On passage we dread calm weather and the flapping sails it brings, but inside lagoons it’s just what we wish for. Yesterday we sailed across a grey, rainy and stormy lagoon (during squalls we had 30 knots sustained…) to the southern side in anticipation of a windshift from the NW via the W to the SW. We were glad we had GPS tracks from our last visit to Tahanea as the visibility was down to almost nothing.
This dawn saw the lagoon transformed into a mirror-like lake. The windmeter beeped from time to time as it does when there’s 0 knots of winds (panic due to sensory deprivation?). On such perfectly calm days it’s hard to tell where the sea ends and the sky begins–the motus seem to float in mid-air. We paddled the kayak over this flat surface and marveled at the coral that we could see in all details without sticking our heads under water–like from a glass-bottom boat. The colours and atmosphere were magical, almost surreal…
