Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Passage to Tahiti

[Kyle]After very carefully calculating our transit time for Rangiroa's second biggest pass at Avatoru, Begonia ended up being the very first boat out of the anchorage. During the hour that it took us to transit the lagoon to get to Passe Avatoru, we noticed two different boats on our AIS display that looked like they were approaching Passe Tiputa. Just before they got there, they slowed way down, then turned and started heading away. Hmmm...

We continued on and, like at Toau, we told ourselves we would have a look when we got there and abort if we didn't like it.

It seemed fine – certainly no worse than when we had entered the other pass a few days earlier. We decided to continue. At the roughest part, a local boat overtook us, crossed to the western side of the waves and looked to be having a much smoother ride than we were. This is great! Now we have someone to follow. We tucked in behind them and a few short minutes later, we were in smooth water on the outside lee of the atoll. That's when everything started to deteriorate.


Luckily I'd prepped our food before we reached the pass, as the sailing was work enough for a whole day once we departed the atoll

The forecast had been for northeast winds of twelve to fifteen knots. That's what we had in the anchorage and for the hour it took us to get to the pass. Now that we were on the outside, the forecast was only right about a third of the time. For the other ten minutes out of every fifteen, we had everything else. We had strong gusts from the north, then south. Then it would be calm for twenty seconds. We would get a few seconds of tailwinds to get us moving, then get blasted by strong headwinds. Most of the time, the direction changed faster than we could react by steering the boat. The leftover chop made for such stochastic seas in the lulls that the slatting sails seemed less interested in producing propulsive force than trying to turn our rig into a shower of metal rigging parts pinging off the deck. After patiently trying to wait out the first of these lulls, I quickly learned to pull down all our sail as soon as I saw the wind speed start to drop. The bobbing was annoying, but it was better than being shaken to death. I ended up doing the full hoist/douse routine a dozen times on my watch. When Maryanne came to relieve me, my briefing was, "Good Luck! She's your problem now..."

Her watch was just as bad as mine. When she woke me at midnight, we were supposed to have been almost a hundred miles closer to Tahiti, but we had made it all of fifteen. Our track was very squiggly.

It wasn't until dinnertime, when I was finally able to sit through my whole meal without racing out to trim the sails or swing the wheel hard over, that things finally started to improve. I can't recall the last time we have had such a frustrating and miserable twenty-four hours of sailing.

After dinner, Maryanne flew the spinnaker. When she woke me later, I assumed it was to quickly run out and help her get it down before an approaching squall. It turned out it was just regular ol' midnight and no, I won't be crawling back into bed in ten minutes.

Conditions stayed ideal for the spinnaker and we were eventually able to make up all the time we had lost the day before. We rounded the headland into the flat water behind Point Venus just after sunrise on our third day and dropped our anchor onto the clean, black sand of the bommie-free bay. The steep, green mountains of Tahiti Nui made an ever-changing backdrop, as clinging clouds blown by the trade winds continually hid and then revealed them. In the other direction, the jagged island of Moorea juts steeply out of the sea to the left of the tropical sunset. We had planned a few buffer days to make sure we arrived at Papeete when we wanted, but we didn't end up needing them. That allowed us to take a few slow days at Point Venus to enjoy the spectacular scenery.


Beautiful conditions as we approached Tahiti


At Point Venus we spent a few days at anchor and catching up; very chilled. We didn't go ashore this time around but have been before


Anchorage location >> On google maps

Monday, June 30, 2025

Rangiroa, Tuamotus

[Kyle]The sail from Apataki to Rangiroa was an easy, jib-only affair. We left early enough to be able to make it the Rangiroa end at first light, just half an hour after high tide, without any need to go too fast. Apart from a couple of showers along the way, it was pleasant sailing.

At Passe de Tiputa, Rangiroa's main and easternmost pass. Late twilight revealed some slight chop in a mild flood current. We transited and then slowed way down to give the sun a chance to climb higher in the sky before we entered the bommie-strewn anchorage area. As in south Fakarava, all the good spots were already taken. We tried really hard to get as close to the dinghy landing area as we could, but couldn't make it work. We once again ended up in deep water out in the back with the posh yachts, where we needed all our chain and a whole string of floats to make it work.


