Rowan was surprisingly perky after his 2am work calls that ended at about 6am! Luckily he had a good sleep beforehand. We had aimed to be in the pass as 10am when the tide had been coming in for an hour. But with a few rainy squalls and the tide looking very low on the beaches, we waited a while. Finally thought we better go at 11am, not the best visibility in the cloudy weather, but good enough. Thankfully it all went smoothly and we avoided the big coral outcrop that we got very close to on the way in. All was good, the boat was recording about 3knots of water flowing into the atoll, much easier to handle going against it, and with the two engines it felt fine. We knew the water was going to be pretty bumpy with a swell caused by all the wind, but with the wind behind us in this fat bottomed boat, it really felt very comfortable. We were soon cruising along in winds in the low 20s, with a reef in the main sail we were happily averaging 8knots.
We passed some remote islands with tiny villages, what an isolated life they must lead, it did not look possible for a supply ship to get anywhere close. It did look like there was a coconut plantation, and google maps showed quite a bit of infrastructure. Google maps reveals so much out here, it is fascinating.
I did the early shift which all went well until we hit big squalls they made the wind change directions every few minutes sending us off course, which was tricky as we had to pass between two islands. I also had a Chinese fishing boat with very bright lights on, not showing up on AIS which is always a bit nerve racking. Rowan had seen a cluster of them further away before he went to bed, so at least I was warned they might be about. I was very relieved when Rowan took over at midnight. We keep getting a lot of chat on our Pacific WhatsApp groups about what the Chinese are doing here in the Pacific, they are doing loads of infrastructure work with the local island countries, which have no way to repay the loans, and have given away very generous fishing rights in the process. It is so sad, the fish in the ocean are being decimated. Although I love eating it, I have a nagging feeling I shouldn’t be.
Very low tide, the wreck of a boat is exposed on the beach
Nervously we wiggle our way out in overcast conditions
This is the big rock we have to hug at a certain angle to avoid hitting coral, the small long pass is just behind it, you can see breaking waves on either side
The colour of the water guiding us through
In the narrow pass, you can see all the coral beside us
Squally weather and unusual flat islands that we passed along the way
Looks so different with the sun out. This island has two tiny villages, and no obvious area for a supply ship to anchor
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