We've been asking all our fellow cruisers on the net about going through the passes at these atolls. We're very intimidated. The guide books make them seem very treacherous. Everyone that's made it through assures us, though, that it's no big deal...

"Where's the pass?" I yelled excitedly. Kathy was busy reading Ranger's Apprentice and barely took notice. I was nervous; it was my first atoll. We were only 10 miles away.

A small squall hit and it started to rain. We had our sunshade up to block the rain which made if difficult to see the pass.
"Kathy! Will you help me look for the pass?" Her head was still in the book. She gave me the standard I'm not listening response, "Uh-huh..."

I ignored her and ran out in the rain with my binoculars. Looking at an atoll from the ocean is quite bizarre. It's very flat and difficult to see - especially if it's raining. The sky is dark grey all around us. There's mist everywhere. The radar shows something is out there, but refuses to show the pass. But then I see it: A big hole in the reef. That must be it!

I'm soaked as I come back to the cockpit. Kathy is just now coming up. She looks out towards the big hole and before I can say anything she says matter-of-factly, "Look! There it is." She then looks at me and adds, "It's pretty obvious." She quickly decends down below and grabs her Ranger's Apprentice book.

I run back into the rain with my binoculars to make sure that the pass hasn't dissappeard. It DID! No wait! I was looking in the wrong spot. It's still there. Phew.

The astute reader may ask, "Why don't you just use your 'fancy' GPS and charts?"
Well... Our charts aren't that accurate. They're up to � mile off. Not good when you're going through a pass. We'll have to go through the pass using our own wits.

"Kathy!" I yell. "Shouldn't we be preparing to cross the pass?"
Her head is still very much into this Ranger's Apprentice. "Uh-huh..."

The rain is letting up now. I convince Kathy to raise the sunshade so that we can see the pass from the cockpit. We also need to get the main sail down.

"Can't we just leave the sunshade up?" Kathy asks.
"No. We won't be able to see." I say this with all the authority that I can muster. Kathy looks at the sky and makes a face.

I start reading Charlie's charts again - studying it as if it contains some hidden message that can only be seen in moon light. Maybe I need some special Charlie's chart glasses, I think. I really wish there was more than one paragraph that describes the whole process for getting through the pass and anchoring.

Kathy comes up wearing all of her foul weather gear. "What?" she says, "I don't want to get wet." I'm in a T-shirt and shorts that I've worn for the last 5 days. I'm soaked to the bone.

We drop the main and secure it. All we have to do now is to get across this pass. We're 2.4 miles out now. I've consulted my Charlie's charts for the 10th time. It's go time. Where's Kathy? I can't find her. She's missing!
I yell below. "Where's Kathy?"
Casey quickly answers, "In the bathroom!"

Great. We're about to go through the pass and Kathy waits until we're 2.4 miles away to go to the bathroom. I wonder: Does this woman not see the big picture that's going on around her? Did Captain Picard run to the head just before he engaged the Borg? Big Picture! Big Picture!

"Okay, I'm good!" Kathy declares as she enters the cockpit and moves to the helm.
I'm not sure, but I think she's fixed her hair and put on makeup.

I run forward and I can now see that this pass is like nothing we've ever encountered before. It's not really a pass, but a chasm that separates Hell from Heaven. The sea boils before us in 2 and 3 feet of chop. Swells of 6 feet pick Adventure up and throw it forward. On the other side of the pass I can see calm serenity. In fact, I've never seen seas so calm in the pacific. It's like a lake.

We think we're too early to go through the pass. No one is really sure of the tides. NOAA gives one time, our tide program another, and then there's some guy that says another guy says it's a different time. We decide that we need to get through and anchored before it gets dark.

I look at the boiling sea in front of us. The devil briefly appears before me above the chasm with his hands on his hips and yells, "You'll never make it BOY! Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaa!"

I swallow hard. "Okay," I say to my meager crew with all the motivation I can muster. "Are we ready?" I look at them and they're all distracted with something else.