Arrived in daylight, and enjoyed a rest day and a fine sunset before venturing ashore the next morning

There was even more fast boat traffic here than at Fakarava. As I swam to check the floats, I had to make a point of pulling myself down one line, then along the chain to the next float, before following its line back up to the surface. My hope was that boats could see our floats and would avoid them as they zipped by, hopefully along with my head. Some of those stretches were long ones, though, and it was tough to force myself to stay down there until I got to the safety of the next float line. Later, when the wind started blowing hard, we had one float that got pulled under the surface by a meter or so as the chain stretched. There was a particular tour boat that always went right over it as they went through the anchorage. We cringed every time it passed by. We were hoping the float line was weak enough to snap if they should snag it with their prop. We decided that was the last time either of us would swim in the anchorage outside the shadow of the boat.

The next morning, we rowed the dinghy to shore at the nearby village of Ohotu. Our loose plan was to look around, have a bit of a walk, and maybe pick up some veggies at the store. Ohotu is where the main ferry pier is located, so it has a larger selection of cafés and snacks than would be strictly necessary for the tiny population (probably around 300). We looked at a few, but managed to hold off actually sitting down in one until Les Relais de Josephine.

Les Relais de Josephine has a deck right over the Passe de Tiputa at the best vantage point to observe the fun.

Despite being the main, deep pass used by everything up to cruise ships and large supply vessels, Passe de Tiputa is not one of the more mildly mannered. After our easy experience coming in, the first thing we couldn't help but notice as we selected our table for lunch was that the pass was a heaving, roiling mess, with two to three-meter standing waves. Note to self: Do not leave when the tide is like it is right now, which is three hours after low tide (timing is everything!).

As we watched the pass, we also noticed something interesting. Local dive and tour boats were going in and out of the pass. They stayed far to the east of the centerline in shallow water and seemed to be in completely flat water to the side of the standing waves. That is also good information.

We had quite a show during our lunch. Not only did we get to see fast RIBs being pushed backwards by the current. A resident pod of dolphins likes to come out and play in the waves, leaping from their crests and doing areal tricks. Just after the waves started to subside a little, a monohull entered and had a pretty wild ride in. The current slowed them to a near stop, which only prolonged their misery, until someone unrolled the jib to help get them out of there.


We checked out Tiputa pass with a relaxing drink in our hands and watched how others handle it when things are a little wilder, not a bad view at all!

My plan for the rest of the day was to pop into the Kia Ora resort, which has the nearest dock to Begonia, and just verify that we were okay to use the dock if we were dining at their restaurant. We were, but they made it clear we could not leave the dinghy there longer than the duration of our meal.


And a (long) stroll to the other end of the atoll to Avatoru to check out the pass there (and to see if we could get any additional fresh veggies in the bigger town). The pass was nice and calm at the time, but a wreck sits on one end to remind us all to beware. A local told us to not miss the "sleeping sharks" off the fishing pier there (see the first picture in this group).

Maryanne had other ideas. On the other end of the causeway connecting the chain of motus between Ohotu and the main town of Avatoru, there is a cave (wine tasting room) that features wine from a vineyard on the next motu along the chain, on the far side of the next pass. They bill themselves as the only vineyard on an atoll in the world. To get there, we would of course be walking the intervening miles in the midday sun. Maryanne agreed to at least let us take a cab from the cave to our dinghy to increase our chances of getting home by dark.

A coral atoll is not the ideal growing environment for wine grapes. The soil is too porous and acidic and the weather is pretty much the same year-round. Also, even though the sun climbs very high in the tropical sky, the duration of sunlight compared to a Mediterranean summer is quite low. The Frenchman who started the vineyard really wanted to be here, though, and he wanted to grow wine, so he set about trying to figure out how to overcome all the various problems with the site.


And a visit to the world's ONLY coral atoll winery (the vinyard is in a different motu of the same atoll) and the only one in the whole of French Polynesia. Here we had a private tour (we were the only English speaking couple that turned up for the 4pm slot), a short movie showing the vineyards and describing the history, and sampled a selection wines and a bonus of a locally grown rum

He started with other crops to change the composition of the soil. The biggest problem is the lack of winter. Grapes apparently need the stress of winter to grow properly for wines. He eventually figured out he could replace the stress of a winter freeze with regular, aggressive pruning in order to induce an artificial cycle to the growing season.

