Huahine

We left Opunohu Bay yesterday just after lunch for the 80 mile sail to Huahine. We expected to have a reasonable sail in 15-20 knot winds. Oh yes, we expected it alright, what we got was a slow lumpy roll that had us motoring for an hour and a half to get out of the shadow of Moorea and then motoring again from 04:00 to get to Huahine. The wind went light early. The swell was less than swell, with a nice roll from the NE and winds from the ESE. Oh well, you win some, you fight others to a draw. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep. We actually find the single overnight passages the hardest. You don't mentally get into the rhythm and sleep does not come as easily. Anyhow, we made Farerea pass on the eastern side of the island by around 07:30 and went in to Maroe Bay. Very nice but no real anchorages unless you are in 30 meters or more. We decided we didn't want to deep anchor so headed back out and around the island to attack it from the west coast. We had a great sail around the island and by 11:00 we made the pass at Fare. The pass in looked simple and according to the cruising guide, no problem. There was no real problem but there was significant swell breaking on either side of the pass (LOTS OF SURFERS!!), and good current and eddies in the pass. The funny thing was, the cruising guide states that Maroe (on the east side) is best visited by dinghy from a cut between the west and east side of the islands, rather than use the "possibly dangerous" east coast pass. We found the "possibly dangerous" east coast pass much calmer and easier than the west coast pass. Sometimes I wonder at cruising guides. We have gone where they said not too and found that the areas to avoid were some of the most pleasant. For instance, the entry on Manihi in the Tuamotus starts "I cannot recommend this atoll and goes on from there about how bad the anchoring is, how rough it is etc.
We ended up anchoring in Fiti, just south of Fare. It's a bit quieter and only a mile or so by dinghy to the village in Fare. We have to go there in the morning to check in with the local gendarme. We will do a little exploring on land while we are here and have no idea how long we will stay.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:

http://www.sailmail.com