In the morning we wanted to stretch our legs and go ashore. For a while intermittent rains pinned us to the boat but eventually the skies seemed to brighten so we headed out. On the way we dropped by Bamboozle to drop off a glass left the night before.
We tied up in a small marina and walked to the main road. Even though we were less than two miles from the end of the road it was a properly tarmacked road no doubt courtesy of the French taxpayer. The whole area is very lush which we reckoned was due to the geography precipitating a lot of rainfall. At the end of the road was a small river, muddy beach and a footbridge. We crossed the bridge and walked along a path through a settlement. We felt transported back in time. The place seemed so different from elsewhere with some pretty little homes.
On the way back we were caught by a bit of rain but were able to wait it out in a store where we picked up some baguettes. We again popped by Bamboozle to pick up some DVDs they were going to lend us. They invited us aboard for coffee but we declined as we wanted to push on.
When Jamie and Lucy from Bamboozle had been aboard the night before they had told us about the area behind the reef to our east. It sounded very attractive. As the skies were still overcast we wanted to enter the reef with as much light as possible. As soon as we were aboard we raised anchor and were off. Outside the nearby pass we turned east into 25 knot winds. We motored the 4nm to the next pass which only looked passable when we were on top of it. We found a spot to anchor close to the pass.
The area is indeed impressive. The landscape is rugged but lush. Steep volcanic crags with high waterfalls are all around. With the bumpy passage and misty air we took few pictures on the way round. If the weather clears we may dinghy around inside the reef and get some more pictures of the stunning scenery here. The weather stayed pretty grim for the afternoon so we were unable or at least unwilling to go out.
Near to where we are anchored is a small river up which there is supposed to be an ancient grotto we can visit. It is supposed to have had some spiritual significance to the Polynesians. We will be visiting that today for sure.
We are quite happy with this position as a staging point for our trip south to the eclipse. The extra 4nm upwind means we’ll have an easier run. The edge of the totality is just over 10nm SSE from the pass although if we head south it’s nearer 11nm. We aim to be out of the pass before 5:30am tomorrow, an hour before sunrise and 3 hours before the eclipse. If we make 5 knots then we’ll be 5nm inside the umbra which should give us a minute of darkness. If we make 6 knots we’ll get nearer 90 seconds. I have the edge of the umbral path already entered onto the chart plotter so we’ll know when we’re in the path of the shadow.
Hopefully the weather system that has been going over us for the last few days will lead to clearer air. Certainly, once we’re away from the land we’ll lose the clouds created by the uplift of air over the land so it can only get better. My next blog will probably be after we have experienced the eclipse so keep your fingers crossed for us.
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