The weather was not great. We were just about to start our whole anchor and float retrieval kerfuffle when the skies opened up. Our usual roles are for me to be at the helm doing the maneuvering while Maryanne is up at the bow doing the bulk of the actual work. I could hide under the bimini while Maryanne was just going to be out in it getting a good soaking. We had enough daylight left to wait forty minutes or so before we had to leave, so we decided to wait until it passed. She only had to deal with a light sprinkling at the very end of the shower.
The sail was pretty nice. We had plenty of wind, and the atoll to windward completely flattened the sea. It was easy, fast, comfortable sailing. Also, since Fakarava is one of the more populated atolls, they have a well-surveyed shipping channel from one end to the other. Staying within its boundaries takes a lot of the stress out of finding an uncharted bommie while going eight knots.
In the middle of our sail, just before the channel does some twisting and turning to get through the shallowest region, we got another deluge. This one, I had no choice but to sit out while I was at the helm. It was coming from the side with almost no protection from the bimini. After a few minutes, cold and out in the wind, I actually started shivering. I haven't done that in months! Once the rain stopped, the tropical sun and wind had me dry again half an hour later, as if the whole episode never happened.
Near the North Pass, passing Pufana Reef, we were relieved to find both of the public moorings were available (although one is marked private and used by the local tourist live-aboard sailboat from time to time). It seems the weather had kept everyone hunkered down at the nearby village of Rotoava, which has better protection. I swam on the public mooring and found it to be recently installed and built of sturdy enough components to handle boats way bigger than we are. That allowed us to sleep soundly, even though it was still a bit rolly.
The thing to do here is snorkel on the adjacent reef. We did three laps the first day and two on the second. The area is not as large as the south pass, but the varieties of both fishes and corals were greater. We enjoyed it a lot and it was easier to pop over and have a look whenever the urge arose.
A string of tour boats came through. Some used the other mooring, some hovered. Almost none of them stayed longer than fifteen minutes, while their charges snorkeled a small patch of the reef. How can you see anything in fifteen minutes? I guess they are put in to get a picture of a parrotfish and a shark and then it's time to move on. It's so nice to have the luxury of having time to go hang out at the much better, back side of the reef and to be able to stay out until the sun starts getting too close to the horizon.
LOTS of snorkelling around the coral patch known as Pufana Reef, the ends had some "interesting" currents to fight against, but we had fun every time we visited
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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