11.46S 142.49W
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Tue 8 Apr 2008 19:53
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We are now about the half way mark to our 1st Atoll
in the TUAMOTUS.
All of the boats are pretty wary of going there
because it is a difficult place to navigate,with many of the charts relying on
navigational data from surveys carried out hundreds of years ago by wooden
sailing ships.In fact the position of the atolls can be 3 nm out from the
satellite positions shown on our plotters.Add to that the highest point may be
that of the tallest palm tree and the sporadic growth of coral just below the
surface,throw in the strong tides and the lack of depth and you wonder why we
bother.
There is no other area in the world so vast with so
many extinct volcanic craters that have formed lagoons that we can sail
into,this area stretches for thousands of miles across our route to
Tahiti.Although it is tricky and dangerous once we are through the pass and into
what would have been the crater the water is crystal clear with pristine coral
reefs and sea life quite undisturbed by the Pacific ocean but fed by the rich
nutrients from the volcanic rock.We are told that we will be able to see down to
depths of 20meters,just imagine an aquarium that size.
We are heading for three atolls the first being
"Manihi" then "Ahe" "Apataki" and possibly Rangiroa if there is time some of
these lagoons are 40 miles x 20miles.We will arrive at the first one in
about 1.5 days
Tonight its wall to wall stars 1000's of them ,so
far 3 shooting stars,that must be a watch record.We are motor sailing with just
the main at 1900rpm with a SOG of 6.5 knts,the grib files indicate that its
going to be light winds for the next 3 days,its Ok as we have enough diesel to
take us to Tahiti where we can refuel.We need to arrive at Manihi before
1300 tomorrow so we need to push on a bit under engine otherwise we will miss
our tidal gate into the pass,sounds a bit like Stargate that.
We still have to watch our water consumption as the
watermaker will not be fixed until we arrive at Tahiti but we can manage
on 20 liters per day no showers for the men mind and only 2/3 liters for the
girls per shower.
Its now coming to the end of my watch so its time
to wake Alan up
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