Tahanea Treasure

We continue to learn so much…we thought a slower overnight sail would be better than a rushed daytime sail. 

However, the winds and seas built all night long above predicted and we couldn’t slow down; even with just a whiff of genoa out, it was challenging to get our speed under 4 knots (we needed a 3 knot average).  Usually, we coax Terikah to go faster; this time we wanted her to go slower – poor Terikah, getting such mixed messages!  We were seeing 20-25 knots steady wind, with gusts up to 29, and 3-7 foot seas on the beam.   We could have easily made a quick daytrip in weather like this, but the predicted weather was for lighter winds.  About 11 miles out from our destination of Tahanea atoll at 2am, we HAD to slow down! We started jogging back and forth, angling into the waves and wind to add distance, slow the boat, and gain time; big beam seas slapped the boat and sprayed water across the cockpit.  Chris hand-steered for these waiting hours until sunrise at 5:15 am.  Entry into Tahanea middle pass was thankfully very straight-forward, essentially calm an hour after low-tide slack with only 1.5 knots with us.  Set the anchor and floated the chain just inside the pass amongst coral bommies… and napped.  So far our passages between atolls have a 100% rate of humbling us!

We visited with the couple from SY Wild Iris, who were out there in the night in solidarity, trying to slow down as well. Helped friends on Starry Knight unstick their anchor.  Then slept well.  The next morning, coffee and banana cake with Wild Iris before moving to the southeast end of the atoll, where we met up with another kid boat, Ella, and anchored in the most unbelievable waters.  On the way over, we could see down to sandy patches in 70 feet of water depth!  We worked through many bommies in deeper water to enter the turquoise shallow water, anchoring in only 8 feet with no coral heads around us.  This is definitely our favorite anchorage thus far in the Tuamotus; I cannot begin to express the clarity of the turquoise waters, clearly visible swirls in the sand below. 

Happy Father’s Day Chris!  We woke to a completely glasslike anchorage with not a bit of wind to ripple the waters. 

We dinghied over to a few coral bommies in the clear waters, jumping in to find ourselves in a beautiful aquarium; the clarity of water to marvel at the coral and brightly colored fish. 

We had never experienced anything like this and were in awe. I found myself thinking of my dad, who always loved looking into his fishtank, and imaging how much he would have loved swimming in this life-size tank. 

After almost two hours of being lost in this beauty, we finally grew tired and chilled, forcing ourselves out. 

Later, we stood on the paddleboards, looking down at the barracuda and black-tip reef sharks so clear below.  It was a truly magical day in a magical place.  It also feels so remote here, as Tahanea is considered a national park with no permanent inhabitants and no airstrip.

About 4 years ago in Alaska, we met a cruising family of four from San Francisco that was on their way back home, having crossed the South Pacific and returning via Alaska and the Inside Passage.  We connected with them and they provided us with encouragement to continue thinking about whether we wanted to cruise on a larger scale, a dream that we had tabled. One visit, Arlo (the son) showed Calder his fishing book and gave him a cedar plug lure to catch South Pacific fish.  Seeing that lure in Calder’s hand was a turning point.  Alma (the daughter) brought out a treasure map where they had hidden a treasure on a motu on a remote atoll in the South Pacific…Tahanea. 

We had arrived.  It felt so surreal putting our anchor down near “Axe Island” of the treasure map.  We set off to find that treasure, knowing that it likely had been moved in these last years.  Using the map and compass, the kids started off and eventually found the location where it should be. 

It was tricky, as the motu and waterways had changed it a bit, with one of the GPS points now actually under water. 

We dug and dug to no avail; the treasure had moved on.  However, in the spirit of the Axe Island treasure map, we have buried a treasure in a glass bottle at the site and have passed on this treasure map to following cruising boats.

Calder and Cora joined the boys from Ella to start fort-building over the two days, creating an impressive, camouflaged palm tent on the beach, tucked between coconut palms. 

We enjoyed fires and dinners there over a couple nights, the kids sleeping there one night.  They ran after ghost crabs and discovered that all that rustling in the palm forest was actually rats, but still they slept out. 

We could see their fire from the boats and imagine the freedom they felt.  The next morning, after harvesting 26 coconuts full of delicious water, Calder returned home with reports of a good time.  Luckily, no rats made it in their shelter, though they could hear them scurrying about in the palm forest and Calder slept with his hand resting on his machete or shoe…just in case!

Feeling very relaxed and with the waters in the anchorage calming and the sun coming out (as well as the huge southern swells crashing into the reef in the distance), we decided to stay another day.  Snorkeling brought more delights, from our first grouper to a large bumped-head turquoise parrotfish amongst the gardens of small coral-dwelling fish. Chris did some underwater boatwork, a shark looking curiously on.  Shoretime game of Ultimate Frisbee (the kids won 7-6 over the adults) and relaxing sunset.  So glad we stopped to pause and enjoy this place one more day.

Anchor up this morning, over to the southern pass of Tahanea to anchor and drift snorkel.  The idea is that you do a very slow drift at tide change in the atoll pass, floating along with your dinghy.  We have not done this before and our friends on SV Ella were up to showing us the ropes.  This is all pushing me quite a bit – first, it wasn’t until this year that I felt comfortable enough putting my head under water to snorkel and second, I have a fear of sharks.  But off we went and that first jump in opened up a completely new foreign world of coral gardens and fish stretching as far as we could see – and we were soaring over it all with the current!  Stunning and mind-blowing.  I simply had no idea.   What a way to end our time in Tahanea, a true treasure of an atoll. 

Tonight, leaving on an overnight passage to Fakarava.  We’re hoping we’ve learned something from our last two between-atoll passes and have a nice, slow trip under our winter solstice full moon.