Monthly Archives: March 2022

Passage: Amanu to Gambier

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After waiting two weeks in Amanu, we finally get what we think is an “ok” weather window to head to Gambier.  I say “ok” window because they are not “ideal” conditions, but they are doable.  The 6-forecasts show NE winds with 1-2-meter seas, little rain and no storms.  Since we are heading SE these conditions will work.  This passage should take us 3-3.5 days based on our previous trips back and forth between these archipelagos.

What we learned during this passage was that the weather predictions were wrong 90% of the time.  It wasn’t until the last 12 hours that the weather predictions were actually accurate.  Little frustrating, yes!  We downloaded new forecasts 2 times per day from 6 sources and they were all wrong. Why is it that weather forecasters can be continuously incorrect and yet still keep their jobs :)?

We left our anchorage at 0600 and had a leisure sail to the pass.  Slack tide was estimated for 0700 so we did not want to arrive too early or too late.  We managed to arrive at 0705 which was perfect and had no issues exiting the pass.

We decided to go around the NW side of Amanu which is about 18-20nm longer and out of the way.  The reason we took this route was because it would give us a better angle for the trip (we make more easting).  As it turned out, we had to go 30nm out of the way in order to clear the Amanu SE corner.  But the good news was that it was a starboard tack (best tack for our boat) and beautiful sailing.

Then we began the pinching and bashing.  Pinching means that we are sailing as close to the wind as possible while still trying to keep the sails filled.  Sugar Shack can pinch to 38 degrees on a starboard tack and 45 degrees on port.  We would be on a port tack the entire way to Gambier.

Fishing for Birds

On day 1 we put out 2 of the 3 fishing lines.  We did not catch any fish, but we did catch a bird.  We had at least 25-30 birds circling and eyeballing our fishing lures.  It was pretty entertaining.  For the most part they would just stick their beak in the water to try to get the lure.  Missing most of the time and not able to pick it up once they got it.  

It wasn’t until they starting diving (their entire body) that we got worried.  We were pulling in one line when the other line went zing.  Crap.  We caught a bird.  The only thing we can do is bring it in and try to free the poor thing.  Within a few minutes it got free and sat on the water trying to regroup.  We certainly cleaned its clock.

Then we put the lures on the poles as we waited for them to go away.  And wouldn’t you know it, they found the lures on the poles and circled them while out of the water.  Silly birds!

End of first 24 hours we made 119nm toward our destination.

Day 2

Pretty uneventful passage day.  The boat is still pinching into the wind and bashing into the waves, but we are making progress and hanging in there.  It is slow going and we are slowly growing our cross track.  The cross track shows us how far off track we are.  We cannot head directly toward our destination because the wind is not cooperating.  But we are going in the “general direction.”

One fish got on the lure, made the fishing line go “zing” but it got off before we reeled her onto the boat.  Bummer.

End of 48 hours we made another 128nm toward our destination.

A beautiful sunset to end our day

Day 3

Wowza, totally crappy day on passage.  We had 3+ meters seas (that’s over 9’!) and lots of squalls.  We were constantly dodging the squalls and trying to make progress toward our destination. Not an easy feat.

Matt woke me up at 0500 to tell me we had two “fish on.”  Oh boy.  Lots to do.  Matt starts reeling in one fish while I make preparations.  Retrieve all required fishing gear (large container, bucket, cutting board, knives, gloves, pliers).  I could not reel in the 2nd line so we let it drag.  The pole was situated to the side of the boat behind the generator.  You had to lift the pole up and over the helm to reel it in and the fish was too strong for me.

Matt got the first line in and left it dragging behind the boat – tuna!  He got to the 2nd pole and barely got it over the helm.  Unfortunately, he did not have purchase to reel it in so we had to move it to a different fishing holder.  It had been at least 15 minutes, by the time we moved it again and he started reeling it in, we lost it.  But we still got a tuna.

The 2nd lure (on the pole that lost the fish), was destroyed.  Wonder what fish took ¼ of the fishing lure?

End of day 3 we made another 109nm toward our destination.

Day 4

We woke up to a much more pleasant day.  We were still pinching and had waves on the nose, but they were back down to 1.8-2 meters.  Much better, but still not ideal.  It wasn’t until sometime in the wee hours of the morning that the weather forecast finally came to fruition.  We got the NE winds that were promised and we were able to point directly to our destination.  Thus, saving us from having to motor the last 50+ miles.

