Light winds and a dying forecast force the engine on by night two
By day two of the passage the wind was lighter than the forecast had promised, and by the second night Lauren had dropped the sails and turned the engine on. With weather expected to roll in the following morning, the plan became simple: motor slowly through the remaining 60 miles and time the arrival into Tahiti around sunrise. It was a straightforward motor, less than a night away, and everything seemed manageable.
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What it feels like to transit an atoll for the first time without it being too sketchy
After completing the pass entry, Lauren reflects that the conditions were relatively flat, which made for a good first experience. The key takeaway is that if the waves had been bigger, waiting for them to settle would have been the right c
Slowing down deliberately to time a reef pass arrival correctly
As Lauren Landers Sailing closed within range of the atoll, she reefed her jib intentionally to reduce boat speed. She was on track to arrive too early, and entering a reef pass at the wrong time, before the light is good or the current is
Deciding not to fish offshore when the likely catch would be unmanageably large
Lauren Landers Sailing made a deliberate choice not to fish during this particular offshore passage. Her reasoning was practical: anything she hooked out there would almost certainly be very large, a big tuna for example, and dealing with l