After another blustery night we lifted anchor this morning and sailed away from Patio under headsail alone. Once we got around to the east side of the island we thought we'd get some protection from the winds but it didn't happen. Taha'a is full of deep valleys and canyons and the east winds funneled down through them and pummeled us as we sailed along. Halfway down the island we also started getting gusts on the nose so we finally rolled up the headsail and continued south using the 'iron genny'. Another boat of our size was behind us popping into each valley looking for somewhere safe to anchor. There are anchorages there, all in very deep water. But there is no getting away from the gusting 20-25+ knot winds. We just wanted to escape. We wanted BORA BORA. The pass through the fringing reef is up ahead about a mile now but with the big south east swell we're not even sure it's possible to get through. Happily for us another boat up ahead had the same idea. We watched them as they turned right at the pass and headed through the break in the reef out to sea. At the critical spot they hit a few larger swells. The boat lurched up and over and down and out of view for a moment then up again. It was a bit bumpy but they made it so we decided to go for it too. We lined ourselves up with the range markers on shore behind us and gunned the engine towards the pass. Yeah it was a bit bumpy getting through and there were confused seas for quite a ways out but we made it just fine. What excitement! My heart nearly beats out of my chest each time we do it. It's a real 'Saggitarius' experience. After all those gusty winds next to the island, being out in the open ocean is something of a relief. There's nice sized swells out there, today around 3 meters or so. Once we passed the area of confused seas next to the reef, the ocean swell became more even and almost rhythmic. The winds also are not too bad out here, more even and a lot less gusty. I usually stress a bit before these passages but today's was really a piece of cake. We left Taha'a about 10am and arrived at the pass to enter the lagoon at the island of Bora Bora sometime after 2.