It was nice to finally arrive as it had been a rather tough sail from Ua Pou. We had a lot of wind and huge swells. It was really difficult to move about in the cabin so needless to say, my dear Jens had to do most of the food preparations. I was feeling rather green this trip and only went down to sleep. We also got a bit wet both from the many squalls and from the waves that crashed into the cockpit. It wasn't the smoothest sail. Thank heavens it was only four days.
The reward was the calmest night we have had since we can't remember when. Probably not since we have been in a slip at Shelter Bay Marina in Panama. That's a long time! How sweet it was to sleep with a cool breeze and a completely still and quiet boat. Not even the sound of waves slapping against the side. I think we have found paradise!
How is this possible way out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? It is all thanks to the atoll. The atoll is a geological marvel created over hundreds and millions of years. In non-geek language this is how they are formed. First, deep down on the ocean floor a bubble of magma raises up creating a volcanic mound that eventually breaks through the surface of the water and creates a volcanic island. Once the lava has stopped flowing the wind and rain start to erode the sides, sometimes creating fertile soil. Along the edges at the sea, coral reefs start to form creating a ring around the mound. The weather continues to erode the volcano and it eventually completely disappears or collapses into itself leaving only the ring of the coral reef around a lagoon. The coral reef has by this time risen high enough to sustain plant life such as palm trees and the dead corals have worn away making some sandy beaches. The lagoon usually has a few passes into it that were created by the rain water that would have streamed down the sides of the volcano creating rivers down to the ocean and thus areas where the coral could not develop. Some of the passes or breaks in the circle of the reef around the lagoon are large and deep enough to sail through and the breaks in the reef create a string or necklace of small islands called motus.
The calmest place to anchor is inside the lagoon. The trick is to get into the lagoon safely as the passes can be shallow and narrow and you have to deal with large ocean swells coming in and a strong current caused by the water running in or out with the tides not to mention the force of the wind. The best time to attempt entry or exit is at slack tide, so either at the peak of high tide or low tide. These are interesting calculations to make since the tide tables for each atoll are not available and you need to guesstimate based on the information you have. But luckily Jens has a mathematical brain and has figured this all out.
The Tuamotus was an area often passed over by cruisers because of the danger of unmarked reefs and coral heads, lack of secure anchoring spots except for inside the atolls which can be difficult or treacherous to enter and even then because the islands are so low lying they provide very little shelter from wind. It is said there are boats that have run aground in the reefs even after the days of GPS. Entering into an atoll can be an intimidating moment when you see the water churning at the entrance of the pass with a mix of current and swells. Sailors arriving tired and stressed after a difficult passage from the Marquesas or the Gambiers are not in the best of shape to attempt such an activity and often choose to head directly to Tahiti and the calm waters of the Society islands. As I said before, sailors love stories and just hearing tell of a ship run aground is enough to have most cruisers giving this area a wide berth for many years or until the story is forgotten or until there are enough stories of sailors who have had a great experience in an atoll and talk about the marvellous snorkelling to make it worth a try.
Our first entry was no problem at all, but we picked Kauehi as our first atoll for that very reason. We knew the pass was wide and deep and the lagoon easy to manoeuvre into. Some lagoons have many coral heads just below the surface of the water. This makes for tricky navigating to an anchoring spot, but also makes for interesting snorkelling. Lagoons are host to a large variety of reef fish, rays and sharks and some really lovely coral formations. The water is crystal clear and gorgeous shades of green and blue due to the white sand bottoms. Time to get the swimmers on and take a dip!
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