Polynesia consists of three parts. From east to west they are the Marquesas where we have been for the past month, the Tuamotus where we are headed now and finally the Society islands, the biggest of which is Tahiti. We're not sure if they are separate countries or not but together they make up French Polynesia. Most countries have a single flag that you fly from the starboard side of the mast as a courtesy to the country. In fact they are called courtesy flags. In the Marquesas you can choose which of three flags to fly. French because they still have a very close relationship with France, French Polynesian, or The Marquesas own flag. We flew the Marquesan one. The Tuamotus though don't appear to have their own so we'll fly the French Polynesian one. We don't know about the Societies yet.

Almost all the island groups we have sailed to thus far are volcanic. Canaries, Caribbean chain, Galapagos - all volcanic with dark rugged scenery and often deep anchorages. In contrast the Tuamotus are low lying coral atolls. Fringed with sharp coral reefs just waiting to pierce your boat most have one of two narrow passes through to a lagoon littered with coral heads or "bommies" as they are known. Water rushed into the lagoon as the tide rises and out again through the same passes as it drops. The trick is to enter at slack water which usually occurs close to high and low water. Currents through the passes can approach 10 knots at other times so they are not for the faint hearted!

But first we needed to restock in Nuku Hiva. We managed to get some scarce eggs at almost a dollar each, some bagettes and butter and some tuna, freshly caught and prepared next to the dinghy dock. The offal was thrown into the sea which was quickly devoured by three hungry 3m sharks cruising around with their dorsal fins sticking out of the water like Jaws on the beach.

So we are on our way now to the Tuamotus. It's a 540 mile passage to Tuao the first atoll we have chosen to stop at. Normally a four day passage it's turned into six days for us for several reasons. Firstly we left Nuku Hiva late after provisioning and waiting to ring my mum whilst we still had a signal, secondly our prop shaft was making a bit of vibration so we kept our speed down and thirdly the timing of daytime slack water only gave us a midday option and we couldn't make today's in time.

It's been a much easier passage than the long Pacific crossing. For the first time we've had the wind on our beam rather than being downwind and Mehalah loves it. No chance of an acçidental gybe and the opportunity to fly all three sails, using the yankee and staysail to maintain a constant speed. Yesterday though we had a lot of squalls which made things a bit more tricky as the winds shifted around them. And then we came out into wind just strong enough to keep us moving before we had to resort to the engine. By now we knew we wouldn't make Fakarava atoll, our first choice today after all. So we decided to head for Tuao instead where Meraki 2 are for a couple of days. We needed to waste half a day though to avoid arriving well before slack so we took down the sails and bobbed through most of the day on a gentle sea. We made water, Gill had a pamper session, we put the clocks back by just 30 minutes,(!?) and we read. A nice day.

And now it is 22.15 and we are motoring to Tuao. It's a beautiful night. Warm, a sky full of stars and the Milky Way as the moon is small, and a flat sea. The Southern Cross is off to port, I spotted a very fast, very bright satellite tracking across the sky and Gill saw three more shooting stars. We should be anchored in 13 hours.

Good news. My new fishing lures did their stuff. Just as we were about to eat our dinner a couple of days back one rod screamed and the rod bent alarmingly. I couldn't wind the reel in at all. I left it to reel in the other rod but there on the end was a nice small tuna, around 3 pounds. Despatched and into the freezer. Back to the other rod and he's still taking line. I manage to get maybe 3 metres of line back in and then it all goes slack. Winding in, the lure and hook are still intact but no fish. What was it? It was big. Possibly a big tuna or else a small tuna taken by a shark. It was too big for a mahi mahi or wahoo. Perhaps it was a marlin. Who knows. It would have been too big to keep anyhow.


UPDATE: 22nd May

On a mooring ball inside the small atoll of Tuao. It's gorgeous. The entrance was "interesting". There's only one narrow pass in and out and a lot of water needs to pass through four times a day as the tide go in and out. We arrived at the entrance as planned two hours before low slack water. All we could see were big standing waves across the entire pass. Very daunting. So we motored back and forth for over an hour and we could see conditions general easing. 50 minutes before slack we decided to go for it. Half a mile out our speed started to drop from 5 knots as we met the outrushing water. The ocean floor also rises sharply from 3 kilometres (yes,that's right) to 7m at the entrance to the lagoon so there's a lot of stuff going on here. Anyway, in we went being thrown around by the eddies and bucking through the waves. We slowed to 2.5 knots and then we were almost through surfing in on big slow rollers for the final couple of minutes whooping and hollering as we reached the calm lagoon beyond.

Once through we turned to port and motored a couple miles to a group of solid mooring balls and were met again by Kevin from Meraki 2 who came out meet us in his dinghy before taking our lines, passing them through the eye of the ball and returning them to us to make off on Mehalah. Out first successful atoll arrival completed.

