Relaxing and Reinvigorating Raroia
After a leisurely two-day sail down from the Marquesas Islands, we arrived in Raroia. The only excitement was finding a flying fish in the sail bag one morning after a rough and windy night. We have had small flying fish hit the mast but never one hit the sail, and then fall into the bag. We remain amazed at how high-flying fish can get in the middle of the night when confronted by a large object.
We motored for the last 12 hours before our arrival to arrive in time to get through the Passe De Tipu, and anchor outside the town for the night. This was our first attempt at entering an atoll through a pass in the reef and while the charts were accurate and the pass well marked being able to see the bottom up close was uncomfortable. A mile offshore we had depths of 1500m coming up to less than 15m in the pass with shallow reefs either side! With strong currents flowing out most of the time we needed to be careful and not drift off course.
Following the marked channel down to the town we anchored just as the light was fading. This was the first time we had no swell or waves for months and we were completely unaccustomed to sitting still in the flat calm water. Time to great to relax and celebrate our first atoll pass crossing.
Raroia(also known as Raro-nuku) is an oval-shaped coral atoll on the eastern side of the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. The atoll measures 43 km by 14 km, with a land area of 41 km² and an impressive central lagoon of 359 km².
Background
Since this is the first blog in the Tuamoto Islands here is a little history
Archaeological evidence suggests that Polynesian settlers arrived in the Tuamotu Archipelago, where Raroia is located, around 800-1000 AD, although some studies indicate an earlier settlement. Ancient Paumotu people referred to Raroia and Takume as “the Twins.”
In 1606, Raroia was discovered by Europeans when Spanish explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós sailed through the Tuamotu Archipelago and called the island “La Fugitiva.” Later in 1820, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen a Russian cartographer rediscovered it, naming it Barclay de Tolly. In the 19th century, Christian missionaries arrived, then later traders who offered pearls from the islands for sale in Europe. France claimed the Tuamotus but did not formally annex them. Today, they remain a French overseas collective.
Main Town
Only 150 people are living on Raroia. The languages are Pa’umotu (local) and French (taught in the elementary school), and most speak some English. Primary school is on the island followed by secondary school on nearby Makemo and university in Tahiti (748 km away).
Locals primarily engage in fishing, copra cultivation, pearl farming, and a little tourism. Raroians are known for their warm welcome, even sharing lodgings with travellers. Their diet is local seafood, imported bread, rice, and canned goods.
We set off to walk around town and find the small shop to buy some dried goods. The shop was well hidden in the back of two houses. Only allowed one person was allowed in at a time but the staff were very friendly. All the power on the island is solar as can be seen with the panels on all the houses. The streets and sections very neat and tidy
The next day we headed out of town, back past the pass, and across to the island with the Thor Hyerdahl monument. This involved dodging bombies on the way. The only accurate information is satellite photos and Mark 1 eyeball. There are channel markers from the pass to the town but none after that. Good light and a sharp lookout are required to navigate the atoll.
Eastern Side of Atoll
Thor Hyerdahl Monument
In 1947, the famous Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of fellow Vikings sailed a balsa wood raft named Kon-Tiki from South America to the Polynesian islands. They eventually landed on the eastern side of Raroia after a 101-day journey from South America. This expedition was instrumental in demonstrating the possibility of ancient South American people reaching and settling in Polynesia. Unfortunately, they were later proved wrong. Bengt Danielsson, a Kon-Tiki crew member spent some time there studying Raroia’s economy and society.
The monument to the Kon Tiki Expedition is on a small island at the edge of the atoll. It is a reserve and full of birds. Mark also tried out the hammock under the trees. We walked to the outer edge of the reef with friends from another catamaran called Zipper.
Even on a calm day the swell breaking on the reef was significant so the guys on Kon-Tiki must have been a little nervous when they were about to be washed up. Raroia would have had a very small population in 1947 and they came ashore on the other side of the atoll 20 miles from the village. We are not sure how they made their way across the lagoon but I guess after surviving several thousand miles from South America another 20 miles was neither here nor there.
Hew decided that a lump of coral looked like a Viking mask from Kon Tiki (or earlier Vikings) and suited him, but we decided that NZ may not like coral artifacts!!.
Palm Island Yacht Club and the Northern Anchorage
The northern anchorage is a favourite spot here for cruisers who have given it an official yacht club name. It is well sheltered from the north and NE winds. An idyllic anchorage with snorkelling, islands to explore, and sunset drinks on the beach with some fellow yachties, just perfect (except for the Nonnies, the local tiny sandflies that come out at dusk).
Just across from where we anchored was a little inlet teaming with fish and I spent several hours there watching all the activity in shallow warm water.
However, it didn’t stay like that and at 2 am one morning, the wind switched around to the South and blew up to 30kts – gone were our smooth calm waters and peace and quiet. Luckily we didn’t drag our anchor but friends next door were up trying to reset things in the dark. Scary stuff when you know there are shallow uncharted bombies nearby that you can’t see. By morning things had calmed down, and it was much more peaceful.
While we were in Raroia we snorkelled at each place we stopped but after the high winds, the water was too murky for the next couple of days. We did not snorkel the passage as we were due to pick up friends in Fakarava in a couple of days, and after the bad weather both in the Marquesas and here we had lost time so sadly off we went direct to Fakarava to make up time.
Next Blog Fakarava: https://kiwiflyingfish.com/2024/08/friends-and-more-at-fakarava/
