Saturday, 4 August 2007

The Schooner Maggie B is back in Rairua Harbor, Raivavae, Austral Islands. We woke up this morning just off Motu (small island) Vaiamu, known locally as “Le Piscine” — the swimming pool. We had an idyllic day and evening. Photos to follow when we get to Tahiti.

But at about dawn, we woke up to 35 knots of wind from the NNE. This was more or less as expected, maybe 10 knots more and more northerly. We were in a lovely spot for a quiet afternoon, but not for a blow. We raised anchor, with some difficulty due to coral heads rather entangling the chain and anchor, but accomplished marvelously with tight teamwork and early attention of divers.

We motored over to Vaiuru, where some had seen a five step series of marae, and found what seemed to be a nice spot. The day was calm for a bit but then started to blow up again to 25-35 knots, and the bottom proved (on inspection) to be bits of sand and then coral shingle. Not great holding. We passed on staying for a tour of marae to head off for the end of the island, Isle Hotuahua. It proved to be a brief respite. We anchored in 20 feet of water, dried out a bit, and had a cup of tea. The wind switched from 35 knots from the NNE to 35 knots from the south. In about 10 minutes. Much of the time it was raining at about one inch (2.54cm) per 15 minutes. What in Oklahoma they would call a frog choking gully washer.

We continued along around Raivavae to Rairua Harbor. The hills were incredible with waterfalls falling 200 meters off the cliffs, blown away by the wind, while all of the wetness whipped around us as we dodged the coral outcroppings to find our way back to a safe anchorage.

In Rairua, our Norwegian friends were still there. We woke them up as we arrived, by passing close by and giving them a big blast of our marvelously loud Kallenberg horn.

In the evening, after a celebratory round of Hot Toddys, we fixed a “comfort dinner” of baked potatoes and “garbage” soup. While dinner was fixing, it HAILED on us. Maybe typical for some places, but a shock for us. We tried to gather enough for ice for our rum and cokes, but it was a bit too transient. Movie Night was “Whale Rider” which seemed so much more significant from knowing a bit more about Maori culture.

All is well.