After a really quiet day yesterday the wind has got up a bit today and we're on a lee shore (the wind is pushing us towards land) and the forecast is for more wind in a few days. By that time our friends will have left and we will be on our own in very remote circumstances. We'll have to make a decision of whether to stay here or not. That's the problem with the Tuamotus. Usually very benign there's nowhere really protected to run to if it does turn nasty.

Talking of decisions we are narrowing down our four cyclone season options after a much happier passage here. We don't think we want to leave Mehalah in Fiji. Too risky as it's in the cyclone belt. We have got a good quote from a New Zealand yard but we think that's a long hard sail south and if we decide to keep M it's then a long hard sail north again. So at present Australia is looking most likely. Easier to get back north and we could defer any selling decision too.

And finally, for Becky S-J who likes the "lists" and to remind you that most of the entire time our home is rolling from side to side here are some of the precautions we need to take to combat that rolling. [Having said that here inside the atoll there is very little movement, the first time since January 8th when we left Shelter Bay Marina].

1. The cooker is on gimbals so it stays flat as the boat rocks beneath it.

2. Our "on passage" bed has the side of the boat on one side and a lee cloth on the other to stop us falling out when a big wave rolls us.

3. All galley surfaces are covered with non slip matting. Imagine trying to control two water bottles, a grapefruit, two packs of cheese and a pawpaw as you delve ever deeper for that last yoghourt pot.

4. The distance between the two cockpit bench cushions which run fore and aft is just wide enough to wedge your legs across.

5. You must brace your legs across the shower cubicle when showering. Washing a foot is difficult.

6. Every drawer and cupboard door has a mechanism to stop them opening at sea.

7. When we leave the cockpit to work at the mast we walk on the "up" side. That way if we lose out footing we are thrown against the mast rather than overboard. We often wear a harness that clips us to the boat too.

8. Only plastic crockery and mugs are allowed on passage. No breakable plates or glasses are allowed.

9. And we STILL get bruises!

----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com

Giant Eels, The Lost Boys and Cannibals

Date: Sunday 14th May 2023.

Location: Daniel's Bay Anchorage.

Inside Daniel's Bay

This is where we are anchored today. Daniel's Bay on the main Marquesan island of Nuku Hiva, just a few miles from the town anchorage of Taiohae (they do like their vowels here).

We've been here for several days. The entrance is pretty intimidating as you appear to drive into a sheer cliff but once in it is sheltered, stunningly beautiful and NOT ROLLY. Not rolly is good. It allows you to walk around without holding on to things and most of the rocking boat noises cease. Bliss.

Spot the entrance.

We finally feel more rested after the long passage from Galapagos, most things are hopefully fixed and we are starting to prepare for the next four day passage to the second of the French Polynesian island groups - the low lying Tuamotu coral atolls. A world away from the spiky and very impressive Marquesas we are a bit daunted by the tricky passes into and out of these atolls.

The valley here is amazing. Now only a dozen or so people live here but before the arrival of westerners there were around 20,000! Walking up the valley there are coconut trees (with anti mice aluminium bands tacked on), mangoes, limes and pampelmouses (grapefruits) everywhere. Higher up the river wends its way upwards surrounded by lush vegetation and the remains of numerous abandoned buildings some with carved tikis outside. Two river crossings revealed huge eels well over 1m long and 15cms across slithering around. Luckily they avoided us as we waded through the streams thigh high. We wondered too at a cleared area with pits and a large horizontal stone. We learned yesterday that they were for storing and then decapitating their enemies prior to cooking them for dinner! But now they earn their living by taking people on valley hikes and providing tuna meals and fresh fruit mostly to cruising boats like us.

Nuku Hiva's waterfall.

On the way there.

Eel River!

These islands are well known for their tattoos. Most local people have them. Beautiful and telling stories about themselves they wear them with pride. Many of our friends have thought about getting one themselves and some have. If I was to have one anywhere in the world it would be here but I think it is unlikely partly because my physique is a little bit too weedy!

Since returning to Hiva Oa we've moved around the other Marquesa islands meeting up with other boats new and old. Most non EU boats only have a 90 day visa for French Polynesia so we all tend to be moving at roughly similar speeds. Several boats set off for the more southerly Tuamotus 10 days ago with an uncertain forecast. They got hit really hard whilst anchored behind one of the atol reef islands. 70 knot gusts, anchors dragging, lightening strikes and dinghies flipped. Not nice and glad we stayed here to recharge.

