Walkabout - Overnight motor sail to Huahine

S16:41 W150:58

We set off from Mo’orea for my first crossing on Walkabout just after 4pm yesterday evening having enjoyed a lovely few days exploring the mountainous island. Tom and I had a two night stay in a hostel on Mo’orea while Traci and Andrew arrived back on Walkabout and had a day and a half back in Tahiti for boat jobs and provisioning. On the 17th, the two of them sailed from Tahiti to Mo’orea and picked us up from the beach in Opanohu bay where Tom watched Walkabout sail and anchor without him on it for the first time since he joined Walkabout in February! The last few days have included walking up Magic Mountain to an incredible viewpoint over the reefs and snorkelling over underwater Tikis in crystal clear water. We enjoyed three sociable evenings both onboard Walkabout and in a lovely local bar and grill with Escapade of London and Tam Lin who were both anchored in the same bay as us.

Yesterday we managed to get out for a morning run along the road with fabulous views of the mountains before diving off the boat when we got back to cool off - not a bad way to start the day! We then filled up with fuel in Cook’s Bay at lunchtime while enjoying a deliciously cold magnum in the heat and we picked up anchor and motored out of the bay into the sunset to begin a one night passage to Huahine which should end up taking around 15 hours. It’s been a reasonably relaxed night with the engine on as we plod our way between the islands with buddy boat Tam Lin who have been occasionally visible behind the gentle swell. Andrew and Tom raised the main sail as we left Mo’orea but we have been heading into the light wind for most of the night so it has been the engine doing most of the work. I have joined Tom on his night shifts and apart from a few conversations on the radio with other ships and Tam Lin, the time has been taken up with reading, podcasts, monitoring the chart plotter and stargazing at the Milky Way - a pretty serene way to spend a night at sea. Sea conditions have been pretty much as calm as you can ask for for my first overnight crossing, a pretty gentle insight into what a night at sea can be like... I’m sure more challenging nights will follow!

The sun has just risen as we start to prep for our arrival into Huahine and find a suitable anchorage. We look forward to exploring this next little group of islands!

Hope you are all well, lots of love from BATT xxx