Tuamoto Atols

Sunday Island arrived in the Raroia Touamotos on the 20th April 2024. Entry into the Atols is via a channel called a Pass. Generally Atols have only one or two passes. Water flows in and out of the passes as the tide rises and falls, but the atols are always filling up with water from the constant waves breaking over the surrounding coral reef, so there is generally more water flowing out of a pass than into a pass. It can be challenging calculating the tidal flow in and out of a pass, and a bright navigator created an excel spreadsheet called the guestamator to assist in the calculations. The guestamator for Raroia was a few hours off and consequently we entered the pass with four knots of outflowing current and some rather large standing waves. With our old perkins engine almost a full revs, and Sunday Island only making 0.5kts over ground, our entry was very exciting and we wereh joined by the largest dolphin I have ever seen!

We anchored off the Kon-Tiki anchorage and visited the site and spending five days snorking, wing foiling and exploring the beachs. Issy and Max became avid shell collectors and after every trip to the beach they enjoyed sorting through their shells, keeping only the best for their collection. We also used the opportunity of sitting in a remote anchorage “with nothing to do” to get some maintenance done… I re build the autopilot motor, worked on the ever problematic freezer, and started to diagnose why our watermaker was performing poorly. We also gave the boat a full top to bottome clean inside and out, oiled the interior and began servicing winches – They say cruising is boat maintenance in beautiful locations, and we were living the dream!

We sailed out of Raroia pass in the evening of the 25th for an overnight sail to Makimo Atol in company with out Tasmanian friends onboard Diomedea. It was a stormy night with thunder, lightening an squalls typical of the ITCZ, arriving outside the eastern pass at 3am, I hove to Sunday Island and we lay peacefully 1nm off the pass until daylight. At 0530 the sun rose above the horizon, we re checked the tide and flow thought the pass was acceptable (Emilie did not enjoy the excitement of Raroia as much as me) and made quite a peaceful entry, then anchored off the quaint little town of Pouhva, launched the dinghy and motored in to find a bakery and some fresh crossaunts. We found a great bakery and also a general store that had more provisions than we were expecting, so took the opportunity to buy some provisions, some fresh salad, and a Machete for chopping coconuts.

Back onboard Sunday Island raised anchor, hoisted the mainsail, unfurled the genoa and enjoyed a wonderful sail through the Atol to anchor in the NE of the atoll off Runaruku (43*31S, 143 49*W). Due to the coral bommies we developed a system of floating our chain using our fenders to keep the chain above the coral. Before we anchor I go ahead in the tender and search for a clear location free of bommies, then drop a small weight with a buoy as a datum, then return to Sunday Island and we manoeuvre to drop the anchor on the buoy to ensure we anchor in a clear area and don’t damage the coral or our chain. Makimo was excellent for diving, snorking and wing foiling. We met up with some German friends onboard SY Diamond Sea and enjoyed some great snorkling in the pass.

29th April we enjoyed Emilies birthday at Makimo Atol. Issy and Max made a birthday cake decorated as an atol, and we envited a few friends over to enjoy the cake before heading to the beach for a few drinks of rum and fresh coconut that I cut open with our new Machete. What a way to spend a 40th birthday in a tropical atoll on your own yacht with a loving family and new friends.

On 30th April we sailed across Makimo atoll, and shot out the pass with an outgoing tide and sailed 40nm to Tahanea. We arrived early morning and hove to off the island waiting for sunrise and the tide anchoring just inside the pass outside Teuakri in the morning. More fantastic snorkling, diving, and wing foiling. As a family we did a drift Snorkle through the northern pass with an incoming tide was amazing, with many species of coral, fish, sharks and rays. The sea floor was like a carpet of coral.. amazing.

On 7th May we sailed through Tahanea pass for an overnight sail to Fakarava in company with Diomedea. Though the sail to the south pass was a shorter distance, the unknown pass looked hazardous on the chart and we would have needed to wait until the morning slack water to make our approach anyway, so given we were spending the night at sea anyway, we decided to sail to the larger Northern pass. We arrived outside the northern pass in the morning and hove to waiting for sunrise and slack water in the pass. The wind was light and we were rolling about somewhat, leaving our staysail backed and the mainsail up for stability. The constant flopping was enough to cause our old mainsail to tare above the third reef – a job for the sailmakers when we arrive in Tahiti!

Getting more confident with the passes, tides and their timings now we sailed through the north pass with our missen and yankee, then sailed across the atoll to the town of Rotoava village. We anchored, packed up and cleaned the boat then headed into town for a look, and decided to treat ourselves to an early lunch of beers and burgers. At the beach side bar we watched the 2.5m lemon sharks, and 1.5m black tips cruise along the shoreline. We checked out the two shops and service station, and then the Pearl farm shop. That was the island shopping tour complete. We bought some really nice Kachi pearls that we hope to make into jewellery one day in the future.

On the 9th May we sailed south along the eastern edge of the atoll towards Hirifa which is a popular anchorage with its own kite school with a small bar and restaurant that opens on request. We caught up with a few old friends and made some new ones in this beautiful anchorage, and enjoyed some magic kite surfing and foiling.

The south pass was an hour sail away from Hirifa and we sailed down and anchored there for a few days. The anchorage was full of bomies and not very peaceful but the diving through the pass was phenomenal. I hooked up with a few friends and we dived the south pass a few times together and I also enjoyed a couple of dives with a local dive master through the middle of the pass in 5kts of current which was full of sharks and invigorating. After a few great days of diving the tide times because incompatible with daylight ours for future dives, so we sailed back up to Hirifa for some more kite surfing and wing foiling. We remained in Hirifa for ten days until the 18th May, when we departed Fakarava, shooting out through the southern pass into a choppy sea to sail towards Tahiti.