We had a final feast with our extended host family after church on Sunday; followed by a very chilled overnight passage to Matuku, arriving midday on Monday. After a decade of obsessively poring over google maps and ambiguous internet posts, I knew Matuku has waves, but of unknown provenance, other than the main wave was pretty full on. I'd had a long hiatus off the boards and my fitness was starting to look questionable. But when it's on it's on. Brett and Tash from SY Complicite stopped by to say hello and check out the boat, so we decided to go in with them to complete what turned out to be a very chilled Sevusevu and a tour of Lomati village. We then headed back to Evenstar for some shuteye. At dusk we were roused by a local boat coming over to say hello. On board was an Aussie surfer, offering a tour of the waves the next day. Guy is almost a Matuku local, having visited 3-4 times, staying on land with the local chief. He has a love of remote surf, piercin...
Returning from my quick trip home I flew back to Savusavu at 8.30AM Monday morning. After a quick re-provision we were underway by 12, looking to catch the favourable forecast weather window for the trip to Fulaga. Sadly, after a good beginning, the forecast and the reality diverged. We spent a good slice of that night bashing into a decent southerly. After a few hours of purgatory, the wind angle improved slightly to provide a welcome relief. In the end, we made good time and Fulaga hove into view at about midday. As we approached the channel it was apparent that the charts were not very detailed and the channel was quite narrow. The entry required use of the Mk1 Eyeball; assisted by polaroids. Behind which were some very wide eyes; because Fulaga is quite something else. The instructions are to hug the rock to port and hook behind it on entry. The unusual beauty of the entry made it hard to concentrate on the passage instructions. Once we gained entry to the inner la...
After having our inter-regional departure refused there was no question of staying longer in the Papeete floating slums... It was time to move, even if to somewhere a little closer. So we decided to show Zac some of beautiful Moorea. We had a cracking sail and experimented with our windward angles in preparation for our upcoming Tuamotus passage. Not great but not completely terrible. She's certainly no performance cruiser/racer. We did a day of boat jobs in Cook's Bay. It's been a long journey but the list is getting pretty small and the last of the mod cons like watermaker, washing machine and deck shower are now functional. Once again we marvelled at the Cooks Bay micro-climate. It's as if it's not part of this island chain at all. And the water was dead still; so after a few rough nights, a good night's sleep was finally had by all. In the morning we sailed to Haapiti once again. Multiple acquaintances do not diminish the unbelievable beauty...
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