Current Position: 17 33.957’S 149 37.068’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; Distance to Waypoint (Tahiti, Carrefour Bay): At Anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 4229 nm;
Comments: Sunset was at 17:31. I reached T1b t 17:48. T1b (near Pointe Venus, the northern tip of Tahiti) is 13 nm away. I had to stop at 18:45, 8 nm from T2b, to put some more fuel In the day tank. Also, I put the blower on because the engine room was getting hot. At 19:05, I passed close to a vessel that I had seen on Radar but did not have AIS. I passed Pointe Venus at 19:50. I passed another slow-moving vessel at 20:05 that did not have AIS. It hardly showed up on radar, but was well lit. It was not necessary to go as far as T2b, and after I passed Pointe Venus, I changed my heading from 261 to 239 to follow the coastline. A strange boat has been on a collision course with me for the past 2h, “Peter Punk Solo Sailor” has been approaching my starboard quarter. AIS says it is a 20’ boat moving 6.5 kt. It appears to be heading for Papeete Bay. I received several collision alerts, but when I changed my heading to 239, the issue was resolved. Also, the seas are noticeably calmer. The engine has been running rough the past couple of hours. Adding fuel to the day tank and cooling it down did not help. It will not run over 1500 rpm. At that engine speed it drives the boat 5 kt. I will need to work on it while in Tahiti. It is 20:30. On the NW corner of Tahiti, there is a point that forms a right angle, about 5 nm from where I am now. There is a green beacon there. At that point I would normally turn due south for about 4 nm to the entrance of the lagoon. However, I want to park myself about 2 nm offshore, so I will head SW at that point. The width of the channel that separates the north and South Island is about 9 nm. I wanted to be south (downwind) of that channel, in part because the swell in the channel itself was horrific. I passed the green marker about 22:15. There was a vessel ahead like the other two, no AIS and brightly lit. I believe the they are all related, perhaps some sort of dinner cruises. The engine sputtered and stopped again for the fourth time. It starts up again without difficulty. It must be some sort of fuel issue. I thought I saw some white smoke earlier, so it could be water. It seems to be an issue when the boat is rocking. I thought it was because the day tank was not full, but it is. I will tilt the boat to the port side (where the fuel outlet is) using the boom, and drain some fuel to see if there is water in it. I arrived at the endpoint at 23:15 (17°35′50″ S 149°39′23″ W), about 2 nm west of the Passé. Using the lagoon channel or going from/to Marina Taina at night is forbidden, so I must wait at sea for dawn to contact the Port Control Traffic Tower (VHF 12) for permission to enter the channel. Note, low (slack) tide should be about 7:00, which would be perfect. There is a significant breeze from the E. I have dropped an “anchor” using the AIS and will use it to determine how much I am drifting. I am drifting to the SSW and a significant speed, apparently the result of a current between the islands. The direction is away from danger. However, when I checked in one hour, the NNW. This was not a problem. I set another one hour timer. By 2:30, I had travelled 3 nm well into the channel that separates the islands, and the rolling of the boat became a problem. Curious, I checked the PredictWind model and it predicted the current spot-on. By daybreak, I’d be 2h away from the passage, so I moved the boat south, about 2 1/2 nm upstream of the current from the passage. The current will slow down as it becomes slack tide (6:45). By the time the boat was moved, it was 3:30. Sunrise will be 6:16. The boat moved very little by 6:00, perhaps because I was will out of the channel that separated the islands, but also slack tide was approaching. I traveled 2 nm north, then contacted the Port Control on VHF 12 and asked for permission to enter the lagoon channel. I went through the outer markers at 7:00. It was very challenging because the sun was directly in my face. The sun blindness made it hard to read my instruments and the glare off the water made it difficult to see the markers in the water. To make things worse, the channel was full of dolphins and human swimmers who had joined them. I tried to anchor at Gypsy Cove, but it was full of mooring balls. I eventually anchored in Carrefour Bay in 50’ of water with 250’ of chain. By 9:00, I had the boat secured. Carrefour, by the way, is the Walmart of Tahiti. I got checked in at the marina. Did the paperwork for my FEDEX package, and did some quick shopping at the Carrefour. I’ll have no problem provisioning there. I even got an invite for some sort of local festival in Papeete. The aunt and mother of the person who helped me with my paperwork is going to give me a ride, about 45m away.
