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
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.
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
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.
