Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

The weather for the whole day was pretty grim. The high overnight winds persisted for much of the morning before dying out. The sky remained overcast the whole day and we were subject to rain and drizzle for most of the day. Wonderful.

Our new spot to which we had dragged was not that good as we had less protection from the wind and with increased distance from the land (fetch) we had more chop than we would have like. However, with 250ft of chain out we were safe so it was better to stay there and wait for better light and conditions before moving somewhere better.

I ran the morning net which has now gone from just a few boats to 25 plus weather forecasts. All the boats at sea had taken a bit of a pounding overnight with many experiencing winds in the high forties. It was good to hear that all were safe and well.

Around mid morning we moved the boat 1 nautical mile to the north east where the land was more continuous and the thicker trees offered more protection from the wind. The wind was around 25 knots on our nose and feeling quite chilly as we made our way carefully keeping an eye out for coral heads.

Once safely anchored I turned my attention back to the water maker. I had previously communicated our symptoms to Spectra but hadn’t yet received a response. Over night my mind had churned on the problem. While I didn’t think we had a blockage I couldn’t rule this out so I dismantled a few pieces of the equipment and took a close look inside to see if something had come loose which could be creating a temporary blockage. I could find nothing wrong so I put it all back together. Having ran out of ideas I could only wait on Spectra fearing I would have to ship a new motor out.

I caught up with some lost sleep in the afternoon and awoke to the same grim sky as earlier. We had thought of lowering the dinghy and going for a walk in the drizzle but an email check revealed some advice from Spectra to check the brushes on the motor.

So began 2-3 hours of grubby work. The motor has two inspection covers to access the brushes. The way the motor was mounted onto a larger assembly prevented access to one of them. The one I could open I did but wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking at. The email had warned that removal of the end of the motor should be avoided if at all possible as putting it back on was supposed to be difficult. I couldn’t see that I had a choice as I had to understand what I was looking at and I had to be able to access the second brush. Once I had the end of the motor off I could see that the brush that was accessible in the first place was stuck in its slot and it took no time to get it sliding back in and out.

Now began the hard work. Two long screws held the back of the motor in place. The nuts at the other end had dropped too far so they could not be screwed back in without removing the pump assembly. To get the brushes back over the commutator required access to both inspection hatches so the motor needed to be removed from the broader assembly. To remove the motor from the broader assembly required removing the broader assembly from where it was mounted on the boat to access screws from behind. This all took a lot of time and required four hands. John helped throughout and finally as it was getting dark we had it all put back together. On testing the water maker worked perfectly. What a relief. The irony is that we could probably have fixed the problem by banging the back of the motor with a spanner and fixing it in 10 seconds flat.

But this is good news. The grim feeling brought on by the poor weather and the prospects of continued water rationing (ie – no showers, etc.) was now lifted.

I’ll order spare brushes and springs as these are getting a little worn and one day will require replacement but this is not urgent.

Today we’ll move the boat to the village. We know a few friends have arrived there: Lileth, Bristol Rose, Whoosh, Sea Mist among others so it will be nice to see them. We promised Richard and Lileth a while back we’d have them aboard for dinner one day so we’ve invited them over this evening. Tomorrow or the day after we’ll head over to Fakarava.

In the morning I ran the net we started which has attracted quite a few boats now. We heard from a few more of our friends and it seems more and more people are heading this way. We’d heard that the most popular destination for cruisers was Ahe so we chose to come down here because it was a little different and there is a nice wide pass. Perhaps this has attracted everyone else. The more we hear of other boats on their passage from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus the more we think we had a pretty good passage with minimal squalls.

John spent a lot of the morning snorkeling the local area taking pictures while Helen and I relaxed and read. Shortly before midday all three of us dinghies over to a coral head we’d passed on the way in just under two miles away. We had no idea what to expect. We carefully laid the anchor on the coral head as the water dropped to 70ft within a few feet. I went in first to make sure the dinghy anchor could not damage the coral before signaling for Helen and John to enter the water.

The coral head was amazing. It was about 20 feet wide and rose practically vertically from the lagoon floor 70-80 feet below. Made out of coral growth it was largely solid but in many places it looked like a honeycomb with voids within and gaps through which we could look. In and around the towering coral head there were plenty of fish of many varieties. Feeling quite comfortable free diving down to 30-40 feet and hanging around a while I decided to go for the bottom. I made it to what looked like the shallowest part before immediately turning for the surface. It wasn’t too bad in the end. I measure the depth at that point with our portable depth sounder and found it to be 60ft so that represents my personal record to date.

Getting back to the boat was a little less fun. It had been bouncy going out to the coral head. Coming back we were into the wind and waves. Everytime we hit a wave we would be sprayed, sometimes heavily. Helen and John were able to put their backs to it but I had to see where we were going. In the end I put on my face mask to see and my snorkel to stop water going in my mouth when I breathed. We also had to take the dinghy drain plug out all the way to stop the dinghy filling with water.

Back on the boat we dried off and had lunch. More reading and relaxing for us. Later, John went snorkeling again and Helen and I swam over to the next motu and walked around that. It was not a lot different than the one we’re behind. The reef on the inside looked a little more interesting so we may try that out today. On the swim way over I lost my sunglasses which were in my pocket. I was a bit annoyed by this. On the way back I swam back trying my best to follow the route over. Fortunately black sunglasses stand out on white coral sand a long way off in this lovely clear water so I was able to find and retrieve them.

After dinner John and I went out lobstering. We have heard that a few nights after full moon the lobsters come out onto the shallow reefs and we can pick them up with our hands. We’ve also heard that this is true every night. Well not last night. We did see plenty of iridescent blue needle fish which allowed us to get close. I managed to catch three of them in my gloved hand but let each one go. I also caught a little white fish the same way. But no lobsters.

We’ll probably stay here one more day before heading over to the town tomorrow and then on to Fakarava where we may meet up with Whiskers who we know are over there.

Side note. While writing this a nasty squall came over including a flash of lightening followed by thunder a second later. That was enough to encourage us to put all the laptops and handheld GPS into the microwave. We are glad we’re at anchor and not at sea during these nastier squalls.