Mike wakes me at midnight – I’ve only had about two hours sleep as the noise is unbelievable. I get up to discover I have a watch ahead filled with squalls and varying winds. I am still wary about Samantha, our pre-menstrual autopilot, so check the instruments far more than I usual do.
I write some of the blog but for once cannot watch TV as looking at the screen in the pitching boat makes me feel seasick. Eventually I take a tablet and just sit, staring blankly, counting the minutes for my watch to end. Four hours can seem like a very long time!
It does end though and Mike is hardly out of the cabin door before I am hurtling onto the bed. This time I sleep, although I do wake at 7.30 am due to the still very noisy nature of the weather system outside and the sea.
The entrance to the Fakarava atoll is the widest of all the atolls – half a mile to be precise, but the sea is very lively when we enter due to the winds. There are white caps as far as the eye can see which I didn’t expect in the lagoon. Once we are inside we turn left and head for the village of Rotoava, three miles away and tucked into the far corner of the lagoon.
Fakarava, the second largest atoll in Polynesia, is protected by way of being part of a UNESCO classified biosphere reserve. Apparently particularly rare flora and fauna are found here and the diving is meant to be the best. You can get hammerhead sharks and grey sharks, as well as eagle and manta rays, and schools of barracudas, turtles and dolphins. There is only one large hotel complex in the whole atoll. Oh and two pearl farms!
We anchor by the village and Mike goes for a sleep. After lunch he has another little nap and we have just got the dinghy down to go and explore when the heavens open and it absolutely pours down. We use the opportunity to get all the curtains down around the cockpit so that they have a wash. At least the boat is clean now.
I am in the middle of making dinner when Chessie calls on the VHF. Mike helps to guide them into the anchorage as it is now almost dark. They anchor quite a way out behind us and will decide whether to move the boat tomorrow when it’s light. It’s good to have another WARC boat to keep us company. Let’s hope we don’t need each other when the time comes to lift our anchors.
Our position is: 16 deg 03 min S, 145 deg 37 min W
Distance so far: 6374 nautical miles
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