When a “maramu” (strong SE winds) hits Polynesia, it normally lasts for several days. They are common from May – October, with a peak in July, and seem to appear about every two weeks during the high season we are now in.
The trick is to be well protected in the lagoon inside the atoll. Usually that is in the southeast corner, as the “motus” (islets) protect you against the wind, and there will be little wave activity as the fetch (distance over water that the wind blows) is short.
In the Fakarava atoll, the best place to hide from a maramu, is the Hirifa anchorage in the south east corner of the lagoon. It seemed most of the boats we met provisioning in town the days earlier agreed, as we were a total of 30 boats at the anchorage for the ten days the maramu lasted.
You might think that we had to spend these windy days locked up on our boats, but that was not the case. The protection was so good in this bay, that we had lots of fun and social activities with the other cruisers.
Our friend, Tom from SV Sauvage, celebrated his birthday during these days as well, and his wife, Karmen, had made an awesome coconut-lemon tarte.
Besides fun social activities, we also explored the motu, and walked to the outer reef and took a look at the huge waves crashing into shore. We were certainly happy that we were safely inside the lagoon and not sailing during these days.
The maramu is also great for kiters and wing foilers. We took a kiting course ten years ago when we were in Cape Verde, but have not tried it since. We were considering investing in kite gear, as we outfitted the boat in Cape Town, but decided against it, until we tried it further.
We are lucky to have friends here, Michael and Jill on SV Gerty, who kite, and one day we tried steering the kite off their boat. They had a great setup and were awesome tutors, allowing us to body drag in the water with the kite, while securely fastened to their boat. We remembered some of what we had learned previously, but realized it would take us quite the effort to get into this sport while cruising.
At this anchorage, there are also many wing foilers, which we have never tried before. It supposedly is quite close to wind surfing, which we both know of (but have not really practiced) since our youth. So, we decided we wanted to try this out as well, so we could compare it to kiting.
Luckily, there are a couple of cruisers who has started a kite school at this anchorage, so we signed up for an introductory session to wing foiling. We had a private instructor for two hours, and both managed to sail on the board during this time. We both loved it, and felt this was closer to home than kiting. So, now we might have to invest in some new toys onboard…
At this anchorage, there is a local woman called Lisa, who normally runs a restaurant from her house. Unfortunately, she had a stroke recently, and was away while we were there. Luckily, it went well, and she will return home soon. We aided in feeding her dog, Chocolate, and her pigs in her absence.
In her absence, Lisa allowed one of her cruiser friends, Steve, who has sailed in French Polynesia for 12 years, to use her patio to arrange a couple of concerts. We enjoyed two lovely concert nights with fellow cruisers onshore. The evenings ended with a cool fire dance show on the beach. The big turn out and the talent shared are good examples of how versatile and cool the cruiser community is – we were really impressed by the performers.
We leave Hirifa having met a lot of new cruiser friends, found a new hobby in wing foiling, and filled up with lots of social juice. Now we move on to what is the height of our stay here in Fakarava, and that is the south pass, where we plan to dive with sharks.
