Commodore
March 27, 2023

Monday 27 March – conditions not right for this side of the island

It was a fairly rolly night and not a peaceful sleep with the sound of pounding waves nearby. We were definitely not comfortable, Rowan was up a couple of times in the night checking all was ok when the pounding waves sounded particularly loud. Salt left and we decided we would go to the next bay along called Hanamenu. However there is no road there and Nevil needs to get back to Autona, our arrival destination, on the other side of the mountain, to join the boat Cepa. He sorted out a taxi and Rowan took him to the dock which was quite hairy as there were big waves going in. Luckily Nevil being athletic could jump out without them having to tie up. Back on board Rowan was a bit concerned about the anchor coming up as we anchored in stones and we have gone round and round. What a relief when it popped up no problem!

We had about an hour motor to Hanamenu and had a lovely time with some dolphins enjoying our bow wave. We found it equally rough, it looked rather lovely but the sea state was not comfortable, there was a boat anchored but not an Arc boat. By midday the captain decided we should head to Nuku Hiva where we have our big Arc get together on the 29th. The main and Sporty Spice were put up and we had a glorious sail in winds just over 15 knots.

When the winds died late afternoon we soon realised that we were not going to get to Nuku Hiva in daylight, engines on we pushed ahead. The Arc gathering is in Taiohae and loads of boats are already there, so we thought that may be tricky arriving in the dark, so Rowan found this lovely hidden spot called Daniel’s Bay. We got there at around 10pm and it was pitch dark, the surprisingly bright half moon was hidden behind cloud. Once we got into calmer waters, I had to go up front with a torch and help navigate in. It was absolutely terrifying as it was a narrow entrance to the bay, with high cliffs on one side and big breaking waves on the other side. So difficult to judge distance in the dark. We spotted a light and though it might be a boat but luckily with Rowan reading both the navigation charts and google maps we realised that the light was on land and we had to turn sharp right. What bliss the water was flat as a pancake and not a single other boat to worry about. We had the place to ourselves. The anchor went down nicely and we all collapsed into bed, enough adrenalin pumping to last us a long time!