"Dad!" Casey yells as she points to the front of the boat. "Look over there. A dolphin!"

Situational Awareness: We're about to pass through the gates of Hell and Casey's watching dolphins. I hear Tara yell, "He's sooooo cute!" I hold my head down displaying a brief moment of failure.

Kathy's relieved our autopilot and now has control of the helm.
"It's really hard to control the boat!" she yells. Adventure is rolling wildly left and right. There's surge everywhere. There's a 4 knot current. I try not to look.

I'm run amidships to access the situation. I see lots of small tour boats all around us. They have huge outboards on them and seem unaware that they're in the middle of the great chasm that separates good from evil.

These tour boat demons are all watching us now. They're all waiting for us to run aground so they can attack and eat our bodies.

I look back and Kathy's being tossed around by the helm. She struggling for control. The girls are encouraging her with promises of future back rubs.

We see two range markers - two large poles 13 and 25 feet - ahead of us and Kathy's trying to keep them lined up. Our GPS and charts show us that we're on land. We're still moving, so we quietly assume that the charts are, every so slightly, off.

An 8 foot dolphin jumps out of the water two feet off the starboard bow. I take this as as good sign. He's leading us through the pass. Our dolphin angel is leading us through the dark chasm. The tour boat demons get bored and drive away. I'm not sure if they're driving away to get more help, or because we're going to make it.

After 5 long minutes we make it through the pass, but now we have to find our way to the anchorage.

After passing into the atoll, the water calms to that of a lake. We've made it! All we have to do is get to the anchorage. We're getting excited and I'm just about to do the traditional fist pump of victory, when, all of a sudden, a massive downpour begins. The kind of downpour that you pull your car off the highway for. We just have nowhere to pull the boat over to.

Kathy and I see to buoys before us and she starts to head towards the furthest one out. She reduces speed to 2.1 knots - that way we won't hit the reef SO hard.

We're not sure if we're supposed to go between the buoys or not. There is so much rain coming down that I'm having trouble making out their color.

"The furtherest buoy is yellow," I tell Kathy.
"What's that mean?"
I reply confidently, "I have no idea!"

We're in 65 feet of water right now and we're going slow. Our forward scan sonar is giving us a good idea of the bottom. We decide to give this "Yellow Buoy" a large berth anyway.

As we make the turn past the buoy I can just make out a shape in the rain and mist. It's grey and... Hmm... All of a sudden it's clear.
"Kathy! That's the Aranui! She's heading right for us!"

The Aranui is the local cruise/supply ship for the Tuamutos and the Marquesas. It's big and moving fast in our general direction.

"No!" Kathy says, "They're at anchor. I saw them when we were coming in."
"Then why's it getting BIGGER?!"
The Aranui see us. We know this because, right then, we hear five blasts of their horn, which, in nautical terms, means GET OUT OF MY WAY!

We quickly steer Adventure clear of the Aruni and see two sailboats in front of us now. It's still raining hard. I'm starting to shiver. Kathy keeps looking at our guide book.
Kathy says in a worried tone, "I don't get it. It doesn't look like this in the guide."
"I'm sure it's fine." I reassure her. "Just keep heading towards the sailboats. Okay?"

We slowly continue. I'm excited because there appears to be lots of room to anchor.

"I'm going to go just to the left of the sailboat with the large mast," Kathy says.
Kathy steers Adventure slightly to port.
"WAIT!" Kathy yells. "Those aren't sailboats!"
"WHAT?!"
"Those are the range markers!"
I yell! "TURN TO PORT! TURN TO PORT!" Kathy immediately turns to port and we see a whole bunch of boats anchored off in the distance. "Oh!" Kathy says, "That makes a lot more sense."

We anchor in 34 feet of water and run below. It rains for the rest of the night, but we're secure and sleep beautifully.

When we get on the radio the next day we tell everyone that it was easy. No big deal.