to Tahiti for a change in pace and lifestyle and to indulge in some
restaurant and cafe culture, we were both needing a break from the
galley.
We had been checking the weather regularly and there was nothing
appearing on the forecasts that said we shouldn't go, however,
around 6am on the morning that we planned to leave the sky was very
red and looked extremely dark and very squally to the south. We
figured maybe it was just a morning thing and that we'd sit and
watch it for a few hrs and check the weather once again. Still no
warnings appeared on the forecasts so we decided to up and leave.
The forecast was for lightish winds for the 290 miles to Tahiti.
Once you make your mind up to leave, it's kind of hard not to
go....don't you just love hindsight though, if we knew what we were
in for - we definitely would have sat it out for 3 days.
So out we went through the pass, still quite lumpy, although no
where near as bad as what is was when we arrived. The sun was out,
but it was still looking pretty ominous further south, we had about
15 knots of breeze which was nice sailing. Our course was to head
north up the eastern side of Tahanea before turning west for Tahiti.
After a few hours of sailing the wind totally dropped out to the
point that we had to turn the engine on..hmmm not in the forecast.
And the sky looking both east and west looked jet black, probably
the darkest we've ever seen in the middle of the day. We turned on
the radar to try and find the best possible gap to make a run
through it....and then bang the fishing lines went off...hooked a
massive tuna, and quickly did some rushed filleting before the rain
came...and did it come...it bucketed down, but strangely no wind -
the boat got a good wash and the freezer was full of tuna.
Given that we had seen no improvement in the weather we thought
maybe we could alter course slightly and make it into the small
atoll of Faaite before it got dark. Unfortunately darkness was
approaching faster than we could sail, so we had no choice but to
continue on.
After the massive dumping of rain that we had the wind came back and
filled in to around 15 knots - Reverie was moving along really
well - throughout the following day (Friday 13th June) the wind
continued to build into the 20's and by early evening was in to the
25's. Now it was starting to get dark and the wind as seas were
building - this was definitely not in the forecast!!
The seas were building up as a storm somewhere south of us was
pushing up a HUGE ground swell - Must have been a 20-30ft swell.
Long period still between them so that was ok for now. We reefed
the sails down and pushed on.
The wind then moved upwards of 30 knots and into the 40's. Now this
was not much fun, as the huge ground swell with the 30+ knot wind
waves made sailing "interesting" to say the least. We had it all
on the beam (side) so it was not ideal. Reverie was going quite
well, but we took a massive amount of water on the deck, cockpit,
and all over Jason who spent all of the night in the cockpit on
watch. Given that conditions were not easing we decided to drop
the mainsail as we needed to slow the boat down. We continued on
with just the tiniest amount of jib, in huge seas and winds.
As it was so rough and we only had one night to go we couldn't
muster the energy to cook dinner, not even the simplest of things
like pasta, instead we managed to munch on some biscuits and then
resorted to sharing a tin of baked beans.. yes out of the
tin!!!...we figured we would make up for this pathetic meal when we
arrive the following morning. For the rest of the night Jo was
bundled up on the couch, seasick, and Jason was fully decked out in
wet weather gear, freezing his butt off out in the cockpit. It was
surprisingly cold given that we were in the tropics. All of this
continued on for most of the 24 hours of Friday the 13th!!. Typical!
The following morning the sun came out and we could see Tahiti in
the near distance, not long to go now, the wind had eased a little
and was in the mid-high 20's. After having 30-40 knots for so long,
high 20's was now a breeze - we still had to watch the big waves on
the beam, but we only had to endure this for a few more hours and
then we'd be through the pass into Tahiti and into calm waters.
As we approach, the coast of Tahiti looks amazing with the morning
sun, the winds have now eased and the swell has almost dropped out
completely as we are in the lee of the island. The temperatures
have soared back into the high 20's and last night now seems as if
it didn't even happen.
Once through the main pass of Papeete we get clearance from the
harbour master that we can proceed past the airport (we don't want
any taking off planes bumping into us at this point, or any point!).
We continue motoring through the marked channel making our way to
the anchorage. On arrival the anchorage is very busy, lots of
boats, however we find a great spot in about 5m of crystal clear
water - and right next to our Aussie friends on "Sabalo".
It's great to have the boat still, and not moving! We've got a big
afternoon ahead of us cleaning all the salt off the boat - and then
it's going to be a well deserved beer o'clock.....and long sleep!
More coming soon,
J&J
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