On the move again! After a quick haul out and trip home from the most remote boatyard in the world (Hiva Oa) – we’re on the move again. And this time “we” isn’t just me, Kuaka and some stuffed animals. My parents flew to French Polynesia and are aboard for the trip to Tahiti. It’s been over 20 years since our last overnight passage together and, despite their two long rambles around the Pacific on boats, they had not been to the Marquesas, Tuamotus, or Society Islands before. Luckily we work like a well oiled machine.
We started with four very close to 50lb bags being checked in Portland. As they say- when in the USA, better go shopping (in this case a small watermaker and replacing some solar panels).
Miraculously everything arrived in Papeete and we checked them as freight to get to Hiva Oa. The flights both gave us a good preview of Atolls to come.
The second flight, on Air Tahiti, included an even better preview, with a few of the Tuamotuan atolls that we hope to visit!
Once arrived, it was straight to boat work! In 5 days we mounted the new solar panels, installed a watermaker, repacked the stuffing box, replaced the windlass switch, painted the bottom, replaced the speed transducer / housing, and maybe most importantly, replaced the galley sink faucet. It was hot and sweaty. We also grocery shopped and filled the diesel tank.
We finally wrapped up the boat projects and did some island exploring, driving every road on the island in 2 days, starting with a view back to Atuona (see Kuaka in the yard?)
And a drive to the far side of the island.
And a thinking Tiki
And a Tiki with glasses on
And then it was Monday, and after sweating all day waiting for high tide, into the water we went! This isn’t Kuaka, but another aluminum boat from the yard going in ahead of us. Since Kuaka is the maximum draft they can haul, they wait for the peak of the high tide to launch us.
Instead of rolling around in the anchorage, we headed out immediately for a very pleasant sail through the Canal de Brodelais, between Hiva Oa and Tahuata.
Just before sunset we dropped the anchor in Baie Hanamoenoa with just two other boats. While a bit rolly, Kuaka (and her passengers) were very happy to be back afloat.
With a favorable weather forecast, we decided to take off the next afternoon to head to the Tuamotus, about 500nm to the SW. We estimated that it would take just over 3 days, so left in the early evening.
The first night was dreamy sailing – clear skies, about 12-15 knots of wind, broad reaching (the most comfortable and fast point of sail).
We all remembered how to sail and made good progress.
The second day the wind picked up with more good sailing, but higher humidity and more variability in the wind speed and direction.
By late afternoon it was downright squally, with dark clouds, strong winds, and some impressive rain.
We hung in there though and made great time, logging about 150-160nm each day.
The last full day at sea the humidity and temperature dropped and the squalls went away, leaving us with a fine night of sailing. Overnight we slowed the boat intentionally to time the pass at Ahe in the Tuamotus. About 4am we had 8nm to go and hove to (stopped the boat) for about 3 hours before heading in through the pass. The pass was smooth, with about 2 knots of current coming in and some wind waves. A quick trip across the lagoon and we dropped anchor in front of the small town.
In total, we sailed 529nm from Tahuata to Ahe. We are happy to be moving again, and looking forward to some atoll exploring. The wind is forecast to make a full 360 as a weather system passes to the south of us, so we’ll move anchorages as needed. In the meantime, the parents are off for a snorkel (after researching sharks, sting rays, moray eels, etc). There was even a 15 minute window of good wingfoiling too before the wind dropped.