Underway from Autitaki

Just as we were about to get underway from Autitaki yesterday morning, a new boat arrived and started coming through the passage. They almost made it, but took the final corner a little too wide and ended up on a reef. We already had our dinghy on the deck, so were unable to render assistance. Two of the other boats in the harbour were also getting ready to leave. We spoke to the new boat on the radio and Peter gave them some local knowledge about how to proceed through the rest of the passage, once they floated free, to make it in to the harbour.

We had one last minute item to do before heading out, and that was accepting a shipment of supplies from a local family to deliver to Palmerston. Once we got loaded up with a box of fresh bread, boxes of fresh fruit and other items, we pulled up our anchor. We had a very small window in which to leave as this was the highest tide in the next two weeks, and due to our draft we needed every extra inch. Even this high tide was 2 - 3 inches less than when we came in. We finished draining our water tanks, by giving the anchors a great fresh water soaking and then we headed out.

As we approached the shallowest part, Peter told me to hold on, as I was on bow look-out. Sure enough we touched bottom, not just once, but eight times. Luckily it is a sandy bottom in this section, so Peter just powered through it. The good news is the bottom of our boat got a good cleaning! So without further drama we made it out to sea. The wind was light and variable all day, which made for a slow and sloppy sail (I was in the prone position for most of the day). Last night we had a good sail because we are one day away from a full moon, so it was like we were sailing in daylight. Our average speed is below 4 knots, so we will not arrive tonight, but hope to arrive tomorrow by lunchtime. With the full moon tonight, it should be magical!
P.S. The other boat that went aground did manage to get off the reef just before we left.