Even with all of this, Maryanne and I were still expecting the wine to be a bit rough. It turned out not to be at all. It wasn't amazing, but I would put it on par with 90% of any decent wines you find in a store. If they had taken the label off and told me it was from the Napa Valley, I would've believed them. I think that's quite an accomplishment considering all they have working against them.

Since we had managed to see the entire walkable portion of Rangiroa's main group of motus the day before, our only outstanding task the next day was an easy row to the Kia Ora for a late lunch.

The Kia Ora is a beautiful resort. We were looking forward to a meal, a couple of fancy cocktails and a view. When we presented ourselves at the bar for seating, the man there simultaneously ignored us and acted like he was completely swamped with the other four patrons in the place. Those patrons were beloved friends and valued guests because they are staying in the resort. We were dirty boat scum. Most of the others already had their orders and were not in need of any service, but the barman seemed to make a point of weaving around us as he checked to see if everything was to their liking.

After twenty minutes of this, we gave up and decided to try the restaurant. It was empty, apart from two other tables, each with a couple. We were seated right away. After we placed our order, the guy returned with another employee and asked us to repeat it for her. Oops! Again, the staff seemed swamped taking care of the six of us in the seventy-table restaurant, but our order did go through and we were soon munching on our delicious lunch.

My cocktail order took two tries. Eventually, our favorite barman appeared and presented it to me with a flourish and a disingenuous, saccharin smile that did not fail to convey how much he despised me for making him produce it. Oh, if only United Airlines would start service to Rangiroa. Then he could get his dream job at the airport as a gate agent.


We were anchored right off the Kia Ora resort, so made the effort to go ashore there and check it out

After lingering over our meal long enough to let a big rain shower pass, we returned to the dinghy and then back home, where it was my job to put it back in lifeboat mode for our next leg to Tahiti. At the dock, we just got to step around the leading edge of preparations for a destination wedding that started up almost as soon as we got back to Begonia.


A wedding on the dock at the Kia Ora

{Maryanne:I had really wanted to visit the Blue Lagoon of Rangiroa, but anchoring restrictions appear to make anchoring there no longer permitted; while others were visiting, we just couldn't verify the status of the anchorage (things are getting quite confusing in French Polynesia right now, and the rules don't exist in a single place, and even when you find an official site, there are often additional local restrictions that the national site doesn't explain)... It was also clear on the other side of the atoll, and we'll keep it on the list for "maybe next time" if regulations clear up and make it available again.}


Anchorage location >> On google maps

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Apataki, Tuamotus

[Kyle]As our sail from Toau to Apataki was supposed to be long enough to require almost all the day's light, we made sure we left as soon as it was bright enough to see where we were going.

The portion within the lagoon was slightly unnerving, as the sun wasn't quite high enough in the sky to make bommie spotting easy. I was careful to follow our inbound track as closely as possible, minus one spot I had marked on the way in as being a little too close for comfort.

Unlike our high tide arrival, we planned our outbound transit of the pass to be just before low tide. This was less than ideal, because shallower water tends to make for bigger waves, but the difference in height between the two tides here is only about a foot. Our main worry was the current.

Currents in the atolls are notoriously hard to predict. Theoretically, slack water should occur at mid tide. This seems counterintuitive because it seems like slack should be at high and low tides, when the most, or least, water is present, as it does in most river systems.

Atolls are different, because they act like a bowl with a big chunk missing at the pass. As the tide rises on the outside, water spills in through the gap, raising the level on the inside, but with a lag, because it takes time to fill the lagoon. At high tide (on the outside), the difference between the two water levels is greatest and the inflowing current is highest. As the tide starts to fall again, the water still continues to flow in until it reaches the height of the water on the inside. That's when slack occurs. Then the same thing happens going the other way for the low tide part of the cycle.