Our cross track had made it all the way up to 38nm!  That means we were 38 miles off track.  Not too terribly bad considering we could not point directly here for the past 3 days. 

Land a Ho!

We spot Mt. Duff in the horizon and it is a sight to see!  We were so happy to see the beautiful mountain peak and be close to the end of this passage.

Passage Details:

  • Miles to Destination:  478
  • Total Miles Sailed:  537 (59 miles our of our way)
  • Total Moving Time: 98 hours 56 minutes (4 days 10 min)
  • Max Speed:  11.0 (during a squall)
  • Average Speed: 5.5kt

To give you some perspective:  a 46’ Amel (monohull) left Hao at the same time we did.  They had 60+ mile cross track and arrived 6 hours after we did.  So, we are feeling pretty good about ourselves.  As you know, any time two boats are headed in the same direction it is a race.

Passage Damage

Because the boat was bashing about from the waves, we had a wee bit of damage.  Any passage can be hard on the boat and this one was no exception.   The good news is that most of the damaged items are easily fixed – yeah!

  • Jib Tact Shackle broke. We had one 90-degree shackle attached to another shackle that held down the tact (bottom part of the sail) of the jib to the furler.  Kind of important as it keeps the sail attached to the boat enabling us to sail.  At dusk on day 3, I saw the tact flapping around, called Matt and we discovered the problem.  Matt was able to tie dynema (super strong line) to hold it down and we rolled the first portion of the jib to support it and prevent additional damage.  Since we only had 100nm to go we decided to wait to do further repairs (see note below on repair)
  • Starboard Alternator Belt Shredded: We have two alternators on each engine. The starboard large alternator has two belts and one became shredded and fell off.  Alternator still works, so we continued on.  Replaced it as soon as we got to anchorage
  • Ceiling Fan Broke: In the master cabin, we have two ceiling fans.  One fan was on during the super bad day and it bounced right off the ceiling and dangled from their wires.  We were able to reattach it to the ceiling but the wires need some love. Will fix at anchor
  • LED Ceiling Light: One of the starboard ceiling lights popped out of its hole during the bad day.  We taped it back to the ceiling until we get to anchor.
  • Two Fishing Lures: The fish were brutal to both lures taking at least 1/4 of each lure.

Repairing the Jib Tact Shackle

Once at anchor, and rested, we decided to fix the jib.  Matt had to unfurl the jib which meant we needed a super calm day.  Not wise to unfurl your sail while at anchor on a windy day.

The top 3 photos show the new shackle and dynema line that Matt added to hold the sail while we were at sea.  We could not connect the two shackles while the sail was under pressure and it was too windy to take it down while we were under way.

There was a small 1/4” tear of the bolt rope which threads up the forestay.  Negligible considering it could have been so much worse had we not caught it right away.  We added a new shackle and secured the sail (bottom image).

All in all it was not our best or favorite passage, but we made it safely.  Thank goodness.

Did you read about our adventures in Amanu in our last blog.   Events from this blog post occurred at the early December 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Amanu

Amazing Amanu

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Mother Nature provided us with another weather window to head SE so we had to leave Fakarava after spending only 2 days at this atoll.  But, when the weather presents a window, you take it and we planned to take it all the way to Amanu.  Typically, cruisers will sail North to South inside the lagoon and exit the south pass when they are heading S or SE.  It is about 30nm and relatively easy. 

However, we decided to exit the North pass which added about 11nm to our trip.  It is 5.5nm west then you have to sail the same 5.5nm back to get to your starting point.  But, once at the starting point, you have a good point of sail.

We sailed past the iconic Fakarava tower.  Do you remember when we posted about this before?  If not, search on our web for it – cool history.

Passing the Fakarava Tower

Passing the Fakarava Tower

We anticipated NE winds at 12-15kts with 1m seas.  The entire passage was estimated at 290nm down the North side of Fakarava, South side of Katiu and Makemo, North side of Marutea, then a “straight shot to Amanu.”  We were able to sail the entire way following our intended plan and bypassing all the islands along the way (which is always a good thing).  However, there was a huge wind shift about 80nm away from Amanu which was pushing us west of the atoll.  We decided to continue sailing, pinch as hard as we could (which means head into the wind as much as possible while still keeping the sails full), and reevaluate later.

