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Anse amiot toau7/1/2023 ![]() (Our friends on s/v Puerto Seguro had answered our call on Ch 16 and confirmed there were moorings available, while we were still enroute.)Īt 4:03 PM (utc) our position was 15☄8.14'S 146☀9. Fortunately there were 2 free moorings available when we arrived. ![]() This made picking up a mooring a little challenging, but fortunately, we had help from Visions in their dinghy. We understand that anytime the wind is blowing hard from the SE, there is an outgoing current here. The one thing we didn't expect was the 2-3 knot outgoing current. It is pretty well marked, and the reefs are easily visible. It is totally protected and incredibly beautiful. So even though the wind was blowing in the 20 knot range, it was an easy entry. Anse Amyot is a rare bay that is accessed from the outside of Toau Atoll, not from the lagoon. The entry into Anse Amyot is in the lee of the atoll. We gybed once to get around the corner, and on converging with the coast again near Anse Amyot, caught a nice big Mahi Mahi. By the time we got halfway up the coast, Toau was sheltering us from the big southerly swell, which really smoothed the ride out. and we were almost a mile off the pass!Īfter that we had a really nice downwind sail along the coast of Toau. We took one good square wave across the deck before we managed to get out of there. We thought we were passing far enough out that we wouldn't have been affected by the current, but we did get into some dicey waves, with the current still blasting out against the ESE wind and waves. We think this is the classic wind/wave effect, where the wind is blowing strong, pushing water into the lagoon over the low reef to the south. The current was still running out, 2-3 hours after it should have turned to run in. We set our route to sail right by the main pass at Toau, to get a look at it. The pass would have been really nasty on an incoming current, with the current directly opposing the strong wind. ![]() The wind blew all night in the 15-20kt range from ESE (right down the 25 mile length of Fakarava), so the 'chop' inside the lagoon was getting pretty big.2-3 feet when we left, and we had a fast beam reach for the 6 miles from the town anchorage to the pass. There was quite a chop in the middle of the pass, but we edged over to the east side, and it was no big deal, since the wind and the current were going the same direction. with the current still running at 3-3.5 knots out. We did an early exit from Fakarava on the last of the outgoing tide. We hope to get back there later to check it out. There is actually a pass that takes you inside the Toau lagoon. They wanted a place that was easy to leave from, so they could time their departure for a convenient arrival time in Tahiti. We are still following in Visions of Johanna's wake, and this was their selection as the final stop before the leave for Tahiti in a couple of days. We have heard the moorings are free for 3 nights if you have dinner there. An enterprising couple has put moorings out and invites cruisers in for dinner (more on the facilities here in a later post). Anse Amyot is a 'false pass' (or more aptly, a dinghy pass). We are on a nice mooring at Anse Amyot for a few days. The families that live on the atoll, particularly Gaston and Valentine, invite cruisers in for a dinner they prepare with wonderful fresh seafood and even lobster.We sailed yesterday from Fakarava to Toau. We got in the dingy and motored to another spot in the atoll to snorkel without the extra company.Īnd as usual, the sunrises and sunsets were wonderful. When it was about 5 feet away, she screamed through her snorkel, scaring both me and the shark. It arched its back, lowered its pectoral fins and in a classic “I’m going to eat you” posture, charged right at her. ![]() Speaking of snorkeling, it was here that Cyndi was charged by about a five foot black reef shark. It has some nice snorkeling and it was a pleasure to just pick up a mooring, rather than finding space to anchor. There’s not much here – just a couple of families that make this atoll their home. Instead of going in the pass and inside the atoll, we used the mooring balls provided in a little bay outside on the northeast corner of the atoll. It’s a small atoll just northwest of Fakarava. After our white-water rafting adventure, we went to Toau.
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