That's the theory, anyway. In reality, all of this is complicated by the geometry of each atoll. Porous atolls, as in ones with few motus and lots of gaps, will tend to spill most of their water over the sides, leaving a smaller portion to create current in the passes. That also makes slack water closer to high and low tides. Less porous motus, of which Toau is one, can become more porous during heavy weather, when unusually big waves can throw water high enough to top the fringing reefs. For this reason, atolls are more porous at high tide than at low tide. Pass orientation is also important. Ones facing the waves let in more water than ones that don't. Also, some tide stations report the height of the water on the outside of the pass, some on the inside.

All this makes figuring out when to transit a pass a lot of guesswork. Ask three cruisers what time they have figured out for transiting the same pass and you will likely get three answers covering a span of a couple of hours. The best way to figure it out is to ask someone who is there right now what they are seeing. Second best is to copy what worked last time. If two hours before high tide worked the day before yesterday and the conditions outside are pretty similar to then, two hours before high tide today has a good chance of being okay too.

All this being said, and knowing we were going to be the first one of the day to try the pass, Maryanne and I decided that if we didn't like the look of it, we would loiter around inside until things calmed down.

As we approached the pass, we could see small standing waves (below deck height), with a flat patch of swirly water to the right. We watched it for a while and decided to give it a go, with a plan to go through the flat water, then do a long end run around the breakers once we got to deep water.

By the time we got to the flat patch, it was gone, replaced with more deck-high breakers. We tried to skirt the edge, but pretty soon, the edge was gone and the waves were building fast. A few seconds later, the waves were above the tops of our lifelines, crashing onto our decks and sending walls of water to submerge the cabin windows. The steeper waves, which were increasing in frequency, were big enough to stop Begonia cold. Everything in the boat got thrown to a different location. With 2500rpm on both engines and the speed reading zero or almost zero, I spent a harrowing few seconds not being sure if one or both of our propellers had come off. We did not want to get sideways in this. The good thing – the only good thing, was that the current was taking us into deep water. If we could hold on and wait it out, we would be pushed clear of the waves.

Our propellers turned out to be fine. We slowly nudged Begonia to the right-hand edge of the breakers. As the waves decreased, we picked up speed and were soon in the gentle roll of the deep ocean. We did our end run around the rest and were soon making good speed in following seas towards Apataki. It took us another thirty minutes to calm down and enjoy it.

A couple of other boats that we could see on AIS exited the pass. The first one reported the pass to be “fine". The next one called it “nice". Had we gone through ten minutes earlier, when we first saw it, it probably would have been the same for us. The same two boats entered Toau twenty minutes after we did on the same day. Our entry was smooth. They reported theirs as “boisterous" and, “scary". You just never know what you are going to get with these damn things. The big lesson seems to be to always be prepared for the worst.

After the morning's departure from Toau, we were a little nervous about entering the pass at Apataki. We hadn't been fast enough to arrive at what we expected to be the ideal time for a crossing. We were hoping it would still be okay when we got there, because we didn't have much daylight left for waiting. Neither of us wanted to be hove-to overnight, waiting for morning.

It turned out to be fine - better than fine. The water of the pass was completely flat, with only a few eddies as the current rushed out to sea. The only motion we had was a little yaw as the eddies slewed us left and right. There was no pitch, no roll, no heave, no surge, and only the barest amount of sway. Had we built a house of cards on the cockpit table, it probably would have survived.

That ended a little further in. As the water of the lagoon squeezed over the shallow patch at that end of the pass, it formed a region of small standing waves. They jiggled us around for a few seconds and then we were in. Whew! From there, it was an upwind bash to the protection in the lee of a sandbank near tiny Motu Rua Vahine. We had just enough time to run the checklist before the sun plunged through the horizon. The next morning, we donned snorkel and fins to swim over to the nearby reefs to see what's what.



Anchored in the south end of Apataki Atoll (near Motu Rua Vahine)

There didn't turn out to be too much to see. There were a few scattered coral heads, but not much else. Mainly, the current coming over the reef gave us a chance to have a good, long swim. We decided seeing it once was enough for us.

As we were coming through the pass the day before, the town there, called Niutahi, looked really nice. Rumor is that they will let cruising boats tie up to the supply ship wharf of the ship is not in. We could see no masts by the town and as far as we could tell, there was no supply ship within a hundred miles. We decided to go have a look.

