We decided to leave with the slack tide in the early afternoon. As it is an overnight passage we decided to go to the beach to get off PolePole, to have a relax and read. It is also much cooler than staying on the boat, lying in the shade of trees trying our hardest to avoid falling coconuts from the laden palm trees.
We picked up the anchor at 1:30pm with not a breath of air, which was a help for getting it up. Everything worked like a dream, got all the buoys off, we went over the anchor and it came up perfectly. We were soon going through the pass and Rowan says he clocked 7 knots of current, it was a bit testy but nothing to bother PolePole! With no wind we had to motor, we had decided we wanted to get into Moorea in daylight tomorrow. Bigger winds and swell are due this week end so we have decided to skip Papeete in Tahiti and go to the safe anchorage in Moorea where two other boats from our Arc fleet are anchored. Far, with Phil (originally English) and Lorraine (American but lived in Europe a lot), and Scottish Andrew on an Oyster, they have like us, all opted to spend more time here in French Polynesia. We keep track of our old fleet who are currently on their passage to Tonga.
The wind was predicted to arrive at midnight but by 9:30pm we had 10 knots so could turn the motors off. I did the early shift as usual which gave me a good opportunity to turn the oven on and bake bread, two loaves at a time, that I slice and freeze immediately. I’m not sure if it is the molasses I use to activate my yeast but my bread starts to ferment by day 2. Also got my yoghurt going.
My activity for this passage is to make a photo book of my Great Uncle’s diaries from the Boer War, 1899 to 1902. He had just finished qualifying as a lawyer when he was called up to fight, living in Natal and with English parents, he fought for the British (just in case anyone was wondering). He added loads of sketches to his diaries, illustrating some great characters. I had taken photos of the whole diary when I was last out and now it is a case of editing it and putting it all together. It is fascinating reading.
A little break on the beach
The pass looking nice and flat, even with 7 knots of current
Beautiful colours on the sea which is as flat as a pancake
A little taster from my Great Uncle’s diaries!
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