Rangiroa

The passage to Rangiroa, our third Tuamotu atoll, had us running downwind in strong wind with rough choppy seas. We had out a small handkerchief of a jib and were still making 5 knots. We caught a few snapshots of our friends aboard SV Jabula...

SV Jabula disappears for a moment in heavy seas

We had to slow down somehow as we couldn't make the entrance through the pass of the atoll into the lagoon until around 13:30 when tide and currents were favourable.

To slow down, we sort of heaved-to. When one heaves-to in their boat, they should not be making any headway at all but we were going less than 1 knot. (In order to heave-to properly, we would need to have another [third] reef in our mainsail.) But as it was, it quieted down the motion while we waited.

We entered the easternmost pass called Tiputa and set anchor at 13:30 (S14°58.108' W147°38.185') at Rangiroa near the Kia Ora hotel cabins on stilts (www.hotelkiaora.com). Rangiroa is one of the few atolls with 2 passes.

Expensive rooms on the water

It was also very blustery in the lagoon.