One of the inter island sails involved an overnight passage for us. With flukey winds and rolling seas it was most uncomfortable. Gill again found the night sailing not to her liking so we are still unsure what our next move will be. We know we want to be back in the UK for Christmas so four possibilities are appearing. Go to Australia, go to New Zealand, leave Mehalah in Fiji or more radically sell her somewhere. Let's see how the journey to the Tuamotus goes first. Interestingly it's not only us that found the Pacific passage hard. Linda on Escape Velocity wants nothing more to do with sailing, Meraki have still not fully recovered and the majority of people say it has been their hardest passage to date.

Every island has its hikes and for most cruisers stretching their legs on one or more is a must do. On Oa Pou island we finally met up with Meraki 2 again. We arrived after our nasty night passage early in the morning when Kevin came out in his dinghy to show us to a good (ie less rolly) anchorage spot. Then over to M2 for a quick catch up and muffins before heading off with them, their daughter's family who had sailed independently from Mexico and a couple of other kids' boats. 18 of us climbed up the valley in a broad track for 3km or so until we came to the home of the crazy German chocolate maker. He's lived there with his wife and dogs now for 27 years. 70 years old and a bit creepy he grows fruit, coffee, cocao, soursop, lemons - everything you can imagine.

Oa Pou anchorage.

Chocolate Man Farm - Cocao

The Chocolate Factory.

Crazy Chocolate Man

Chocolate Man Farm - more pampelmouses.

Chocolate Man Farm - roasting coffee beans.

Coffee Man Farm - fresh coffee beans.

Coffee Man Farm - unidentified fruit 

We spent a couple of hours with the chocolate man before buying some of his famous chocolate and making our way to the waterfall. Initially just the four of us we were soon joined by a mass of the kids scrambling down the rocks like The Lost Boys of Peter Pan or a troupe of monkeys skittering to the waterfall. The best yet. Clear and cool it was a welcome break after a hot walk. And the chocolate is indeed superb!

Oa Pou Waterfall.

Arrival of The Lost Boys.

A big talking point here at present is Starlink that I mentioned previously. I would say the majority of cruising boats now have the natty little oblong receiver mounted somewhere on their boat and most people use the RV (Recreational Vehicle) subscription. However that is not really supposed to be used at sea. In fact only in the country in which it was purchased (and those costs vary enormously depending on the country of purchase but let's say 400 USD). It then costs around 200 USD per month for unlimited fast data everywhere. Now, what Elon Musk has said is that around a week ago he was going to geofence his system so that it wouldnt work offshore or outside the country of registration. And to make it work you would need the new marine subscription at enormously higher costs per month! So far though it hasn't happened but every time they switch on their dishes they expect to see it fail.

The other thing is provisioning here. Lots of things you can only get the day after the supply ship arrives. Then for a short period, if you are lucky, you can get fuel, cheese, potatoes, even tomatoes maybe. The locals know where to get stuff and often pre order it. We scrabble around once the grapevine posts the new location on one of the WhatsApp groups. Bread, for example, or bagettes actually as we are in France. The bakers seem to make enough each day to satisfy around 30% of the demand. So you must either pre order it or get to the bakery by 6.30am. Otherwise it is sold out. The question we all ask is "why not bake more each day". No one has an answer.

The other day in Nuku Hiva Gill was sitting in the dinghy at the fuel dock whilst I clambered up the ladder to get diesel and petrol. It is a horrid swelly location and as the fortnightly supply ship had just delivered new fuel three other dinghies were tied up there too. As each big swell came in the raft of dinghies got thrown against the dock and pushed several metres from side to side. Gill got talking to Donna one of the other wives waiting in the dinghies for the jerry cans to be lowered on a string. Poor Donna had broken her ribs. At 3am entering the cockpit to start her watch she slipped and fell. What did she slip on? A dead flying fish that must have flown into the cockpit earlier that night!

Nuku Hiva main anchorage - a Marquesas check in destination.

And finally, your favourite 'what wildlife have we seen?' Top of the list must be the dozen or so manta rays that swam around us and right up to the boat in Taiohea anchorage. These things are beautiful and MASSIVE. Maybe 2m+ across with mouths 0.5m across they glid past us repeatedly looking like something out of Star Wars. Then there were those big eels and last night as we paddled back in the dark to Mehalah after dinner on Midnight Breeze something enormous jumped out of the water beside me hitting my paddle hard before sinking back below the surface  Possibly another ray or a shark it left me quite shaken up. Here there are craggy cliffs all around us. High up circling and gliding amongst the cliffs are some unidentified white birds about the size of a gull. Jen, your task is to identify them for us. Also some martins of some sort. We caught an unidentified fish coming here too. A bit like a longer thinner barracuda with an incredibly long thin fine snout lined with mean looking teeth. We put him back. That one's yours to identify Stu. Frigate birds everywhere of course and plenty of small bait fish together with smaller jumping rays. Not a bad haul though we finally seem to have left those crazy pelicans behind.

Poor photo of a massive Manta Ray.

Preparing for the passage to the Tuamotus.

More passage supplies.