At about the halfway mark, on our transit of the gap between Rabi and Udu Point, a four-plus-meter wave broke right when it hit us. I was able to turn and duck away from it, but I still got hit in the back with a couple of buckets-worth of cold water, which also soaked the seat. The wave filled the cockpit to ankle-depth.
Since we were in the tropics, I was not dressed in foul weather gear. I was dressed for a picnic in the park. Technically, I was dressed like someone at the picnic who had been thrown in the pool as a prank. My reasoning is that it is warm outside and that stuff dries quickly. If it doesn't, it's easier to change.
The problem was that since the boat was continuously being coated in salt water, I didn't want to track the wet outside into the nice, dry inside to change outfits, particularly since I'm probably going to end up getting wet again anyway.
The temperature was in the high 20s Celsius, so it was nice and warm out, but the thirty-knot winds made for quite a windchill! I shivered my way through the next half hour until I was starting to feel dry again. Wham! Another bloody wave would resoak me! I know intellectually that waves don't have agency, but they totally do seem like they enjoy messing with me sometimes. After a few more wet/dry cycles, I was legitimately cold-soaked and shivering almost uncontrollably. Fun officially over, let's get this thing over with!
We rounded the reef three miles from Udu Point Light, which is as close as you can get, turned downwind, and had the reverse experience from leaving Rabi. In twenty minutes, we were sliding along a flat sea with only a quarter of the jib out.
We pulled into our planned anchorage at Nubu. It was exposed to the wind, which was coming along the coast. I was worried the anchorage would be uncomfortable, but it is surrounded so extensively by drying reefs that the deep basin had completely flat water.
Entering the pass into the protected waters at Nubu
Once we were settled, we got a message from Amelting Heart, asking about the anchorage. They had left Rabi a few hours after us and were hoping to make it to Nubu by nightfall.
They didn't make it. We spotted them on the eastern horizon just before sunset. Their sails were down and they were motoring into an anchorage there. In the middle of the subsequent dark, cloudy nights, their distant anchor light served as the best way to find Begonia's orientation.
Nubu is a convenient stop, but doesn't otherwise have too much in the way of tourist attractions. The two things to do are snorkel, which is hazy and meh, and go see the waterfall up the creek. My check on the anchor and Begonia's immediate vicinity satisfied the first to the degree that Maryanne was convinced to not bother getting wet in the first place.
Then there is the waterfall. The river is blocked by a mudbank at low tide, so we were up early for the morning high tide to have a look.
As a waterfall, it's not particularly impressive – just a brook pouring over a few meters of rock.
At the bottom, we left the dinghy and walked upriver along the banks. This was the best bit. A series of minor waterfalls made an interconnecting chain of deep swimming holes that would be a perfect place to spend the upper half of the tide on a sunny day. We certainly thought about it, but the chill of the early morning made us less than enthusiastic about the idea. Maryanne and I contented ourselves with rock-hopping our way up the creek until we were stopped by sheer faces on both sides. With the tide falling the entire time, we were aware we needed to keep it moving to avoid being stranded. We were back at Bagonia by noon.
Our trip up the river to the stream
A little while later, we could see Amelting Heart heading our way with sails up. We thought they would surely continue on, but Andrew called us on the radio to tell us they were planning on coming in for the night. After giving him the rundown, he and Isabelle said they would come over, but decided to try to make it up the river beforehand.
"Okay, you'd better get going, before the tide drops too much!"
They mostly made it. Just as we were starting to get worried that they might be stuck up there and were figuring out what we would be able to do about it, they appeared at the entrance. There were a couple of spots where Andrew had to lift his outboard and punt through the goo, but they made it to deep water after all. Then we were finally able to commence our planned evening of cards, drinks, and stories.
Anchorage location at Nubu >> On google maps
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