Arrival in Raroia Tuamotus

[hoops name=”break”]Well we did it!!! We are anchored on the east side of Raroia Tuamotus safe and sound. Anchor was down at 3:45 pm yesterday and the passage beer opened soon thereafter.

Our timing through the cut was off. By our estimate, slack should have been 2:00 and we arrived @ 2:30….just a half hour off…..well, there was a ripping current, water overfalls, whirlpools, the works…this is not slack tide, duh…..(reminded us of the Yuculta narrows in the PNW)……it did not look inviting…..but, it looked rather quiet on the north side where the books say to pass. So we tentatively entered the cut, wow….this current is strong….time to power up Scotty…..up to 1800 rpm…..ok, we have steerage…..going in…..wow, we should be doing 9+ kts but only doing 5.5 kts…..that’s a 3.5-4.0 kt current against us….come on Mystic, steady as she goes…..and 2 minutes later we are free…..but, oh John, turn NOW to starboard, there is a coral head right in front….yikes……and so it went for the next 6 miles to the east side….and, no harm, no fouls and no scrapes 🙂 ))))

This place is soooooo like the San Blas islands in Panama….absolutely beautiful….but no Kuna’s selling molas and the place is a lot cleaner…..the water is crystal clear….we can see the bottom 45′ down……but, no cruisers at all…..we saw 1 old sailboat by the village when we came in and we are not sure if it is a cruiser or a local boat. There are 2 pearl farms we can see and then the village 5 miles away (the book says 50 people and no supplies) but there might be a new resort as some of the buildings look pretty new. We will go over and anchor by the village in a few days. For now, we will explore the reef, do some snorkeling and maybe get in a dive or 2. As we came across the atoll 6 miles, the water depth was 100-125′, then there would be a coral heads…..some big, some small….looked like they just came straight up from the bottom……could be some good wall type diving….we shall see!!

Web Comments:

Elaine: We can see signs of civilization here so I’m not feeling such an isolated feeling as before.

Cheryl: Oh how I crave some of your passage cookies and/or a pear tort and of course, anything w/sauce Robert (said in French, of course)

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Final Stats:

Position: 16 04 8S 142 022 3W

Traveled: 455 nm

Wind: Calmed in the morning to 8-12 kts and backed from ENE-N

Waves: E 2-3′ swell; 10-14 sec period; 1-2′ wind chop 3-6 sec E – now this is trawler seas 🙂 ))))

Speed: 7.3 kts average SOG, 62.5 hours

Weather: 50% cloud cover; several squalls overnight and this am; sea temp 84.0 deg F

Boat sightings: 1 total in Raroia

Fishing: 5 miles from Raroia caught a huge skip jack….25-30 lbs….spooled halfway into blue nylon….these guys are strong…..fun!!!!

Fuel Burn: 1.4 nmpg…..1500 rpm. 1 long fish stop and then ran hard for 15 minutes to make up for it

Sail: Kept up last night as a steadying sail; indeed not much sailing on anchor!

Another place off the bucket list!!!!