Trip to the Tuamotus Islands
23 May 2024 | Makemo Atoll
Kirk Groehnert | Partly Sunny

After waiting for our generator parts and then a couple days for a weather window to sail to the Tuamotus Island chain, we finally left on Saturday (May 18) evening from Nuku Hiva. This was to be a 4.5 day sail of about 505 miles almost due south from where we were.
We waited a couple days to get good weather. Weather that didn't have winds too strong or, of course, rain. Well that was not how it worked out because, after two beautiful days of perfect sailing, the weather predictions changed. We now had a weather warning, oh and we were just entering the area, which warned of a slow moving trough with rough seas, high winds and rain. Possibly thunderstorms. Now, we spoke our French words. The four letter kind.
We saw a wall of white which was to be our future for the next 24 hours. Winds started picking up and the waves as well. We had pretty big waves that were hitting us on the left front quarter of the boat. We were going upwind now as well which is always a little difficult because water starts going over the bow and splashes everywhere. We reefed all of the sails down as far as we could and still move forward which stabilized our ride as much as possible.
This type of situation always makes us question ourselves, like, "Why are we doing this?" The boat handles it great, just moving along, bobbing side to side with waves but it just isn't fun and we don't get good rest. To move anywhere on the boat is a struggle and no matter how tight you hold on, a wave will come along and jerk you in a different direction.
Then there was the rain. The rain was torrential. No lightening, thankfully, but every bit as much rain as a big thunderstorm. There's no point in wearing much in the way of clothes other than maybe shorts or something.
Last but not least the wind. The wind was over 25 knots for most of the day. It will fool you too. It'll hang out in the 17, 18, 19 range for about half an hour, enough to make you say, "It's calming down now." But... don't you dare say that! It goes right back to 25+ with whistling on all the lines.
Well, we did make it safely despite the test of mother nature. People always say that a boat can handle it. It's the people who can't. We always remind ourselves of the first statement. Not so much the second.
To greet us near the entrance to the lagoon of Makemo Atoll, was a pod of Orcas. Yes, Orcas. The last thing I would have thought we would see.
Crystal kept saying she saw something with a big fin. Ok, I thought. A dolphin, a shark, or maybe a sailfish or something. Nope, it was Orcas. Or maybe we just didn't get enough sleep. Not that either; they came alongside us and blew out. Then a few went under the boat, which was no problem to see because of the great clarity of the sea here.
Now, the Orcas normally wouldn't worry me because they are beautiful intelligent creatures. The problem is, we know there is an issue with them off the coast of Portugal biting rudders off of sail boats. This is not just a rare occurrence. We know people that transited through that area and there are incidents every day. Knowing this, worried us a little although we know that it's only this one pod whom teach their young how to do it. Still, just a little concerning when we see them.
Nevertheless, it was an incredible moment seeing these guys in French Polynesia of all places.
Finally, we motored through the lagoon entrance at the right time. If the time is not correct, there can be very strong currents and even breaking waves. Fortunately, our first lagoon entrance went smoothly and now we are anchored just outside a small village.
The water is crystal clear but we have not really explored too much except for brief walk on land. We'll explore more in the next few days. For now, we get to sleep normally, without our body pressed against one side of the boat.