Raivavae is supposed to have the best anchorage in the Austral islands, but from the N and W only the outer reef gives protection. We had pretty nasty weather last night and today. Strong winds from N-NW (of course!) and several squalls with gusts up to 45 knots caused Pitufa to rock and roll in the anchorage. It was particularly bad around high water (now is spring tide!) when the reef cannot entirely keep awyay the massive waves.
At the moment, the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) is brewing up quite some weather between Samoa, the Cook Islands and here, mass-producing troughs and depressions like on a conveyor belt. And the GRIB forcast sees the next depression moving right over Raivavae in a couple of days…
