Leaving wonderfull Bora Bora.
The reef had medium size waves breaking over it, which is supposed to give an indication of the conditions of the Pass at Maupiti.
Nearing Maupiti.
It was impossible to take photos while we were hit by the waves, but the below photos was taken after things had calmed down and should give an impression of the conditions.
What happened as we went though the pass is best described in my email to Chris, as follows: We are now in Maupiti and had a mixed bag of sailing the 29 NM to get to the Pass.
I knew that the pass can be very dangerous and we were prepared to bypass it if the conditions were bad. I spoke to Steve on S/Y Code Blue, who had gone out one hour before we arrived and also to S/Y Koa who was inside the lagoon. Code Blue said it was fine although a bit confused sea and advised us to go in. So did Koa.
This was assuring and as we approached this narrow pass the swell was OK but the out going current was strong as we entered. I increased the RPM and our speed was OK at 8 kn even with a 6 kn outgoing current. Kai was hooked up with the harness in front, as it was difficult to steer in the strong turbulence's.
Then came the surprise with four huge waves 5-6 m aft and slightly at an angel (problem) and as they approached they started to break.
I guess any good surfer would have loved these waves, but not me. We got lifted up and our deck was at an angel of I think 40° with the aft sticking up in the air and we zoomed ahead with, I guess, about 20 kn. The wave washed over the deck and we got flooded as the skylight was open in the aft cabin, and also the windows in the shower, kitchen and cockpit (as we had had good weather all along). As the wave passed under us our angel changed to 40° with the bow sticking up in the air. Then came the next wave and the same thing happened and we surfed so the spray on each side looked like we were on full speed in a speed boat. The third wave came and with the strong current I had a hard time steering and keeping us into the narrow channel. As it came at an angel we broached and water came in everywhere. I managed to get her back in course just before we would have hit the reef awash on the starboard side and as this was not enough we received the fourth wave and we got yet another wash, but I managed to get back on an acceptable course.
Kai was attached up front and managed to hang on, which was good, as it would have been impossible to pick him up if he had been washed overboard and he would soon be far away in that current.
Once we were inside and dropped anchor at the town we started to access the damage. The cover of the tender was partly ripped off, it had been flooded with water, inside New Dawn everything was flooded, the bilge pump was running, shower basin was flooded, carpets in the saloon, kitchen and aft cabin were soaked, aft beds soaked, all cupboards soaked, as the cockpit was filled with water it is now salty, etc.. We spend the rest of the day emptying cupboards, rinsing every thing with fresh water and drying things and hanging whatever we could outside. I noted two electrical problems and the batteries had got water and the AC blew the fuses. I think I managed to fix them last night, but we do more testing.
I think this was a very close call and that it was one of my luckiest days....
We will continue to work on the problems today and we need to get the salt out of the carpets, floor boards and cupboards. We already used about 500 l fresh water yesterday and more will be needed today.
Trouble, is that we can't sail with the carpets on deck and they are so heavy that we have problems lifting them and the weather is about to change with strong SE wind, which mean straight into the pass and against us. The wind should increase Friday and stay there for a while, so I am wondering if we will have to stay here for some days? The book mention this and that yacht have been stock here for weeks.
