We had to leave Tikehau way too soon.  We really wanted to enjoy a week in Tikehau but a good weather window to Toau presented itself and we had to take it.  Our goal is to get to Gambier by early December (it is mid-November as I write this blog).  You are probably thinking, well, Christine you have 2-3 weeks, what is your rush?

You see, we can’t just hop on our boat and go to our destination (like a car, or plane, or train).  We have to wait for a good weather window that doesn’t have a lot of rain, or big seas and is not on the nose.  Unfortunately for us, the prevailing wind is SE and guess what direction we need to go?  Yep, SE.  So, we do the waiting game and when a window opens up we jump on it.

The passage to Toau was really nice.  It was not as brilliant as the passage to Tikehau, but it was nice. We had decent winds, no big gusts, less than .05m swell and only one three-hour period for a squall.  We reefed both sails and weathered through the squall, then unfurled the sails and continued on.

PASSAGE DETAILS:

• Total Miles:                 173nm
• Total Travel Time:     28.34
• Motor Time:               2.5 hours across the Tikehau lagoon and 2 hours across the Toau lagoon
• Max Speed:                10.0kt
• Average Speed:           6.1kt

Man Overboard Drill

I will spare you the details, the dermatologist froze about 15 “spots” off my body.  They were not cancerous, but they were suspicious and she wanted them gone.  That required me to stay out of the sun which is really hard when you are under passage.  I bathed in sunblock, put Band-Aids over each spot and wore long sleeves, long shorts, and a huge hat.

My hat has a strap under my chin and for the most part stayed on my head.  But, I happened to turn backwards to look at a silly bird going after one of our fishing lures and whammo – the hat went flying into the ocean.  We were under full sail (no engines) and had 2 fishing lines trolling behind us.  Seriously what a pain in the a$$!

We hit the MOB (Man Over Board) button, doused the jib, tightened up the main and made a slow turn to avoid tangling the fishing lines.  I grabbed the boat hook as Matt kept a watchful eye on my floating hat (yep it floated). 

As Matt maneuvered Sugar Shack near the hat, I grabbed it with the boat hook and we continued on our merry way.  Ugh…this is our track doing the MOB exercise.  I guess it is always good to practice your safety drills.

Man over board drill

We had to dodge several islands and could not hold a direct course.  We went around Tikehau and Rangiroa, but then dipped to the bottom of Arutua and Apataki.  Then ended the passage on the top of Toau and around to the SE passe, through the passe and to the SE corner where we could hide from the upcoming SE winds.

TOAU

This beautiful little atoll is pretty remote and typically does not get a lot of cruisers visiting as the resources are non-existent.  There are no magasins or refueling options here.  Several locals live on the outer motus and process copra for a living. 

Beautiful Toau

Shelling in Toau

Matt and I go on two long walks a day exploring the different motus and “shelling.”  You might have forgotten, but a motu is not an island but rather a group of smaller islands (or motus) that surround a large lagoon.  You have to enter designated passes in order to enter the interior of the atoll.  On the windward side of the motus are reefs and lots of sea treasures.

On the biggest motu near us we discovered a lot of pearl floats.  We use these to float our chains, but we already had 9 on the boat.  So, we made a Christmas tree.  I know a little early as it is only mid-November, but it sure is prettier than having them strewn all over the motu.

We found a few small patches of actual sand…usually the motus are covered in coral, rock, and shells.

We were spoiled rotten in Tikehau – did you read our last blog?   Events from this blog post occurred mid-November.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.