We couldn’t resist the weather window (first southwesterly, than southerly and later southeasterly winds are predicted), so we quickly finished all business in Tahiti, got the boat into sailing mode (always a major event that includes obvious tasks like storing away gear, but also baking bread, renewing the kitty litter, etc. etc.) and set out yesterday afternoon towards the Tuamotus.
Stomping out into 25 knots of headwinds from Marina Taina on the westside (the wind gets accelerated along the coast) seemed unnecessarily masochistic, so we opted for a gentle start instead, sailed up north and around Tahiti. Of course that meant fickle, shifting winds in the shade of the big island, so we got pushed up north, but in the early morning we finally got out of Tahiti’s influence and are now sailing southeast. Due to the curve we sailed Tahiti’s impressive silhouette is still visible on our starboard side.
