The final leg of our sail to Aitutaki was short, but incredibly eventful. We were expecting to have to motor sail in light winds the whole way, but were happily mistaken to find that most of the way we were gifted with enough of a breeze at just enough of an angle to sail. We didn’t need to sail quickly, only enough to keep the sails filled and the boat moving.

We departed from Palmerston after dinner on Tuesday, with just enough daylight for a quick mousing lesson from John on one of our reefing lines that had managed to work its way up towards the mast. No matter! With only 200 miles between us and Aitutaki, we were all feeling excited to be underway again, looking forward to exploring yet another new place! So we motor sailed off into the night, eventually able to turn the engine off and just plain old sail.

Andrea learning how to mouse a reefing line!

Wednesday morning we woke up to blue skies and a very light breeze. And while most sailors might find this discouraging, we had actually been waiting for these exact conditions, making the perfect opportunity for an ocean swim! Just after lunch John made the call, and we all donned our bikinis and budgy smugglers. We took turns diving into the great abyss, with the depth measuring 4,700 meters, making it a swimming experience unlike any other and one that everyone should do if given the opportunity. Despite a few impressive contenders, Steve managed to steal the show with a very impressive swan-dive turn belly flop. We all enjoyed a salt water shower on deck, then carried on our merry way, refreshed and revived, with only 99 more miles to go.

The next morning, we sighted Aitutaki right around first light, tacking our way closer to it’s barrier reef, biding our time until we could get ahold of the harbor on the radio. The harbor on the West side of the island is accessed by a long, extremely narrow channel that is in the process of being dredged, making the depths variable. But we received confirmation that we would be able to make it into the harbor, so we began our pilotage in against an incredible current, as all the water in the massive lagoon inside the barrier reef ran out the channel with the outgoing tide.

At a snails pace, we navigated in, and were delighted to be met by a fleet of dingy’s showing us the way to our mooring. We had crossed paths with a heap of boats mid-Circumnavigation, and had all ducked into Aitutaki to avoid the same weather we were. There’s a med-mooring type set up in the harbor here, so we reversed towards a wharf wall after dropping our anchor and attached a few stern lines, all with the help of our neighbors.

After our lines were all set, the customs waiting game began! We gave the boat a clean while we waited, and then had some lunch, then continued to wait, so close but so far! After our visits from the extremely friendly customs, health and safety, and biosecurity officers, we were finally free to explore!

We intend to spend the weekend here, to wait out the forecasted heavy winds on Saturday night before continuing on to Tahiti!

Cheers!

Liv

Bikini’s & Budgy Smugglers

GT’s and G&T’s

The Forbidden Island