0600 position 22-31S 147-45W. 81 miles from Raivavae
After a peaceful night at the motu, we woke up, had breakfast, did our
daily sat phone email drill, and studied the latest grib files. It showed
that we were currently entering an ideal window to sail to Moorea with a
high pressure system approaching from the west and giving us southeast
winds. That window would start to close in about four days though as the
high moves past and the next low pressure system approaches. When that
happens the wind will back to the northeast, north and west. We could
chance it and wait for the next high, but that would put us dangerously
close to Matt's departure date from Papeete, and besides, he's never seen
Moorea. So we decided to depart Raivavae right away.
It is a 400 mile sail to Moorea, and the winds should be steady, strong,
and behind us the whole way there. 150 mile days should be doable, so
that makes it a two and a half day passage. Don't want to arrive there
at night, so it makes the most sense to leave just before sunset ensuring
a daytime arrival in Moorea.
So the heat was off to get going, and we went for another walk on the
motu, this time heading over to the windward shore. It was very different
from the lagoon side, all coral rubble, no sand, and lots of plastic
debris that had washed in from the ocean. No glass balls.
I'm always on the lookout for glass balls. As I type this I'm looking at
three of the five glass balls that we have found on Moku pe'a. They are
hanging from the starboard handrail over the settee. The first Lori
spotted in 2005 during our maiden ocean sail on Mokupea. The second was
found in Kawaihae during an around the state cruise my daughter Kara and I
took in 2007, and the third Lori and I found on Niihau last summer. Kara
has the one she found on Niihau on her sixteenth birthday in 2007, and the
fifth one that Lori and I found off of Makapuu while sailing home from
Molokai in 2010 is too large to keep on Moku pe'a so it is in the living
room at home. They all bring back memories of good times. Glass balls
are getting harder to find, but are much more common in the North Pacific.
I figure if I can find one in the South Pacific it would be a very
special memento, so I keep looking.
After our walk ashore we raised the hook and headed back to Rairua. Not
as much excitement with the coral heads this time, but there was some
serious zigzagging to avoid them. When we arrived back in town we were
surprised to see another boat at anchor, this one from New Zealand. We
spoke to them and they told us they were heading west from Chile and had
just come from Mangareva. They looked a bit shell shocked, and complained
that they hadn't seen much trade wind weather since leaving Chile. Sounds
like we are not the only ones with that recent experience.
We went ashore, bought some slippers for Matt since he'd blown his out
hiking, checked out with the Gendarme, and headed back to the boat to get
ready to go to sea again. Anchor up at 4:15, clear of the pass at 4:40,
and we were on our way to Moorea.
The wind has been as forecast and we have been sailing on a glorious
starboard tack broad reach in fifteen knots of wind aimed right for
Moorea. Moku pe'a loves it. The wind should be from this direction all
the way in, with perhaps a bit more velocity as we get closer.
We are heading just west of north, so are moving quickly towards warmer
weather. I can feel the temperature rising already. The cold has been
great for sleeping, but I'm sure looking forward to thawing out.
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