BLUE WATER RALLY - SOCIETY ISLANDS- MAUPIHAA OR MOPELIA
|
Wednesday 28th and 29th May We left Maupiti
Tuesday lunchtime and had a gentle sail through the night – yes
‘sail’ rather than using the engine - even so it really jiggers me
up waking up at midnight to do a watch when I’m not used to it! Trying to
get my sea legs all over again…..We worked it out today that out of the
12,000 miles we have covered so far we have probably motored many thousands of
those miles – terrible reality when you think you are ‘sailing
around the world’ but the truth of the matter is, when there is no wind
and you have time constraints, you have to use the engine. Anyhow, Maupihaa or Mopelia as it is sometimes called is described in
the pilot book as having ‘the trickiest pass in the whole of French
Polynesia’ quote ‘ is very narrow and the constantly ebbing
current can reach 6 knots or more at times, making a reliable engine and a good
set of nerves necessary. Whirlpools occur in the vicinity of the coral patches
where ebb currents meet inside the entrance. A very narrow 60 foot wide pass
with sharply defined undercut reef edges.’ With our maximum engine
speed of 6 knots we were prepared to abort but we managed it although it was
very hairy!! I think Paul must have nerves of steel! An inquisitive bird,
unused to humans, flew within six inches of my nose and eyeballed me as I was
sitting on the bow seat watching out for coral heads – I could have
reached out and stroked it.
Passe Taihaaru Vahine Coming up the point of no return – look how
narrow it is! Imagine this – an isolated atoll in the middle of the Pacific
– difficult to get into – destroyed by hurricane Martin a few years
ago – the next supply vessel not expected until July – the largest
motu five miles of coral ‘sand’ with thousands of coconut trees and
mangroves surrounding a huge lagoon - and yet there are two families (11
people) subsisting here! We delivered the tobacco to Kalimi and his wife
Sophie whose family live with them – although their daughter has just
been whisked off to Bora Bora by a passing catamaran with severe pregnancy
problems - they hadn’t smoked for two months so were pretty elated to
receive their gift, although it goes against the grain with me – I
won’t even buy duty free cigarettes for friends on principal. They
have lived here all their lives, Kalimi’s father having settled here when
he was a child, although they don’t own the land. However, we
understand that they manage some copra (coconut) farming which is collected by
the supply ships – but rather than pay them money, which is useless on
the atoll, an account is kept for them ashore and when they need anything
– diesel for their generator for instance – the cost is deducted
from their account and delivered by the next passing supply vessel. They
are surrounded by 41 ‘pet’ pigs and a dog! However, they did have
the trappings of a satellite dish and TV in their corrugated iron shack and
their old wooden boat sports a two thousand pound Lewmar winch, used for a
anchor windlass, rescued from a wreck - which was a great touch.
Their boat with the Lewmar winch and turtle sanctuary in front
And very active, happy looking baby turtles.. Kalimi’s father originally came from Motu 1, the smallest atoll
in Polynesia with no pass into the lagoon and Sophie from
Home sweet home……..
Piggies in the shade (note the satellite dish!!)
Bennett walking along the shore with his bird (the only one he was
likely to find on this atoll!)
Windswept coral landscape but lots of vegetation and trees
Where the hermit crabs are huge
The stingrays still have their ‘stings’ – they are
removed in
The crabs are big too with hundreds of bolt holes along the coral beach
We all enjoyed a long walk along the beach after the confines of the
boat There were five other intrepid yachts at anchor in the lagoon, three
German, one Austrian and a French couple with their two teenage children, which
is apparently very rare to have so many at once; we each thought we were going
to be the only one! We offered payment but because we had brought their
delivery, we were invited to join the other ‘cruisers’ for a dinner
at chez Sophie’s which was predictably pork stew and rice…..
everybody brought their own drinks and extra dishes to share. Although it
was a very eccentric and interesting evening, with piggies nestled at our feet
(but sadly one of their number on the plate) I certainly felt there was a
defined reserve about we ‘Rally people’ who are perceived to
‘only touch the surface’ and not fully integrate with the local
people due to the lack of time in each destination………….
The dinner was a rather stilted affair – Sophie this end right
and Kalimi waving at the other end of the table…..
With piggies all around us – this little fellow front right had
the right idea – skinny pigs don’t end up in the pot! This morning we woke to a grey day with numerous squalls on the horizon
and the weather forecast predicting stormy weather, confirmed by this
morning’s radio net where others further ahead than us have already
experienced 40 plus knot winds last night. So we heaved up the anchor
quickly, followed our track in as the corals were invisible in the choppy
lagoon, and only just escaped through the pass before the heavy swells building
up and current would have made it impassable. Still it was an extremely
stressful experience with four knots of current with us, giving us just two
knots of steerage……..
Exiting the pass with current, wind and whirlpools……. Before we left one of the chaps off another boat came and asked us for
a contribution for the meal of the previous evening. We told him we had
been invited – yes he said, the meat was free, but what about the oil
they had used cooking it and the onion they had chopped up in the stew –
would we like to donate a bottle of gin!! No said we, we felt we had
risked life and limb delivering their package and given enough……..
so we motored out with a slight ‘taste in the mouth’………. We have around 800 miles ahead of us now to Beverage Reef, a tiny atoll
recommended by Our Island, where nobody lives and nothing grows – just a
lagoon full of fish, and then on to |
