Rangiroa Atoll
Trip Start
May 20, 2010
1
169
180
Trip End
Ongoing
Rangiroa, Tuamotu, French Polynesia
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
So it was time to move on and we left Ahe late in the day to catch the right tide at the pass and sailed overnight to the next atoll of Rangiroa. Arriving early morning it was Cuttyhunk's turn to go through first. This pass was a lot wider, but at the same time a little more turbulent as the lagoon here is very large. Almost 20 nm across so there is a lot of water trying to get out. But it all went well and we motored to the anchorage where there were quite a number of boats on anchor.
The big excitement however was on Awaroa, as they came through the pass their line hooked a very large Wahoo and while John steered through Helen landed it! This was far too big for just us so having made contact with "Blessed" and “Water Musick” we lifted our anchors and set off across Rangiroa’s lagoon to a place called the “Blue Lagoon” Just how many Blue Lagoon’s there are in the world we have no idea but we’ve been to quite a few now.
We had last seen the kiwis off “Blessed” in Panama, and the American’s on “Water Musick” in the Galapagos but have stayed in contact via radio, so it was fun to get together once again and to be able to share a wonderful feed of fish. The anchorage however left a lot to be desired, yes the Blue Lagoon lived up to it’s reputation but the anchorage was not good. Hard coral, with lots of coral heads, and when the wind came up so did the sea state across the expanse of the lagoon. We spent a sleepless night with fingers crossed we wouldn’t drag and it was a relief to see the sun come up so we could make our way back across the lagoon to the original anchorage.
Ashore here we discovered a great little place called “Josephine’s”. A Café/bar built to look across the pass into the lagoon. Here you could sit and watch the tide change, the waves stand up and the dolphins come to play. Their displays of back flips and somersaults brought a smile to everyone’s face, and it was easy to completely lose track of time. Just off the pass here was also a spot called the “aquarium” where the fish waited to be fed by the dive boats. Crystal clear aquamarine water over coral and reef fish by the thousands, including two huge moray eels that could be enticed out of their holes and reef sharks cruising around watching the tourists.
But all too soon it was time to push on, we had a “Rendezvous” to make so on the 15 June we headed back out the pass for a day/ night passage to Tahiti. We miss timed the tide by about half an hour as we needed daylight to see, but that half hour made all the difference. The tide had turned and was coming in against the outflow so the waves were already beginning to steep up. With the current with us, we shot out through the incoming waves at 8kts, Cuttyhunk buried her bow a couple of times, but took them head on, shook them off and we popped out the other side. Hearts racing and breathing a sigh of relief! Tahiti next stop.
