13.13S 144.30W Thursday 10^th April   We are on route to the Tuamotu Archipelago and in particular the atoll named Manihi.    From the role call this morning we are all on our way now except Moonshadow waiting for a crew change, Tapistry waiting for spares being brought out by Moonshadow’s crew and Cayuko still effecting some repairs.  There is no hurry – we are not expected in Tahiti until the 21^st April when quite a few of us will have our yachts hauled out for cleaning and anti fouling amongst other things.  We are well stocked up with provisions – the sweetest grapefruits, avocado pears, a whole branch of bananas, mangos, onions, potatoes, limes, cabbage, tomatoes, frozen chicken, sausages and burgers.

I think it would be fair to say that most of us have been a bit nervous about visiting the Tuamotus –  the largest group of low coral atolls in the world.  Of the 78 atolls 21 have one entrance, 10 have two and 47 have no pass at all.  The reefs surrounding these are littered with wrecked yachts. Very different to the Marquesas in formation, they are known as the ‘dangerous isles’ as each of the atolls is the rim of  an ancient volcano – the crater and internal land mass having sunk over millions of years – the passes are of varying ease through which a yacht can enter into the lagoon or ‘sea’ inside.  Depending on the circumference of the rim, some of these ‘seas’ are as wide as the English Channel and you can imagine that when the sea surges through the pass(es) assisted by wind, tide and current it can become trapped so to speak and is sometimes known to be very boisterous! Some have an unbroken ring of reef around the lagoon whilst others appear as beads on a necklace known as motus and some of these are inhabited.  Anyhow, we, like many others, have chosen to visit Manihi first as there is a very helpful chap there named Xavier who helps yachts through the pass.  Here is an excerpt emailed from him to Zippy today which filled us all with confidence:

I hope that you have had, all, a fine travel from the Marquesas.

Navigation for entering the passage to the anchor advised area is not very difficult. Keep a close eye, at the end of the passage, before turning right (3,50 meters deep). If desired, I can make arrangements with « Fernand », local tahitian fisherman, who knows very well the lagoon, he can be aboard a small boat and pilot thru the passage to the anchor advised area. Please, just tell me one day before arrival.

For Thursday (low tide 02h28 pm) and Friday (low tide 03h42 pm), we think that a good time to go thru the passage is at the beginning of afternoon, but predictions are not very sure. The current depends of the tide of course, but also of the level of water inside the lagoon, which depends itself of the swell.

There are no special procedure for arrival in Manihi. Four sailing boats are anchored at the moment, there is enough place for every body. I watch on vhf in the daytime.

I am putting in place a new sailmail station in Manihi. My motu is in the east of the anchored area, for 2 nautical miles, and I shall be very honored with your visit.

Welcome in Manihi to the blue water rally. Xavier

We hope to be there by Friday lunchtime but as it is a very exacting arrival time we are motor sailing a lot of the way to keep the speed constant.  The forecast had predicted winds of 10 – 15 knots from the east but it has been very variable in strength and direction. Each day there is one optimum time to get through the pass dependent on tide, wind, current and the position of the moon.  I believe it is around 15.30 to 16.00 tomorrow.

The Tuamotu people used to dive up to 40 metres for mother of pearl shells which were made  into buttons – the black pearl, not fashionable then, was a by product – but over harvesting eventually made the shells rare.  Today black pearls are cultivated and interestingly they are only made by the blacklipped oyster (pinctada margaritifera).  It takes around three years for a pearl to form in a seeded oyster – a spherical pearl is formed when Mississippi River mussel graft is introduced inside the coat; the oyster creates a hemispherical half pearl if the graft goes between the coat and the shell…… so now you know!!

Today we can laugh but last night, Paul on watch at 3.30am – I had just gone to bed – Bennett had been down for three hours so sound asleep, light variable winds so genoa reefed, mainsail reefed and engine on.  A squall hit us unexpectedly carrying over 30 knots of wind – Anahi keeled over pretty hard to starboard, and Paul yelled out to Bennett to come and help him get the sails in as he was struggling with the helm – but no Bennett!  Paul yelled again – still no Bennett! I went to investigate. Our boat has the original doors – and locks – which none of us use - but as the boat had slammed over to starboard, the lock mechanism had jammed shut and Bennett was locked inside his cabin – desperate to get out as he is claustrophobic.  I energetically tried the door handle which broke off in my hand – so there he had to stay until the boat was under control!  In the drama Paul couldn’t understand why Bennett was locked in his cabin and had mistakenly put it down to a dose of fright!! Poor Bennett when we eventually released him…….he looked shaken and stirred!! Today the locks have been removed!

Zippy is on the horizon – catching us up, Rascal and Stargazer are ahead and we four plan to arrive at Manihi together tomorrow…....