Misto - Days 102-103 Toau

Tropical depression 19 brought endless hours of rain to the Tuomotus along with winds constantly in the 20-35 knot range. During one brief respite Joe, from Altair came to Misto and he and Howard opened up the windlass motor - it looked brand spanking new, not a trace of corrosion or problems were evident. However, we have discovered that the breaker is not appropriately rated for the windlass and the issue could in fact be, the breaker. We won't be able to check that theory out until we get to Tahiti.

Having delayed our departure to Toau due to the windlass issues, we had hoped to depart around midnight on April 17, however when the alarm roused us and we climbed out of bed the wind was howling through the rigging and the driving rain was horizontal, so we returned to bed! Waking again at 6 am the conditions were slightly improved and after a lot of debate, when the rain cleared and it brightened at 7 am we decided to depart. With 2 reefs in the main and 20-35 knots of wind we made short work of the 42 nm passage to Anse Amyot on Toau's north north west, arriving at 12.45. Cameron and Gaston came out in a dinghy to assist us picking up a mooring ball, which was really appreciated as it was blowing over 20 knots and the current was fairly strong.

Anse Amyot (Amyot Bay) is a small indented bay in the reef - in fact you do not go through the reef but are sheltered from the prevailing winds by the reef itself. Here Gaston and Valentine normally operate a small restaurant. Unfortunately due to the weather they were unable to go to their fish traps, but we enjoyed a pot luck happy hour there with the other boats that were in the bay - Timshel, Laura Dawn, Sumore, Shamal, Ashia and Misto.

Shortly after first light on April 19 we departed Anse Anyot bound for Tahiti. Laura Dawn and Sumore were ahead of us and the other boats departed a few hours later.
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At 4/19/2017 5:43 PM (utc) our position was 15°52.56'S 146°18.34'W