Pitufa.at

We haven’t had such an easy passage in a long time. The wind was strong (surprisingly just as predicted and also from the direction the forecast had promised), not so strong to build up huge waves (2 m were not even enough to make the cat seasick), but just enough to push heavy Pitufa along swiftly. Averaging 6 knots we needed less than 2 days for the 240 nm and to make things perfect, we caught a huge mahi-mahi last evening (1.5 m).

We usually hope for smaller fish that are easier to handle, kill and process and therefore we use a small lure, but that big guy still bit and of course we didn’t refuse to pull him aboard. Slaughtering the big creature on the rolling aft-deck while it was getting dark wasn’t much fun and today it took me another 3 hours to cut and prepare the meat for storage. Anyway, now it’s done and we have enough fish for a week (and more to give away…).

We left Fakarava yesterday, but instead of sailing straight to the Australes as initially planned, we have to go to Tahiti first to do some repairs. We’re sailing swiftly along with 15 to 20 knots behind us and will reach Tahiti tomorrow. 120 nm to go!

The south pass into the lagoon of Fakarava is popular with dive tourists. Reef sharks hang out in all passes we’ve seen in the Tuamotus, but for some unknown reason the pass of Fakarava is teeming with grey reef sharks (apparently 200-300 live in the area). You see some of them while snorkelling, but most of them are deeper down, so it really makes sense to go scuba diving here. This morning we sailed down to the pass, got our dive gear ready and headed to the pass with our friends from SY Pakia Tea (www.planet-ocean.at) for a drift dive.

We knew that the current would be coming in at this time of the day, so we took the dinghy out through the pass, jumped in and went down to 20 m with Sonja while Tom kindly stayed in the dinghy to follow us and pick us up back in the lagoon. With this convenient arrangement we were free to enjoy the dive. Using the gentle current we slowly swam along, watching swarms of colourful surgeon- and butterfly fish lingering over healthy-looking coral formations, bold trigger fish biting off chunks of staghorn coral, majestic napoleon fish patrolling their territory, groupers gazing out from protruding coral and then close to the drop-off into the deeper channel the reason why we were diving: big groups of grey reef sharks gliding effortlessly through the current with a few white-tip reef sharks mingling with them. During the day the sharks are resting after a night of hunting and look rather passive, but the numbers and proximity are still impressive.

It’s funny how scared we used to be of sharks. As a kid the thought of some big creature lurking under the surface made me hectically look down while swimming in the Adriatic–probably we’re a generation traumatised by the ‘Jaws’ series… After spending so much time in the water with sharks here in French Polynesia we have lost that fear, enjoy the company of curious reef sharks that follow us around on snorkelling trips and are always excited when we glimpse a bigger shape–sometimes a shy lemon shark at the barrier reef, sometimes a silvertip in a pass, sometimes a big, but lazy nurse shark having a nap on the bottom. Sharks are an important part of the eco-system, but in many areas they have been wiped out by fishermen to get rid of competition, to sell their fins on the Asian market or simply to keep the lagoon ‘safe’. Gamefishing for trophies is also popular…Fortunately in French Polynesia they are still plentiful.

Of course there are species of sharks that would send us quickly up and into the dinghy: meeting a big tiger shark or bull shark would be scary, but in a normal situation there still should be no danger. Accidents with sharks usually happen when people go swimming in areas that are known to have large populations of dangerous shark species (e.g. Australia or South Africa), or while spear fishing when fishblood and squiggling fish attract sharks. During our numerous encounters wish sharks we have never met an aggressive specimen.

Yesterday we left the lovely lagoon of Toau and sailed over to the neighbouring atoll Fakarava. We had a nice breeze, calm seas and only took 3 hours for the 13 nm ‘passage’. Unfortunately we weren’t lucky fishing this time, but Fakarava has one of the bigger villages in the Tuamotus (also quite some tourism) and so we stocked up on luxuries like tomatoes, eggplants and even courgettes/zucchini

Yesterday we made another small hop from the false pass on the Northern side of Toau down to the SE side where there’s a pass into the lagoon. The day started squally with sporty tacking up and down in shifting winds (the atoll kept jumping into our way, so we had to dodge it twice), but then we were sailing close-hauled along the edge of the outer reef in one tack and reached at pass at noon. Now we’re anchored in the pretty, turquoise lagoon and will start exploring today.

After a few grey days with lots of squalls, yesterday morning it was sunny again and the wind was blowing from the NE. Despite contradicting weather forecasts we couldn’t resist the opportunity and set out towards the neighbouring atoll Toau. I mean, what can go wrong on a passage that’s only 30 nm?
We sailed across the lagoon, out of the pass at the wrong time (4 knots of ingoing current against 15 knots of wind meant high standing waves…) and then we set out doing 6 knots in northeasterlies of 15-18 knots. Perfect sailing! One hour later the wind started getting less and less, then it died down and when it set in again, it was blowing 30 knots, but out of the southeast–exactly on the nose. We ended up motoring 7 miles against heavy rain and steep waves. Fortunately Toau has a ‘false pass’ (an opening in the barrier reef that does not go all the way into the lagoon) where you can enter and exit at any time.

When the stream of water from the tap no longer hits the sink, but swerves beyond the rim, you know you’re heeling too much… This passage was only 220 nm as the frigate bird flies, but we tacked up and down and the mixture of too much wind (30+ knots) and not enough wind (less than 10 knots) was rather tiring. Initially we had planned to sail to Tahanea, but in this easterly wind we would have had to tack another day or two, so we ended up in Apataki instead, which lay conveniently on our course (although we had to tack around its annoying neighbouring atoll that kept jumping into our way…).

We arrived at 1.30 at the height of the outgoing tide, but didn’t want to waste daylight to cross the lagoon and search for an anchorage, so we entered against 5 knots of outgoing current. The pass looked like a mountain stream, but Pitufa’s strong engine helped us through and the (weak-kneed) helmswoman held a steady course

We anchored on the southern side of the atoll behind a little motu and after 2 hours of cleaning we’re now settling down with a sundowner. Manuia (cheers)!