The wharf did turn out to be both available and free of charge. There was room for about three boats our size, so we tied up at one end in case anyone else showed up later. Then it was time to step off and enjoy Niutahi.

Niutahi is laid out in the shape of a coffee bean, with an elliptical perimeter road and another that runs straight up the middle to bisect the village. Begonia was at the wharf end.

Apart from being pleasant and quiet, the village has little in the way of attractions. The restaurant is closed, the snacks are closed. There only seems to be one pension (inn) in operation and it seems to be temporarily closed for renovations. They do have a store, which opens a few hours per day (not now, come back later) and they are home to the atoll's airport. We made kind of a double figure-eight of the roads and managed to eke out a 5k walk.



Exploring the village of Niutahi, where the main mode of transport is tricycle

On the way back to Begonia on the middle road, a man called out to us and waved us over. He introduced himself as Nikolo. Over very broken French, he told us his story and how he and his wife, who grew up in Huahine, met. She then disappeared, and then returned with a whole big bottle of cowrie shells, which she poured into our hands. She made it apparent that our choice was to catch them or let them fall on the ground. Nikolo then gifted us a giant breadfruit, which may have been to keep it from falling on Maryanne's head, as she was seated right below it. Now we have starch for three days. As we were leaving to return to Begonia, he also attempted to teach us the entire Tahitian language. It's a lovely language, but our capacity for learning new words is about three at a time. No one will be asking us to translate anytime soon.

Back at the wharf, we saw that another, newer, slightly bigger Fountaine-Pajot had arrived. Magic lists their hailing port on the stern as Minnetonka, Minnesota. The owners, Dan and Kelly, clarified that they had actually started in the Pacific Northwest in Puget Sound. With them were two friends, Fred and Jill, who were joining them from Minnesota for a few weeks. They asked us if we would like to come over later for drinks.

"Actually, we've got quite a lot to do tonight. Maybe some other time."

"Wait a minute! No we don't. We'll be right over!"

They all turned out to be lovely company. After hearing that I grew up in Denver, Fred mentioned his brother, Karl. Karl Mecklenburg is world famous in Denver. I didn't actually know much about him, but I recognized the name of the Denver Broncos football player. My brother Darren is a much more dedicated fan and I could only imagine his slight amusement at his brother having drinks with Karl Mecklenburg's brother. Fred and Jill were having their last night aboard before getting tomorrow's flight to Tahiti, and then ultimately home.

Ouch! Maryanne and I had just been remarking to each other, as we walked past the airport, how amazing it would feel to leave for a vacation away from the Rat Race, and to eventually, after many connections in busy airports, end up here, where the walk from the bus stop-sized terminal to your pension takes five minutes, and then there's nothing left to do but let out a big sigh and relax. This place definitely feels like it's on the other side of the world from anything that produces stress. We hadn't considered how terrifying it would feel to go the other way.

Jill and Fred seemed fine with it. Perhaps they like their jobs and are eager to get back, or they have cute pets or something.

With the hatches shut, it wasn't bad for sleeping – just imagine you're on a long flight and let the drone lull you to sleep. Dinner conversation in Magic's cockpit was one step down from trying to make friends on the floor of a dance club. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but I wouldn't be surprised if we were all a little hoarse the next morning from trying to project to the back of the auditorium.

Since we didn't have to leave until afternoon for the overnight sail to Rangiroa, we took the opportunity to jump in the water and snorkel the pass. Like most passes, the varieties of coral and fishes is much above average for the atoll, as the nutrients are concentrated there. In addition to the usual stuff, we also got to see the underwater parts of both working and disused pearl farms, where the oysters are hung below freestanding processing shacks in net bags. On the way back to Begonia, we encountered Fred and Jill, having one last swim before their flight leaves.

For our whole time tied to the wharf at Niutahi, we had a clear view of the pass and never saw it be anything other than perfectly flat. That eliminated our worries about timing our exit for any particular state. Instead, we could focus on about making sure we were close to our guess for the right time to enter Rangiroa. We started both engines, just in case, but once we were into the deep ocean, Maryanne remarked that we could have saved the engines and sailed off the wharf.


Snorkelling the pass and adjacent lagoon shallows


Southern Anchorage location >> On google maps

Niutahi Town Dock location >> On google maps