On Our Way to Tahiti! Wednesday, June 27, 2018
27 June 2018 | Tikehau, in the Tuamotus Islands in French Polynesia
Helen/Mark
Had a lovely visit with Jesse and Leane. We turned on the underwater lights. Mark saw lots of fish swimming under our boat. I saw lots of small, tiny fish-like creatures in deep water over 160 feet. We watched the movie, Wing Commander, which was entertaining. We got to bed after 9:30. The wind was very light and we really weren't moving much on the mooring ball. I woke up several times. Then just before the alarm went off, we heard a small bang. Mark went up to find the second bigger mooring ball beside us, was knocking against our port hull. We got dressed and wanted to disengage from our mooring ball. It was not easy when the other mooring ball was trying to go under our boat. Mark was able to pull it off to the one side. He started both engines, while I removed the mooring lines. We motored clear of the two mooring balls and shore. It really did look like we were way too close to the ruins that once was the shipping dock. Once away from that area, I motored back into the wind, while Mark hoisted the main sail. Then we added the jib and continued motoring as the wind was light and protected by the high altitude of Makatea. Once we got clear we found a little wind. We were able to sail without engines. We saw the most gorgeous rainbow off to our port side and then a smaller one on the starboard side. We expected rain, but did not get any until mid afternoon. We dropped the main as it was interfering with the wind for the jib sail as we were sailing down wind. There was one other sailboat out on the ocean with us. Looked like they were heading to Makatea. Also, Jesse and Leane are sailing somewhere behind us, as they left later than us. We decided to fly the spinnaker. We flew the spinnaker with speeds around 4-5 through the morning and early afternoon. The wind died so we took down the sail and motored. Then the wind picked up and we flew the spinnaker again. Our speed is around 3-4 knots. The sun is fully behind clouds, so we are not getting the benefit of its warmth. Our shower bag was not hot enough so we boiled some water and enjoyed a lovely hot shower off the back stairs. The seas were pretty small thru the days, maybe 2-3 feet at most. Now, they are distanced apart. It is a comfortable smooth ride over them. We have just over 80 nautical miles to go. Will start to think about what I would like to cook for dinner tonight. We took turns having naps, as we left just after 6 am this morning. Lots of birds on the ocean today. Some were smaller and totally white. The others were boobies which had a light blue tint to their beaks as they soared back and forth looking for food. It's been a very quiet day and we would love for that to continue overnight. The sun is now shining. Mark said the wind is blowing some. We still have our spinnaker sail flying and moving us closer and closer to Tahiti!