OF ATOLLS -

THE TUAMOTUS, COOKS & MALDIVES

Tim Le Couteur

June 2002 - Tuamotus

Hesperine, our Hallberg-Rassy 42 ketch, had carried Ginny and me many safe miles since we set sail from France. We were now on passage from the Marquesas, in French Polynesia, towards the 77-atoll chain of the Tuamotus, which cover 1000 miles of ocean. These were formerly called 'The Dangerous Archipelago' on account of their variable currents, mixed weather and low visibility. We had sailed through these islands in 1973 on our way to New Zealand, where we now live, and had spent many hours practising star sights for the northern landfall, Takaroa. In those 'pre GPS' days a passage through the Tuamotus was quite an undertaking.

Now we knew exactly where we were, and wanted to explore this fascinating island group more extensively. An examination of the chart and cruising guide - Charlie's Charts of Polynesia - shows 15 atolls with good passes north of the 17°20' restricted area. A yacht with less draft than Hesperine's 2∙1m would find a few more. Ideally, with the southeast trades blowing through the group, one should harden sheets as much as comfort will allow and make landfall at the southern end of the group. This will enable fair wind cruising to Rangiroa at the north western end of the atoll chain.

However an easterly wind and bumpy conditions meant that our intended landfall of Makemo was not possible without tacking, so we eased sheets for Kauehi. Yachts who spent time in Makemo reported a wonderfully sheltered anchorage in the south of the atoll, which is not shown in Charlie's Charts. In fact, from comments received, Makemo was voted the most popular atoll for the 2002 season. Others managed to lay further south, making Raroia their first call - this was Kon-Tiki's landing. We nervously approached the only pass in Kauehi, on its south western corner, timing our entrance for slack water and a noon sun. As it turned out Kauehi pass was wide (0∙5 mile) and clear of dangers, but as those cruising this area soon learn, timing is vital and should not be taken lightly. Six miles across Kauehi's lagoon lies the only settlement, Tearavera. Good light is desirable for this passage, although the coral patches were usually well marked by the excellent red and green lit beacons that now prevail throughout the Tuamotus.

The 'black' pearl has revived the flagging nacre industry and has created new-found wealth in the few atolls where the growing conditions are suitable. Kauehi is one of these and here we met Michael Yip, the 'Prince of Pearls'. Michael has six farms on different atolls, and told us that the one on Kauehi produced an annual crop of 30,000 pearls. We enjoyed a morning being shown the various stages of pearl farming, and now understand what a navigational hazard the surface buoys represent, hiding a maze of hidden growing lines beneath the water. In common with most of the other larger atolls Kauehi, is linked to Tahiti by air. The day after we met Michael, he flew out for Papeete laden with a rucksack full of pearls - less the few that we had purchased!

Another unforgettable experience was attending Church on Sunday, with four guitars strumming and the haunting Polynesian singing echoing through the banner and shell-strewn pale blue and pink interior.

Convergence zones are the bane of the weather in this part of the world, with the disturbed air that they create often covering many hundreds of miles. We were weatherbound for five days in Kauehi, as the wind boxed the compass and the rain fell. This showed how important it is to choose one's anchorage carefully, and how relatively few anchorages are truly safe in these atolls. Our anchorage off Tearavera village pier was perfect for the prevailing southeast or easterly conditions, but became a dangerous lee shore when the wind swung around to the southwest. Graham Morfey (OCC) had visited these islands two years earlier and, fortunately for us, had found a better anchorage for these conditions. This anchorage is not shown elsewhere so I repeat Graham's comments:

'The position is north of the village in the 'inner' lagoon. One needs to skirt the reef but the entry is easy. This is one of the safest anchorages in the Tuamotus, effectively giving protection from all quarters. Anchor with the church at 172°M and the end of the motu (last bush) bearing 226°M.

Warning: there is a large coral head just awash with the church at 171°M and the end of the motu at 235°M.'

With the sun shining once again we made an early start bound for our next atoll, Fakarava. We wanted to visit the southern part of the atoll as we understood the diving was outstanding. Passe Tumakohua, one of our hardest of this cruise, was made more difficult by entering too early! Tide times vary considerably between atolls, with quoted times for Ahe being 1½ hours after quoted times for Tahanea which is 2½° further south and east. Our mistake was that a further hour should be added for a southern pass, where the distance to the northern pass is considerable (15 miles in the case of Fakarava).

The strong outgoing current we encountered in Passe Tumakohua had been accentuated by the recent bad weather, which had overfilled the lagoon with sea coming over its windward side. Inside the lagoon we found one other yacht in the process of retrieving their coral-bound anchor. In the bad weather they too had been on a lee shore, and the seas had been so bad that their bow-fitting had been ripped clean off the boat! The anchorage near the diving resort was indeed a problem - too deep, at 20m, with towering coral heads. We snorkelled around to try and find a clear spot, but really took our chances that the good weather would hold for our wonderful three day stay. Scuba diving and snorkelling the southern pass exceeded our expectations, and nine months later we have yet to see better! Up to a hundred blacktip reef sharks on one side of the pass, and on the other a myriad of colourful coral and marine life, including the great Napoleon fish.

The passage inside the lagoon, between the deserted southern Fakarava village and the populous northern one of Rotoava, was marked all the way with new red and green lit beacons. This said, we still manned the ratlines and travelled with good light, as there were many coral patches dangerously close to the rhumb line between beacons. Indeed, a short way south of Rotoava a pearl farm straddled the rhumb line. We watched and felt the growing lines just hitting the bottom of Hesperine's keel as we glided over them! The airport at Rotoava was on the scheduled service from Tahiti which, we learned, was the reason why so many of the villages around the larger Fakarava lagoon had been deserted. Consequently the village shop at Rotoava held untold luxuries, which supplemented the usual frozen baguettes, tinned tuna, corned beef and rice.

