We left on a Friday. We actually didn’t realize it was a Friday until after we had left the south Fakarava pass. The wind was from the north at 15 to 25 knots and seemed perfect for our sail to Tahanea. We were running downwind and cruising at 7 knots, no problem. BUT then two hours before we reached the pass there were three 6 mile wide squalls off our port side. As the squall wind increased we turned to run a little more downwind to reduce the pressure on the sails. The squall topped out at 40 to 42 knots of wind and we were running 8 to 8.5 knots with the wind.
Most people want to know if our boat can handle big wind with the amount of solar we have on top and today we can confidently say yes. The wind hasn’t been as much a problem as the waves generated by the big wind. Instead of staying on top of the wave we generally slide off of the backside of the wave.
We thought this was going to be a lovely downwind sail and boy did we get a surprise with the squalls that surrounded us all day. The up and down winds made up and down waves that dumped saltwater on the garden. We were lucky we had made water the day before because we used almost the whole tank washing the garden off. Generally before heavy sails we wrap the garden in plastic, but we didn’t think that the weather was going to be a problem today.
The grand finale of the day was entering the north Tahanea pass. The wind decided to peak at 25 knots exactly when we were making our approach to the pass. As the current was exiting the atoll, 8 feet of wind waves, north swell, and 25 knot wind, the entrance filled with giant peaks of churned up water. At one point Sara looked back and saw a wave approaching from behind taller than the aft solar panel by 5 feet putting the peak height at 15 feet. Wade expertly drove by compass through the passage because the chart plotter and autopilot reacts too slowly. Sara spotted a clear opening in the pass as she kept lookout and Wade made sure to make small course adjustments so as to not become beam to the waves, but kept us close to our only exit if the peaks got any bigger. Sara had put her GoPro on her head and in the excitement forgot to start recording, booooo. We knew we were in the clear when we the peaks subsided inside the pass and dolphins lead us in. The chart indicated there is “a village”, but we realized that there was no village and this atoll is uninhabited. Nevertheless we found a lovely protected anchorage from the north Gale that approaches on Sunday.
Maybe this is why sailors say . . . “Never leave on a Friday”!
Comfort Cruising Tip: Don’t enter an atoll pass that faces the direction of a strong wind, especially at the time of an outgoing current. This causes HUGE standing waves that are very close together.
Boat Position: 16 degrees 51.741 minutes south and 144 degrees 39.949 minutes west.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
