Orinocotoo

Dream Stopover in French Polynesia

Anse Amyot, on the atoll of Toau, is protected from the ocean swell and the prevailing winds and is a “false” pass because it doesn’t penetrate the ring of coral all the way into the lagoon. It’s a very popular stopover for yachties in the South Pacific Ocean.

Orinocotoo

1 / 6

Published 29/11/2024

By Gilles Ruffet

Issue: 199

Published: jan. / mar. 2025

Discover this issue

Who: Viviane and Luc
Where: French Polynesia
Multihull: Astrea 42
Blog: www.orinocotoo.com

Anse Amiot is a false pass, in Toau. But it does give you access to a brilliant basin of aquamarine water stocked with healthy coral for visitors to explore. Valentine, her husband Gaston and their one neighbor are the only inhabitants. Gaston makes sure that the eight state-of-the-art mooring balls stay in mint condition for yachties to make use of. What a relief that was after all the anchoring in between coral heads and the necessity of floating the chain each time. Valentine’s father had impressed upon her the importance of hospitality: “When yachties arrive, they have come a very long way. Therefore, make sure you always give them a warm welcome.” Valentine is doing a great job. Then we sailed to Apataki. We love to watch the rising sun hit the cloud formations once the tropical rain shower has passed. However, the following 2 nights at anchor, with 25 knots on the nose and a lagoon that had transformed from a gently lapping swimming pool into a wildly rushing waterpark, made us realize we are increasingly turning into fair-weather cruisers. Just to say, we were not too amused. her anchor kept us steady in place, which was a huge relief. On our third night in Apataki, we moved closer to the village, which proved to be a wise decision as O2 somewhat calmed down. Every single person we passed during our stroll around “town” welcomed us with their habitual singsong call of “la Orana.” We like the way they emphasize and draw out that “a” at the end. Yoranáh! We feel it’s the coolest way of singing hello and we always return the greeting with equal enthusiasm. The supply ship was scheduled for 8 PM. Around midnight our ship finally came in. We had been waiting around, chatting with the locals, for hours. That’s also when we realized that on our shipping papers there was written Fakarava as destination for our merchandise, not Apataki. One feeble ray of light in our darkness was the fact that the ship first docked in Apataki before continuing to Fakarava. So, we approached the captain with our desperate plea: would it be possible to unload our packages here please? S’il vous plait? Not really, no. But the good man jumped back on board to give it a try. When he returned with 4 refrigerated cardboard boxes with My Captain’s name on them, the Gouda cheese box was not one of them. Still, I nearly hugged him, which would have been totally inappropriate. Also, the deep-frozen goods were impossible to retrieve, he explained. The boxes were stacked among a multitude of deliveries for Fakarava. No ribeye steaks on the menu for a long time.

The following morning, we set sail for the Apataki Boatyard on the opposite side of the lagoon. The anchorage in front of the boatyard showed off the dreamy aquamarine calm waters we are addicted to by now. It’s all about “fetch” really; “fetch” being the distance over which wind blows across the surface of the water without obstruction. So, the stronger the wind and the wider that distance, the larger and more powerful the waves are. By moving against the wind to the other side of the lagoon, we had taken the bite out of the “fetch”. The Apataki Carenage/Boatyard is where we considered leaving O2 during cyclone season—from November till May — while we fly to New Zealand for some serious trekking and Sauvignon Blanc. We have already secured our spot on the hard, but we wanted to check it out. It doesn’t look bad at all. Another decision My Captain has just made is to hitch a two-hour ride with Tony, the boatyard manager, in his fast motorized fishing boat to the atoll of Arutua, the last port of call for the supply ship before it heads back to Papeete.

He kept having visions of eight pounds (4 kg) of ‘boule de Gouda,’ not to mention the ribeye steaks. It is never too late to give it another try.

Tags :