Rangiroa

0800 Position 14-58S 147-38W. At anchor in the lee of Reporepo Motu, Rangiroa Atoll, Tuamotu Archepelago

We spent all day yesterday doing boat projects, laundry, and relaxing. Lori had emailed me a bunch of breadfruit recipes so I tried boiling half of it in salt, garlic, and chili pepper and turned the other half into ulu chips fried in a pan. Judging by the amount consumed the chips were better, but the boiled ulu was edible if a bit bland. I probably didn't use enough spices.

The water temperature in the lagoon got up to 88 degrees, a new record. Swimming was almost like taking a bath.

We got underway at 5PM and threaded our way back across the lagoon and out the pass just as the sun was setting. It was not a good time to go for visibility, but we had the GPS track for our inward leg and followed it exactly on the way out. If we didn't hit anything coming in we weren't going to hit anything going in the other direction. The tide was flooding into the lagoon at about two knots as we went out the channel, a bit more relaxed than our arrival.

We timed our departure for just before sunset because we were sailing to Rangiroa, 103 miles away. It was too far to sail in daylight hours, so we departed just before dark anticipating an arrival just after sunrise the next day. We weren't in a hurry though, so left the mainsail down and just unrolled the jib. It was comfortable but a bit rolly without the main, and we arrived outside of Rangiroa's Avatoru Pass at 6AM.

Rob had been to Rangiroa before and knew the pass so we powered right in without a worry. Apparently it isn't that easy for everybody though as we saw two wrecked cruising boats high and dry on the motu on the western side of the channel. Once in the lagoon it was clear that this is a big atoll, one of the biggest in the world. It is so wide that you can't see the motus on the other side of the lagoon, and since that is where the wind was coming from there was quite a large chop that had developed. No anchoring here. The cruising guide discussed a sheltered anchorage just inside Tiputa Pass, five miles to the south east so we headed there avoiding the numerous pearl farm buoys that fill the lagoon.

An hour later we were at anchor with six other cruising boats in a relatively calm and protected hidy hole. Rob and I went ashore for supplies and found a store nearby that had the elusive lettuce we have been scouring French Polynesia to find as well as fresh baguettes.

We have a bit more boat cleanup to do to raise the standard of cleanliness from "five guys" to "woman aboard" before Renee arrives at 2PM this afternoon. It looks like some pretty good snorkeling right next to the boat too.

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