Alanna Smith - So close to Nassau but not just yet
Ke ola tatou ete kakai
Came off a 12 - 3am shift super pumped and excited to reach Nassau just before lunch. Nassau was probably the island I was most looking forward to visiting because, I had never visited it before and because it's super hard to get to. I woke up at 8am amped and on a high with some freshly brewed coffee, coasting at around 7 knots thanks to some strong strong winds.
Came off a 12 - 3am shift super pumped and excited to reach Nassau just before lunch. Nassau was probably the island I was most looking forward to visiting because, I had never visited it before and because it's super hard to get to. I woke up at 8am amped and on a high with some freshly brewed coffee, coasting at around 7 knots thanks to some strong strong winds.
I think it was about 1030am when we reached Nassau, but wooweee the winds were still up, BIG time and the waves looked pretty angry too. We waited for a boat from land to come out to us to tell us what our best option was. Basically the barge before us got turned away cause of windy conditions so that was also going to be the same fate for us.
As I waved goodbye to Nassau, it was onwards to pukapuka we went. I was pretty upset, for having missed out on Nassau, but you know what, the ride to Pukapuka made up for it. It was like an actual theme park extreme sort of pirate ship ride experience lol. The waves were super high, and the vaka was blitzing it through the water. We were surfing waves, we were getting smashed by waves, water was going down the hatches. It was full on haha. Rather entertaining indeed. But of course, marumaru atua is such a smooth ride. She really does slice through these waves making for a much smoother ride then other boats I have been on.
We arrived in pukapuka safe. Made it onto the leeward side, and was able to anchor outside the passage. There is some talk of trying to bring mama ma through the passage apopo. The local residents reckon its possible, but will leave that call up to cap.
July 15 2021
First impressions of pukapuka. So many people compared to the previous islands we have just visited. People came down to the beach to watch us pull up through the lagoon. Even a drone from land followed the team in. The mayor levi walewaoa is super lovely. Levi and the community welcomed us all with ei's sweet nu, and now we have just finished our kaikai. Looking forward to a pa'i but first I am learning to speak pukapuka with the local kids.
Ka kite ite tayao