We left Amyot Cove, and the amazing Gaston and Valentine in the morning, under the kind of sun that you only get in Polynesia. We sailed alongside Kaukura under a light breeze (less than 10 knots), which still got us up to 8 knots. It's Kaze San's (our loyal TS 50) favourite pastime: sailing as fast as the wind!
Kaukura was behind us and it was lunchtime on board as we had been becalmed. We had exactly 70 miles to cover to reach Tikehau. At bang on midday, the wind picked up, and reached 15 knots. The sea was light. It was a dark blue and the sky was clear. The elements were on our side. Under full mainsail and code zero, Kaze San started surfing along, then took off and started flying. It's not a boat anymore, it's a bird. The speed of this wild slalom in the heart of the Tuamotus was exhilarating, and time almost seemed to stand still. Every now and then as we slice through the water, the speedometer goes wild. The skipper's little brother can't believe that he has just read 24 knots! At 5pm we entered the channel leading into Tuheiava. We did our calculations and assume that we must have made an error. But no: 70 miles in 5 hours is indeed an average of 14 miles per hour…
Who : Franck and his brother Benjamin
Where : Between Amyot Cove, Toau and Tikehau, Tuamotu, French Polynesia
Boat : TS 50
