Stormy days

 La Orana!

As I start to write this the rain continues to fall drumming down on the coach roof, battering against the hatches and bouncing off the surface of the lagoon.  

Stormy weather on the mooring

Finally getting our courtesy flags flying

Even the kite surfers have admitted defeat and departed.  During the past 2 hours we have collected almost 100l of rainwater!  I know so precisely because our collection box holds only 25l, meaning that the water must be syphoned off into the tanks at regular intervals. Monitoring the rainfall accumulation has become my new obsession and I must admit it’s starting to rival skippers for battery voltages! I follow progress from the saloon squinting through steamed up windows at the filling box outside. As the 25l mark approaches I am forced out into the elements wrestling into wet swimmies and filling up the syphon loop from the relative peace of the cockpit.  Only then do I venture round to the foredeck.  As I do so the full force of the wind and rain hits me.   It actually feels cold, and I am in continual physical discomfort crouched over the water tank but weirdly there is satisfaction too collecting all this rainwater when our solar input is negligible and water production out of the question. Self-sufficiency, it seems is more rewarding than I had given it credit!

Water collection set up

Rain on the day of collection

The other reason for my perverse enjoyment of today’s task was that for the first time in days  I could walk more freely again.  Earlier in the week while anchored off Taha'a we experienced a problem with the starboard engine.  The coolant levels were low.  To try and figure out if we had a leak, I offered to jump down and sponge out the engine bay.  It should have been an easy job but in a confined space nothing is straightforward, and this particular task appeared to be better suited to a contortionist which I most certainly am not.  Emerging about 30minutes later covered in oil and grime I realised I had pulled something in my groin.  Sadly,  as many of you already know first year medicine at Newcastle University only covered the shoulder (and the arm) so I can’t be any more specific about my injury but suffice to say I have been hobbling round the decks ever since feeling a bit sorry for myself.  Today the pain eased up slightly however so even the discomfort of wind and rain on an exposed foredeck could not dampen my spirits.  Sadly, the engine problem was not so easily sorted.  We wait for better weather to tackle that one. 

Returning to Taha’a after all our time away was a real tonic. The sailing breeze was good and the weather beautiful.  

Motu Mahaea

More shark sightings but this time not in Taha'a!

We anchored off the reef in one of our favourite spots beside Motu Mahaea on the east side.  Swimming out to check the anchor for the first time in 8 weeks I was suddenly startled by a movement to my left and turned to see a  large black tipped shark crossing in front of me about 3m away.  She was approximately 2m long and had a baby swimming underneath her.  I froze.  They are supposed to be completely harmless, but would she be more aggressive with a baby to protect?  I turned very slowly and paddled off in the opposite direction.  She didn’t bat an eyelid and continued slowly on her way, but anchor check was  abandoned, and skipper dispatched in the dinghy later on in the day to do the honours!  The report back was positive which was a very good thing as the weather really blew up on the second night.  A monohull north of us dragged her anchor first thing and then had to reset in terrible wind and rain.  The visibility was atrocious.  When we noticed the situation, the skipper seemed to be on his own and was heading straight for a section of the reef beside us which was probably too shallow for his keel.  We switched on the VHF to let him know but he must have had second thoughts himself because less than two boat lengths away his boat suddenly veered to starboard to pass just behind us.  It was all a bit close for comfort for our liking.  He was now heading for the reef south of us which was marginally deeper and probably his better option but by this time the wind was howling and the rain torrential.  Without even a preliminary look at his potential new anchorage he charged towards the shelf and then as if in a single movement rammed the engine into neutral, sprang up to the foredeck and released the anchor.  Then and only then did he bang smartly on the deck several times in a slightly tetchy manner.  Then and only then did a woman appear from down below to take the wheel!  What had she been doing all this time?  I don’t believe Papillon’s crew would get away with that sort of behaviour! Its interesting to observe how different crews operate at times but this arrangement did seem a bit extreme!

Dragging monohull trying for a better anchorage

flotsam and jetsam after the storm

The rain that started in Taha'a didn't really stop until today, 3 days later.  I'm not sure what the occupants of the Norwegian cruise ship tied up at the pier for the whole duration made of it.  They certainly didn't see much of the Leeward islands which must have been incredibly disappointing.  In the aftermath of the rain, we experienced a short period of intense southerly winds that have brought in all manner of flotsam and jetsam into the lagoon.  The usually clear waters are now a murky grey; a never ending procession of huge tree trunks, branches, palm fronds and coconuts drift quietly by the boat; vertical spears of a seaweed we normally associate with the coral bed litter the surface of the water and the sharks are back in fuzzy definition scooping up any edible debris.  There is an eerie silence all around, no day cruise ships, no ferries and definitely no kite surfers to distract.  The lagoon seems to have exhausted herself and will need time to recover.  We can identify with this and kick start the process with a new recipe: fish pie a la Polynesia which was very delicious too!  Afterwards there is little appetite for chat however, and we collapse in front of Netflix, binge watching 4 episodes of our current series.  That's a record for us but it was quite a storm!

Drying out after the storm

Jobs resume aboard!