We would have liked to visit the Toau and Aratika atolls to the northwest, but instead needed to make an overnight passage to Manihi to meet our next guests (had we known that airstrips were everywhere, this could have been done in Fakarava or even Kauehi). We had visited Manihi on our first cruise through the Tuamotus in 1973, and had been fortunate to lie alongside the quay which was the centre of village life. This was no longer possible, and instead it was necessary to negotiate the very narrow pass into the large lagoon which was strewn with black pearl farms. The recommended anchorage rates as the worst that we encountered in the Tuamotus - 15-20m of cloudy water and huge coral heads. Nick, our resident scuba diver, was kept busy freeing anchors - including that of one yacht three times! The busy village was a one mile, wet, dinghy ride away, but the local baker provided a change from frozen baguettes and also sold petrol for the outboard. One other dubious highlight was the 'island night' at the Pearl Resort Hotel by the airstrip on the other side of the lagoon. They sent a fast boat to collect a group of us, and gave us a thrilling moonlit night ride back, dodging the coral patches at 30 knots!

So to our favorite atoll, Ahe, where 30 years ago we had spent a month living with the villagers. Wei-Hai our 28ft Harrison Butler-type cutter had lain by herself in the perfect shelter of their inner lagoon. These sheltered anchorages are few and far between, so once again Ahe was our favourite atoll as we re-met many old friends.

Finally to Rangiroa, the largest atoll in the South Pacific, where there are several large, expensive hotels including the very beautiful, US $350 per night, Kia Ora Hotel. This was rather out of our league! We preferred the epicurean delights of Relais Josephine at the edge of the pass, where we watched a school of dolphins playing the overfalls of the ebb tide. This completed our three week Tuamotian circuit. Tahiti and airline schedules beckoned. Given more time, a stop at nearby Tikehau was reputedly really worthwhile.

August 2002 - The Cook Isles

There are eight atolls in the 750,000 square miles of Pacific administered by the Cook Isles. Of these only Suvarov (Suwarrow) and Penrhyn have lagoons deep enough for yachts. The great circle course from Bora-Bora to Samoa takes one close to far flung Palmerston Atoll, so we chose to stop there. Our two day stay at this unique place was also one of our most unusual anchorages. The atoll is too shallow to enter, so one drops anchor on a shallow patch 50m from the outside of the reef on the leeward side of the island. In retrospect it was probably an advantage that we had strong southeasterlies for the two nights that we sat on this precarious perch, as they held Hesperine off the reef. At the time, with the wind gusting to 40 knots and the rain deluging down, we decided to keep anchor watch. It was only slightly better than being at sea in such conditions!

Palmerston's sixty or so inhabitants are all relatives of the famed William Marsters, a Lancashire man who settled on the atoll with his three Cook island wives (who were all sisters)! By his death in 1899 he had sired 21 children, whose descendants still follow his strict codes for intermarriage and land division. One of the traditions is that whichever family comes out to welcome you becomes your assigned family for your stay. We were met by Jimmy Marsters, and would probably have sailed off again had Jimmy not assured us that this open anchorage would be alright.

Our visit ashore was brief, as the weather was very unsettled. Of particular interest was the 500m by 500m pit which had been hand-dug into the coral in the centre of the island. This pit penetrated the natural water table and formed a marsh out of the area, thus enabling the growth of root crops like taro, yam and kumara. Also still standing was William Marsters' log cabin, built from shipwreck timber. This small community has a precarious existence, particularly now that copra is no longer harvested due to the market decline. We suspect the financial mainstay is remittances from relatives living in New Zealand, but Jimmy told us that he could earn enough by catching the plentiful parrot fish to sell in Rarotonga.

February 2003 - The Maldives

With fond memories of Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, Hesperine was now bound for her third group of atolls in eight months - The Maldives. Two hundred and seventy miles southwest of India's southernmost point, the Maldives are a group of 26 atolls which straddle 8° of latitude from 7°N to, and across, the Equator. The structure of these atolls is very different from the tight coral rings of their Pacific counterparts - in fact one could describe them as loose rings of motus divided by wide channels leading into the lagoon. This means that, from a cruising point of view, shelter is even harder to find. The saving grace is that most people cruise the Maldives during the northern winter northeast monsoon, whose winds rarely exceed force 4. Most of the 250,000 population live in Male, the capital and the centre for the tourist industry.

Until recently all visiting yachts had to clear in and out at Male, but now a Customs post has been established at Thiladhunmathee, on Uligan motu in the northernmost atoll. This lies just south of Eight Degree Passage, our natural course from Sri Lanka to our next destination of Oman. The entrance into Uligan is wide and coral free but nevertheless, as with all coral anchorages, it is desirable to have good light the first time that one enters. The anchorage off the 450-strong village is well sheltered from winds from northeast through to southeast, but one must be prepared to anchor in 15m or more to find a sand patch free of coral. The water was beautifully clear but sadly much of the coral was dead. Landing at the pier amidst several rod fishermen, we wondered aloud why they were catching small fish in ones and twos from the vast shoal that blackened the turquoise sea. Easy they said - if you net them the fish will go away!

This approach typified the well-ordered Sunni Muslim society that we found ashore. The Customs had laid down strict rules which were designed to minimise the yachts' impact on the islanders. We could only applaud, since rules like 'no one ashore between the hours of 2300-0600', 'no alcohol ashore', and 'no locals to visit boats' all seemed very sensible. That said, the locals frequently organised fish barbecues for the passing yachts and went out of their way to help with fuel, water and other supplies. In all a perfectly charming place, and one of the highlights of our cruise.

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