3/11/2023 0 Comments Toau atoll in french polynesiaWe proceeded through the channel and anchored off the main town of Rotoava. The north pass in Fakarava is quite large and open. Rather than money, the lady asked us to bring her some flour when we sailed back through Toau (which, because she lives on a deserted atoll, makes perfect sense). We talked with the couple who owned them. We felt the relaxed pace of the Tuamotus.īill and I took the dinghy to land to try and pay for the mooring here. The anchorage was flat, peaceful and picturesque. We went for a swim and snorkeled a bit, although there was quite a bit of current. We picked up a mooring and marveled at the water clarity. We decided to pull into the false pass at Toau, a motu about 30 miles north of Fakarava, around mid day the following day. Unsure of the pass into Fakarava, we wanted to arrive during good light hours, not late in the day. Both kids were seasick and we were wet and stressed. The wind angle was a reach and it was a fast trip, but unpleasant. The rain was so heavy at one point, it seemed to actually flatten out the waves. Although the forecast was for light winds, our passage to the Tuamotus ended up being during a storm! We ended up seeing southerly wind up to 35 knots for a couple of hours with rain – very heavy at times. Waiting for a break in the customary easterly trade winds, often means the weather is unsettled. Inside each reef is a lagoon formed, as Darwin noted, when the volcanic island slowly sank down back into the sea and the reefs that formed around the outside of the volcanic island continued to grow. The Tuamotus are a remote archipelago of lowing lying reefs in the South Pacific. After waiting for a reasonable weather window for the typically upwind sail, we left Papeete on June 3 for an overnight 250 nautical mile sail to Fakarava, an island in the Tuamotus archipelago. With lockdown over, we were eager to head back. We sailed by the Tuamotus during lockdown, going from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas to Tahiti, but were not allowed to stop anywhere during the quarantine.
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