16.13S 148.43W Sunday 20th April. We are now
half way between Rangiroa and Tahiti.
The full moon rose last night on our port side at the same time as the sun set
on our starboard – quite awesome.
Rangiroa is the largest atoll of the Tuamotus – the lagoon is 45
nautical miles long and 18 miles wide and to put it in perspective the whole
land mass of Tahiti would fit inside it!
There are only two passes into the lagoon, just three miles apart, the Avatoru
pass which has less current in normal conditions – 4 knots –
is shallower than Tiputa pass, which although deeper can have up to 10 knots of
current ripping through. The currents are dependent on many things
including the moon and can change direction and speed literally within
minutes………. Understandably we were heading for Avatoru
pass, but listening on the VHF to all the other yachts’
experiences. It was amazing to hear the more powerful boats telling their
tales of entering Tiputa with standing waves, 8 knot currents, cockpits being
engulfed with waves, surfing into the lagoon at 10 knots, huge dolphins jumping
clean over their bowsprits in play and surging, boiling waters. By the
time we were in the vicinity an hour later the same pass was totally benign so
we decided to enter here too and did so without any current whatsoever.
The anchorage in Rangiroa is completely different to Manihi –
again very picturesque but just a couple of hundred yards from a smart hotel
with decking reaching into the sea, more accessible beaches and a few restaurants.
That first day there we concentrated on fixing the watermaker, without success,
and emailed Spectra USA headquarters for further help to restore matters.
Rangiroa anchorage and beach bars….
Inside the lagoon there is a famous mini atoll named ‘The Blue
Lagoon’ and the next day about 25 of us set off in three power boats to
enjoy the day there – although Bennett sailed with Spectra and stayed
over night. Speeding along in the lagoon we might well have been at sea
as you couldn’t see the opposite horizon. The highlight of the day
– quite apart from the superb snorkelling, beautiful island and tasty
lunch - was the proximity to black tip sharks in their droves. We
had seen one or two in Manihi but this was a different experience with scores
swimming around us on the shallow house reef. After lunch the boat men
fed the sharks all the leftovers and some of our braver number held on to the
anchor rope to watch!
Arriving in the shallow waters surrounding the Blue Lagoon Motu
Young black tip sharks feeding near the shore
Swimming near Mum and Dad was an experience!
Coral gardens full of life
Pretty angel fish
Shoal of seabass….
Paul snorkelling
And a drink in the lagoon
Watching the sharks
The brave lining up for the feeding frenzy!
By the time we arrived back at the boat we had had a reply from Spectra
– with detailed advice on how to temporarily fix our watermaker.
The diagnosis was split annular rings (ours is an older model and these rings
have since been upgraded to a more robust material). So, we stripped down
the unit, found the annular rings and removed them by fabricating a tool to
gently hammer them out of their cylindrical tube. These rings endure
enormous amounts of pressure when salt water is being pushed through the
filters leaving behind the salt deposits. Once out we could see the hair
line cracks - the advice for a temporary solution was to put them back
end to end which we did and hey presto! We have made a full tank of water
– done three very overdue clothes washes, all had showers and now hope to
receive our spares in Tahiti to fix the
problem properly.
Rangiroa is a lovely, idyllic hideaway – a couple of well stocked
shops, a great cheap and cheerful lunchtime café over the water, small happy
children playing non stop in the sea, the reefs teeming with fish and colourful
coral and the more sophisticated hotel close by for evening cocktails and
dinner. We anchored next to a long abandoned yacht – now the
habitat for many thousands of sooty terns – the cacophony of their joyful
morning and evening choir a sound to behold! Every now and then the
entire flock would have a feeding frenzy when a shoal of fish rose to the
surface and then return ‘home’ – some however were too full
and exhausted to quite make it and made a brief stop over……
Sooty terns on the wreck…..
And stopping for a rest….