We had a beautiful wisp of a rainbow hidden in the clouds and a few beautiful sunsets.

Shift in Weather and Plans

We continued sailing until we got 26nm from Amanu, then dropped the sails, turned on the engines, and headed into the wind and waves toward Amanu.  It was a rude way to finish a wonderful passage bashing into the waves and wind.  It ended up taking over 10 hours to travel 26nm.  

As we approached Amanu (and Hao which is only 15nm away), there were two boats in our path.  We were so close hauled that we did not have much maneuver room so we had to watch them closely.  We are the red arrow; the two boats are in green. The blue arrow shows you where we want to go which is clearly not where we are pointing to.  The joys of sailing vs motoring (you go where the wind takes you).

Once we arrived at the Amanu pass we had to wait over 3 hours for slack tide (where the tides are neutral enough for us to safely enter the lagoon).  Then we motored 3.5-hours upwind, to the North corner of Amanu.  We were tired.

The first 24 hours we made 176nm in 24 hours; the 2nd 24 hours we made 134nm.  Overall total mileage was 318nm (not including the motor across Amanu lagoon to the North corner).

Passage Details

  • ETA:  290nm
  • Actual Miles:  318nm
  • Total travel time:  55 hours (hook to hook)
  • Max Speed:  12.8
  • Average Speed: 6.5

Secluded North Anchorage

Matt and I had the entire North anchorage all to ourselves for Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for and are so blessed to live this life.

Sugar Shack in Amanu

Passing the Fakarava Tower

There are lots of motus to explore.  The largest one in front of us is really deep/thick so it takes a while to get from the lagoon side to the windward (ocean) side and is thick with brush and coconut trees.  Once you get to the windward side it is mostly coral and rock.

We decided to do a trash pickup day.  Unfortunately, a lot of the trash from the ocean washes up on the windward shores.  It is heartbreaking.  We find toothbrushes, razors, laundry baskets, fishing gear, shoes, flip flops, cans, propane bottles, floats, and tons and tons of plastic.  We can’t take it on the boat with us so we wrapped it up in a fishing net and left it high on the shore.  Hopefully a local will find it and burn the pile.

On another trash pickup day, we used a giant Make-A-Wish bag to collect the trash and then pile it behind a rock on the interior of the motu.  We created walls and piled heavy stuff on top so none of the trash would blow away.  This was 7/8 loads of trash which created a pile that was over 3’ tall, 4’ wide and 3’ deep.

To counter the awful trash, here is a beautiful picture of the sunrise over the motu.

Sunsets of Amanu

Sunsets of Amanu

Motu Fun

We found the “old village” which was really small ruins where some locals built up for copra shacks.  The only way you can tell this was an old village is from the rock formations that outline the small houses and the water wells that were left behind.

Matt was playing with the birds and one in particular took a liking to him.

Each motu has many faces.  You have the Liward side that faces the lagoon.  This side is usually small pieces of coral or shells and shaded by large palm trees.  The interior is usually a bit of a mess with fallen trees, coconuts, palm fronds, and brush.  The windward side, or the side that faces the ocean is usually large pieces of coral and rock (very little to no sand).

Star or Naval Anchorage

In the middle of Amanu is a beautiful little reef that the locals call the “naval” (aka middle of the atoll).  It is also called the star anchorage which is strange as it looks more like a boomerang to me than a star.  There is only room for a few boats and those that enter have to be careful as there are lots of bommies (coral heads) and shallow depths.   But if you come on a calm day, you will have the pleasure of enjoying this magical little spot. The red arrow is our boat anchored at the Star Anchorage (bottom photo) and red dot in top photo.

I tried to capture the reef by standing on the top of the bimini but I still was not high enough.  We wanted to fly the drone but it was too windy to launch.

We ended up waiting in Amanu for a weather window a lot longer than we anticipated.  Either the wind was right on the nose, or the seas were unbearable (3 meters in 5/6 second intervals) or there was tons of rain and storms.  We did not want to be out in either condition.  So, we waited over 13 days to get a decent weather window to make the 3-4 day passage to Gambier.

Us waiting around….

The  last blog we find boobies in paradise.   Events from this blog post occurred mid-November.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.