The one thing we had going for us, though, was the distance. It was such that, if we aimed for a mid-morning arrival at the pass, we could either push the boat hard, or take an extra day and take it easy. We weren't in any hurry, so the latter seemed the more prudent option.
Since the forecast was for more wind than we would need along the entire distance, we put two reefs in the main, and then varied the size of the jib to maintain our target speed as we pointed a little windward of a direct line to hedge against wind shifts.
The lower speed made all the difference. Three-quarters of the speed is just over half the impact force every time we hit a wave. Flying off the tops of waves at nine knots and then slamming into the next one is jarring. Doing it at five-and-a-half is much easier on both us and the boat. Even though it cost us a day, and possibly some bragging rights with the monohulls, our passage felt like it would have had we been pointing forty degrees farther downwind. This was made even more so by our hedge, which curved us further and further downwind as we approached Tahanea.
The morning we arrived at the pass, the wind was just starting to ramp up again into "enhanced trades". We entered at the last of the ebb on a rising tide, opting for sails instead of motors for propulsion. Motors can reliably push us any direction, but sailing is faster. The angle was such that, even with the current messing with us, we were never in danger of approaching the edge of the envelope for sailing.
Once inside, we let out the sheets slightly and had a fast sail across the lagoon to the “7” anchorage, so named because it is behind a sandspit that looks like a seven in satellite photos. There's not much there, and it's not the best protected anchorage in the atoll, but for us, that was the point.
The entire atoll at Tahanea is a Marine Protected Zone, and there is no permanent settlement. There are no cellular towers here, no wifi, no stores, no nuttin'. My plan, which Maryanne was kind enough to go along with, was to linger for a while. We would have time to catch up on our photos and the blog. We could turn off our alarms, go to bed and wake up whenever we feel like. We could spend our days as our whims dictate, without the pressure of trying to do everything in a couple days.
Scenes from our passage; from the towering Marquesas to the very different low-lying Tuamotus. The fruit is a green (unripe) papaya which we used in salads, and curries (it was huge)
And safely at anchor in yet another version of paradise!
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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