We left Hiva Oa under rain clouds and a good stiff breeze which died after and hour of sailing. The clouds cleared away as we left the vicinty of the island and then we settled for a week of much light wind and calm seas. Very nice if you are in no hurry but we had to push on. So there was more motoring now, when there was no wind.
We also had the main sail fall down twice. The first time the main halyard had frayed and ripped near the top of the mast. As this rope runs inside the hollow aluminium mast it was not possible to retreive it and run it up again. However the boom is supported by the Topping Lift - this rope runs up inside the mast and down to the outer end of the boom - it holds the boom up when the main sail is down. We tied this to the top of the main sail and hauled the sail up again. All was well for a 24 hours (literally) then this rope also failed. Fortunately the head sail has two halyards rigged (the working one and a spare) so we were able to use this to haul up the sail again. David went up the mast in the bosun's chair to inspect the damage and found that both main halyard and topping lift blocks at the top of the mast had worn away and jammed which had caused both ropes to fray against the sharp edge where they emerged from inside the mast.
On top of this the engined stopped working for a while but this too was solved being blocked filters and something else blocked (which, being of limited capability with all things engineering, I cannot describe). Once cleaned and unblocked we motored on to the Atolls of the Tuamotu.
Here are some Life at Sea pictures
The Tuamotu Atolls ...... We stopped for a day and night at Takaroa. Everything you have ever seen about remote Pacific coral islands is true ! White white coral sand, clearest water that is dark blue in the ocean and suddenly pale blue and then turquiose in the shallows and white over sand. You can see way down and watch brightly coloured fish swimming about in the shallows. Snorkelling is a dream and so many colours, shapes and sizes. It is a visual smorgasbord and after a while somewhat overwhelming ..... Sea slugs litter the sea floor in the shallows - some covered in sand and others gleaming black.
On the shore coconut palms lean into the wind and over the lapping sea. Large land crabs come out in the evening, warily from their large rat holes, and scuttle back in fright - they have good vision.
Black pearls are found here in abundance and many of the islanders engage in pearl fishing - I found a heap of oyster shells. These are black on the outside and gleaming, rainbow mother of pearl on the inside.
The shore is coral sand with bits of broken coral everywhere. These islands sit no more than a couple of metres above sea level - very vulnerable to the future. There must also have been times in the past when these did not exist as islands for they are formed on the rim of extinct volcanos, and were once islands and will be submerged again one day in the unending dance of time.
David had intended to anchor inside the atoll but the tide was streaming out through the narrow entrance so we came longside the cargo jetty to wait. The locals told us that the ship would not be in for a few days so we took advantage and spent the rest of our stay alongside a beautiful and very comfortable berth.
I spent the day wandering around the small town and out into the country (not much of it - the land part is no more than maybe 500 metres across) and onto the beach watching hermite crbs in the late afternoon sun. The evening stars here were bright spots in a velvet sky. No moon.
The Takaroa photos are here
We left at 0730 the next day, Tuesday, with a fine breeze which lasted most of the morning and then died away - back into our pattern of light, doldric winds..... The next 3 days passed with little incident - a lot of motoring - very poor wind, in fact the last 18 hours was all motoring (175 miles of it) with a short spell of sailing as we crept along the north coast of Tahiti. Tahiti appeared as a faint angle of light blue under a distant pale cloud - about 1000 on the morning of Saturday 25 April and gradually came closer and closer. Anticipation rose alongside increasing frustration at the lack of wind. Tempting gusts brought us flashing out the headsail and brief moments of joy as we raced along at 6.5 knots only to be crushed as the wind died and so on again with the motor.
We came into Papeete (the main town of Tahiti and capital of French Polynesia) at 2000 and found our way to the town yacht berth - actually very convenient, sheltered and comfortable. We had arrived. Time to relax, the end of a long voyage, and home now within reach. I return to Sydney on Friday 1 May.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment