Maupihaa

We sailed from Bora Bora and got to Maupihaa yesterday. We caught a delicious red tuna along the way that we have eaten for 4 meals. Otherwise the passage was uneventful.

The Maupihaa pass is quite gnarly. It is about 40 feet wide with intense swirling current flowing out of the pass at about 4 knots. We lined up on the pass, then turned before heading in. Both Gary and I were flustered be the current, the coral heads in the pass and the fact that you can't turn about once you have started in. You really have to commit when you go through this pass. We circled a couple of times trying to decide whether to go in or head straight for Suwarrow. We decided we should not risk it, when a dinghy from another cruising boat came out and said it really wasn't that bad once you got started. They offered to be our guide, so we decided to go in. I let Gary steer this one and Harrison and I stayed on the bow to guide him. After the initial strong current, the pass spits you out into a deep lagoon, but not before you have to avoid a rather large coral head. And of course none of this is marked.

Once in the lagoon, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief, and realized that we were in one of the most beautiful atolls we had been to. We traversed the lagoon and anchored near the south end off a white sand/coral beach. We were greeted by black tip reef sharks swimming around the boat in the aquablue water. We relaxed, snorkeled, checked out the beach, kayaked and Gary went spear fishing and caught a good sized snapper. There is no cigateura on the island and we confirmed with the locals that the fish was ok to eat.

Tomorrow we head out to Suwarrow. That is about 550 miles from here. The winds look good, but not great. Maybe a little too light. Oh well, we will get there eventually. Hopefully the weather is right for entering the pass there, otherwise it is another 500 miles to Niue or 750 miles to Tonga. We have quite a bit of sailing ahead of us. Hopefully it is all fair winds and gentle seas.

Julie