Week #13: Rangiroa to Moorea

We spent a few more days enjoying Rangiroa. After a few weeks in the Tuamotus, our supplies were starting to run low and it was time to head out. Next stop is Moorea, in front of the main island of Tahiti...

What's up inside the pass?

By now you know that Polynesian islands are submerged volcanoes. The oldest are the atolls like Rangiroa, where only the outer ring of the reef is above water and the centre has completely collapsed under water. Thankfully, some of these reef rings have an opening or cut in them called a “Pass” allowing boats like ours to enter and passionate divers to dream. The Rangiroa pass is about 10-20 mts deep and we took a guided snorkelling-free diving tour to discover its magical underwater world!

The first thing that strikes you is the current! It can be super strong either taking you into the atoll or outside into the deep ocean depending on the tide. Humans and fish are all drifting along in the current gliding at their own pace.

Secondly, it’s the size of everything! The unique positioning of the pass and the proximity to the ocean, makes this the prime real estate for all marine species. Everything from rays, to fish, to sharks seem to be living the good life are 3 times larger than those inside the lagoons!

And finally, being close to the ocean means you can take the boat out, spot dolphins and jump in to swim with them. Wait what ??!! It was the first time for us to just jump into the massive Pacific Ocean. The dark blue of the water is something else and swimming towards the dolphins and watching them up close was just so emotional.

There is so much life underwater that we barely understand; the relationships and the behaviours of fish and mammals. What is certain is that in the fleeting moments that our worlds meet, it is truly magical!

Crossing to Moorea

Time to get going again, our friends in Moorea are waiting for us. Good news, we are done sailing against prevailing winds. We still had to find a good weather window for a 3 days South West crossing, ideally avoiding sailing too close to the wind which can be uncomfortable on long passages.

Forecast was looking good, with 2 options. Wait for the usual South East trade winds that were planned to set in on the weekend at 10-15kt. Or take the earlier option with a better wind direction (from the East) but slightly stronger trade winds at 15-20kt. Not an easy call! We decided for the early option, picked up our anchor on Thursday at 10am and were out of the Rangiroa pass by 11:30am.

After a couple of hours sailing downwind along the reef towards the west, we turned towards our direction to the South West and set a direct course to Moorea pass, 190nm away…. And then realised that the wind was stronger than forecasted at 20-25kt. Already sailing under reduced sail, we decided to further reef our main sail. 30 minutes later, we were happily sailing towards our destination at 5-6kt speed quite comfortably despite the swell that picked up as we left the protection of the Rangiroa reef.

We hardly had to touch our sails and Wallis took us all the way to Moorea. After 40h of beautiful sailing (the wind dropped a little on the second day), we arrived in front of Moorea a couple of hours earlier than expected and it was too dark to enter the pass. This is when the wind decided to die, 5nm from our destination, allowing us a quiet breakfast as we drifted between Tahiti and Moorea islands watching the sunrise…

Level up !

Wallis in Polynesia Season 1 is soon coming to an end, only a couple of weeks left before we pack away our sails. By the time we are back in Tahaa, we would have sailed over 800nm, crossing between islands. During these 3 months we have learnt a lot and have stepped up our sailing skills.

We have explored new islands. Since my navy days, many years ago, the islands of Raiatea, Tahaa and Huahine were very familiar to me. It was the ideal playground to get to know Wallis over the past couple of years, but was time for us to push ourselves outside our comfort zone and discover unknown destinations.

We did our first long distance crossings. Until now, our longest crossing was no more than 25nm and we had done a trial night sail between Raiatea and Huahine. It was time to get to the next level… With three 200nm passages under our belt, we have now experienced how it feels to spend full days at sea, with no land in sight from sun rise to sun set. Definitely a unique experience.

We found our balance. This is probably the most important achievement for us. We have now fully adapted to boat life and found new routines that match our lifestyle on Wallis. We also learnt how to live at sea for several days in a row, keeping busy while taking care of the boat and ourselves (both physically and mentally).

We are now officially a sailing team ready for whatever comes next: Yamini, Sebastien, Wallis and Ganesha !