Author: sailawaysarantium

… well, they never left but I’m back in the squalls! Wind was up and down and squalls came and went. Felt like I was back to the equator again. With only 50 NMiles to go until the archipelago of Taumotus I change plans after doing the math for sail-speed and distance left to match slack tide at the entrance for the atolls. Seems like the best option is to head to Raroia. If my math is correct we should arrive there at between 08 and 09. Slack is at 09 and we can ride the last hour of flooding into the atoll, dodging the Coral heads!

After a lively night, with squalls and dark clouds with wind up, 02.20 I noticed three boats within 14 NMiles of us. On my screen it looked like two (s/v Dovka and s/v Nimue) of the boats were heading north and one (s/v Joint Venture) was heading south, all on collision course. I had a suspicion the two facing north were hover-to…So I sit and wait for one of them to hail. And they did. Turns out that I was right, boats are hove 20 NMiles from the entrance of Raoia atoll, waiting for sunlight and tide shift so they can glide in at slack! I will keep course and speed as I have 30 NMiles to go before I am at the entrance.

A bit nervous for sure… as this is a first for me…

Taking into the consideration of tide times and sun position to enter into the atolls. We have two options, Raroia and Mekemo. Makemo is easier to get into but timing is not so great unless we can average 7 knots until the entrance. Raroia is closer but entrance is trickier but we will make slack no problem (might even be a bit early and will wait). Decisions Decisions… will be made tomorrow morning, once we know the distance to both stools. Slack at both atolls are at 15.00 for tomorrow.

…and the Mekemo atoll. What an easy night. We averaged 5.5 knots and didn’t have to tweak the sails much after they were reefed in the late evening. None of the surrounding dark clouds had any rain or much wind… just gentle trade-winds! I am not entirely sure how much sleep I had throughout the night. I seem to have lost ”SV Joint Venture” on my plotter. I did hail them last night as I had notice they had slowed down considerably and we were still going 7 knots. They had slowed to 5.5 compared to their normal 9.5. Their cat measures 14mx7m so it can fly on the water. Since they go so fast they need to slow down so the will reach their atoll at daybreak rather than in the dark.

Sun just peeked over the horizon and we have sailed another night!

We’ve moved at a fantastic speed, even with partial sails up overnight! We have therefore average 5.9 knots despite of bucking a tide for half of our sailing time. I counted on arriving in four days to Mekemo Atoll however we may arrive in 3.5 days which could be a problem. We cannot go into the atoll in the dark as coral heads are present and they are uncharted. Usually, best time to enter Atolls is at slack and when sun is hitting the water from either behind you or above you, not infringe the boat. As well, if possible you should have someone at the bow or up on the mast preferably harnessed in and on the spreaders, in case the captain hits a coral head. 🙈 In fact, not long ago, cruisers avoided this area altogether. However with the introduction of high tech navigation instruments such as cameras, cruisers are now visiting the atolls regularly. I do not have cameras but with careful navigation at the right time, it will be possible. I picked Mekemo Atoll as it’s what I call an entry level pass. It’s well marked, fairly wide and few corral heads present. A practice atoll! 😉

One of the atolls, have a haul-out service for cruisers to be able to put their boats on the hard during the cyclone season.

Last night was uneventful! The sun set at around 17.45 and as usual it set beautifully …

I was awake until 03.30 and during that time the wind was up and down. I read, I reefed and I shook out sails all night. I slept decently in the cockpit between 03-06 with all alarms on! Easy night!

Day Two👩‍✈️

Much the same as yesterday… reading about the engine, reading about plumbing, reading about outboard motors, reading Charlie’s Charts and staring at the horizon! I had a surprise hail today from ”s/v joint venture”… they were ”just being nosey” and curious about where we were headed, as they were parallell to Sarantium they thought they should check in and have a chat! Other than that today is another day in paradise, nothing to report!!! Out!

At 10:42 Tahiti time! 11* 54.967 S/ 141* 18.04 W

Course on ground: 200*

speed on ground: 6knots

Day One

Feels like I have experienced a variety of items such as cultural events, ancient art, jungle treks, spectacular waterfalls and fantastic trade-winds sailing.

We motored out at 06.30 for about 30 min to top up batteries and get into the beautiful trade-winds that were being blocked by landmass. At 07.00 we were sailing on a close reach sail-point with small reef in the main sail and also in the Genoa sail. We’re moving at 7-7.5 knots and heeling at 15%. I’m a happy sailor! Seastate is decent, swell is building, which we’re powering through nicely, as we’re moving further out to sea.

We seem to be having two sailboats as company, Nimue and Calypso, both longer (waterline) boats so they will most likely leave Sarantium in the dust! But for now we are keeping up at almost 8 knots… 😃 in 20 knots of warm trade-winds! Did I mention that I love my choice to buy a sailboat and Sailaway😉???

Wind seems to be a bit up and down the further along we sail. From the chats with other sailors this is typical. I have set the hydro vane for a close-reach sail and the it is keeping that sail-point nicely. Consequently, Sarantium is varying the heading of 180 degrees to 220 degrees and keeping up with variation of wind strength and wind angle.

After a couple of hours, the wind settled and kept its speed around 15 knots… ❤️⛵️…And this is how Day One of this passage continued in the South Pacific! What an amazing day!

We found this anchorage by accident and the sun came out!

We rowed in to shore… yes the outboard engine on the dingy is not working… but that’s for later! We knew there were some high waterfalls inland, I was dying to find! We managed to avoid the surf and followed the river until we saw a house! Fruit trees outlined the river and path to the home and we were met by a man who showed us tje direction to the waterfalls and said ”come to our restaurant after your hike…”

We must have trekked for 3 hours through mud and rivers when we finally saw a very tall waterfall in the distance. Apparently, it’s the third tallest in the world! We swam and sat in awe of the waterfall before we trekked back!

When we walked past the family who lived in the bay, they all came to greet us and had made up a table for us. We were served tuna, banana fries, fruit salad and grapefruit! We were given 15 grapefruit, 20 green bananas, a ton of mangos and some limejuice!

Got back to the boat…

Since I need to plan ahead to accommodate visas, the short sailing season and the regular needs of the boat, such as servicing, maintaining and replacing parts (standing rigging, tanks, etc), I need to make some tentative plans for friends and family who wants to make the trek to meet up with me! Hauling up in Tahiti is expensive especially if one needs to do work on the boat, so I need to get to New Zealand or Australia by October-November. If not, I could extend my stay and haul out in Cook Islands!

So, here is the Tentative Schedule of 2026:

Tahiti on land until March

Sail around Tahiti (April-May)

The rest of Society Islands (May)

Roratonga (June)

Cook Islands (June)

Somoa (June-July)

Tonga/Tapu (August) last stop before NZ (October)

Or (I am undecided where to haul the boat out)

Fiji (July)

Vanuatu (August)

New Caladonia (late August)

To Australia by October

I am open to suggestions from people who has completed this route! 🥰