Anse Amyot

After another day in Fakarava, we left through the north pass for a short overnight sail to Toau. On the northern coast of the atoll there’s a small inlet, a half-pass that doesn’t go all the way through into the lagoon, called Anse Amyot that I’d read good things about. It’s only 40 miles from Fakarava, but leaving through the pass on a good tide meant we had to sail overnight to arrive in the light. Lots of wind meant we just had the genoa up, and were still making well over 6 knots, so we arrived off Anse Amyot before midnight and had to stall for hours, sailing back and forth.

A spectacular dawn was soon followed by gusty winds and strong rain. I made an approach to the inlet, but the rain was so hard we couldn’t see more than a few tens of metres, not great conditions for slotting a yacht through a narrow gap in the reef between rolling breakers. So I sent for the shower gel and enjoyed a fresh water shower. Later in the morning when we’d found our way onto a mooring ball, we hopped over the side to the most amazing snorkeling yet. The tide was on the way in, bringing pure, clear Pacific ocean in – so the visibility was stunning. The pictures just don’t do it justice. No wonder this is regarded as one of the world’s top spots for seeing reef fish.

Back on board we sat through another super-heavy rainstorm, and then explored the bay for a while. I took the dinghy to the nearby beach, but as soon as I’d set foot on the shore the no-nos started biting viciously. I think the rain had set them off. Much safer out on the water. I rowed out into the lagoon, and then drifted back to the boat over the coral, only a few inches below the bottom of the dinghy. Peering over the side I could see everything just as clearly as if I was in the water.

Just the one night here, and then off to Tahiti in the morning! The forecasts show not much wind, but we have plenty of diesel and it’s only 230 miles, so we’ll go anyway, and take whatever weather we get. Looks like the rain has cleared away, so I’m going to see if I can make it through a whole night sleeping in the cockpit without getting wet…