Comments: Sunset was at 17:31. I reached T1b t 17:48. T1b (near Pointe Venus, the northern tip of Tahiti) is 13 nm away. I had to stop at 18:45, 8 nm from T2b, to put some more fuel In the day tank. Also, I put the blower on because the engine room was getting hot. At 19:05, I passed close to a vessel that I had seen on Radar but did not have AIS. I passed Pointe Venus at 19:50. I passed another slow-moving vessel at 20:05 that did not have AIS. It hardly showed up on radar, but was well lit. It was not necessary to go as far as T2b, and after I passed Pointe Venus, I changed my heading from 261 to 239 to follow the coastline. A strange boat has been on a collision course with me for the past 2h, “Peter Punk Solo Sailor” has been approaching my starboard quarter. AIS says it is a 20’ boat moving 6.5 kt. It appears to be heading for Papeete Bay. I received several collision alerts, but when I changed my heading to 239, the issue was resolved. Also, the seas are noticeably calmer. The engine has been running rough the past couple of hours. Adding fuel to the day tank and cooling it down did not help. It will not run over 1500 rpm. At that engine speed it drives the boat 5 kt. I will need to work on it while in Tahiti. It is 20:30. On the NW corner of Tahiti, there is a point that forms a right angle, about 5 nm from where I am now. There is a green beacon there. At that point I would normally turn due south for about 4 nm to the entrance of the lagoon. However, I want to park myself about 2 nm offshore, so I will head SW at that point. The width of the channel that separates the north and South Island is about 9 nm. I wanted to be south (downwind) of that channel, in part because the swell in the channel itself was horrific. I passed the green marker about 22:15. There was a vessel ahead like the other two, no AIS and brightly lit. I believe the they are all related, perhaps some sort of dinner cruises. The engine sputtered and stopped again for the fourth time. It starts up again without difficulty. It must be some sort of fuel issue. I thought I saw some white smoke earlier, so it could be water. It seems to be an issue when the boat is rocking. I thought it was because the day tank was not full, but it is. I will tilt the boat to the port side (where the fuel outlet is) using the boom, and drain some fuel to see if there is water in it. I arrived at the endpoint at 23:15 (17°35′50″ S 149°39′23″ W), about 2 nm west of the Passé. Using the lagoon channel or going from/to Marina Taina at night is forbidden, so I must wait at sea for dawn to contact the Port Control Traffic Tower (VHF 12) for permission to enter the channel. Note, low (slack) tide should be about 7:00, which would be perfect. There is a significant breeze from the E. I have dropped an “anchor” using the AIS and will use it to determine how much I am drifting. I am drifting to the SSW and a significant speed, apparently the result of a current between the islands. The direction is away from danger. However, when I checked in one hour, the NNW. This was not a problem. I set another one hour timer. By 2:30, I had travelled 3 nm well into the channel that separates the islands, and the rolling of the boat became a problem. Curious, I checked the PredictWind model and it predicted the current spot-on. By daybreak, I’d be 2h away from the passage, so I moved the boat south, about 2 1/2 nm upstream of the current from the passage. The current will slow down as it becomes slack tide (6:45). By the time the boat was moved, it was 3:30. Sunrise will be 6:16. The boat moved very little by 6:00, perhaps because I was will out of the channel that separated the islands, but also slack tide was approaching. I traveled 2 nm north, then contacted the Port Control on VHF 12 and asked for permission to enter the lagoon channel. I went through the outer markers at 7:00. It was very challenging because the sun was directly in my face. The sun blindness made it hard to read my instruments and the glare off the water made it difficult to see the markers in the water. To make things worse, the channel was full of dolphins and human swimmers who had joined them. I tried to anchor at Gypsy Cove, but it was full of mooring balls. I eventually anchored in Carrefour Bay in 50’ of water with 250’ of chain. By 9:00, I had the boat secured. Carrefour, by the way, is the Walmart of Tahiti. I got checked in at the marina. Did the paperwork for my FEDEX package, and did some quick shopping at the Carrefour. I’ll have no problem provisioning there. I even got an invite for some sort of local festival in Papeete. The aunt and mother of the person who helped me with my paperwork is going to give me a ride, about 45m away.