THE “RIGHT” WRONG WAY
The downwind passage westward across the South Pacific is a classic voyage, yet it’s also possible to return eastward, “against” the trades.
Heading east across the Pacific is possible—and even enjoyable.
For modern voyagers, when it comes to routing, there seems to be a consensus in the cruising community: Cruisers can’t and shouldn’t travel upwind against the trades. It’s the wrong way! That’s certainly the advice in bibles such as Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes and in most, if not all, the popular seminars about crossing oceans. Or maybe it’s just because even seasoned sailors admit that following seas look pretty threatening when going downwind in the trades. Hundreds of cruising yachts sail across the Pacific westward each year, but only a handful go the other way. We were one of them, sailing east from Tonga to Tahiti aboard our 41-foot cutter Pitufa a few years back. It turned out to be an interesting and even quite pleasant journey.
A couple of months earlier, we’d sailed from French Polynesia to Tonga on the well-trodden path westward, with brief stops inside Beveridge Reef and at the island of Niue. In August we decided to head back from Tongatapu (at 21°S, 175°W, it is the southernmost archipelago of Tonga) to Tahiti (17°S, 149°W). Sailing southward to latitude 30 S or even 40 S to find the westerlies and face cold weather and gales did not seem an appealing prospect. Neither did we want to sail hundreds of additional miles up to Samoa, where the trade winds are supposedly lighter and from where the
Society Islands (e.g., French Polynesia) lie on a better angle. The trades might be lighter farther north, but they are also more persistent. During the Southern Hemisphere winter, the belt of more-variable winds reaches up to the fringe of the tropics. So, we set out on a more or less direct route eastward.
Whenever other cruisers heard or read of our eastward journey from Tonga to Tahiti, the reaction ranged from horror to awe. On the SSB net for yachts on passage, we had to repeat our course twice before the surprised net controller finally believed it: “But you’re going in the wrong direction!” Everyone seemed to picture us constantly tacking, beating against the trades the entire way. Sure, we did sail closehauled most of the time, but we tacked only twice on the whole trip. And, surprisingly, we found life on a heeling boat with constant sail pressure more agreeable than the constant rolling on a downwind course.
Mostly we tried to make our easting during stretches with northerly or southerly winds. Such breezes occur whenever a trough moves through; with the South Pacific Convergence
Zone sitting over this part of the Pacific, these wind shifts occur during the southern winter about once a week. Our strategy was simple: We set sail with the wind clocking, adjusted the windvane to sail at 45 degrees apparent without a fixed destination in mind, and tried to reach the shelter of an island before the easterly trade winds kicked in again.
Numerous islands dot the Pacific between Tonga and Tahiti, so the passages between them are fairly short and do not require an extended weather window. Niue (19° 1'S, 169° 56'W) and Beveridge Reef (20° S, 167° 46'W) are the first options for layovers to wait out phases with adverse winds. But they are more than just that. Niue’s mooring field looks quite open on the chart, but in fact it is snug in winds from the east to the southeast, and the raised atoll with its bizarre coral landscapes and spectacular caves is well worth exploring. Anchoring inside the coral ring of Beveridge Reef in the turquoise lagoon with no land in sight is also a special (if somewhat bouncy) experience.
Farther east, the Cook Islands chain is stretched out so conveniently from north to south that one of them should be along the course from whatever direction the
wind chooses to blow. Of the Northern Group, the atolls of Penrhyn (08° 57'S, 158° 03'W) and Suwarow (13° 14'S, 163° 06'W), with their navigable passes, are well-known destinations. But anchoring outside the reefs of tiny and rarely visited islands such as Puka Puka (10° 52'S, 169° 51'W) or Manihiki (10° 24'S, 161° 2'W) would also be a special experience.
Of the Southern Group, the capital of Rarotonga (21° 11'S, 159° 47'W) and Aitutaki (18° 51'S, 159° 48'W), with its shallow pass and an anchorage outside it, are most popular.
A stopover in the mooring field of Palmerston (18° 02'S, 163° 11'W) gives cruisers the opportunity to experience the hospitality of this unique community (most islanders are descendants of William Marsters and his three wives) and get an insight into daily life on a remote atoll.
There are many more possible anchorages outside tiny atolls or islands such as Manuae (19° 15'S, 158° 58'W), Atiu (19° 58'S, 158° 8'W) or Takutea (19° 49'S, 158° 16'W), all of which are waiting to be explored by adventurous cruisers. In our experience, authorities are very understanding concerning the special situation of an eastward-bound yacht and would not refuse anchorage to a crew during adverse winds, even without an official clearance. It is of course also possible to hop between some of the Cook Islands to get the desired angle for the last leg toward French Polynesia.
Once in French Polynesia, landfall can be made officially anywhere in the Societies between Bora Bora (16° 29'S, 151° 47'W) and Tahiti (17° 34'S, 149° 37'W), but an unofficial stopover at the tiny atoll of Maupihaa (16° 48'S, 153° 57'W)—which is closest to Aitutaki or neighboring Maupiti (16° 26'S, 152° 15'W)— should not raise much ado, especially for a yacht sailing eastward. If you do happen to get blown too far south, you can always stop and explore Polynesia’s southwestern archipelago: the remote Austral
Islands. Maria (21° 48'S, 154° 42'W), the westernmost of the Australs, and Mangaia (21° 54'S, 157° 57'W), the easternmost of the Cook Islands, are just 180 nautical miles apart. At least on satellite imagery, anchoring outside the small lagoon of Maria looks tempting. Rurutu (22° 26'S, 151° 20'W), Tubuai (23° 20'S, 149° 30'W) and Raivavae (23° 50'S, 147° 40'W) are all official ports of entry.
Many of the islands along the way have open anchorages on their western flanks, so they offer protection only during easterly winds (e.g., Niue, Palmerston and Aitutaki in the Cook Islands). Thus, they are tricky to visit for westward-bound cruisers who also don’t want to sacrifice ideal trade-wind conditions. To compound matters, if they do stop and the wind shifts north or west, the anchorages become uncomfortable or even
Even seasoned sailors have to admit that following seas look pretty darn threatening when sailing downwind in the trades.
dangerous, and the conditions for carrying forth have also deteriorated. However, for those yachts going the “wrong direction,” these anchorages are perfect. We spent jaunty days exploring ashore while the trades were blowing, and as soon as our westward-bound neighbors in the anchorage started getting worried about the shifting wind, we had fine conditions to set out again.
In the end, our dreaded wrong-way passage took five weeks, but three of these were spent at anchor or on moorings exploring lovely islands. We added approximately 340 nautical miles to the rhumb line of 1,500 nautical miles (the distance from Tongatapu straight to Tahiti). We tacked only twice; generally the wind shifted conveniently to take us to the next destination.
We had winds of more than 20 knots on five days and less than 10 knots on four days (we motorsailed for 48 hours). The rest of the time, Pitufa sailed in comfy 10- to 20-knot breezes, making average daily runs of 120 nautical miles. We are lucky to have a boat that sails very well closehauled; in fact, strong winds on the bow seem to be Pitufa’s favorite conditions (though, admittedly, they aren’t always ours, nor our kitty’s). Of course, we expected this trip to be hard on the boat and sails; we thoroughly checked the rig in advance, and carefully watched out for chafe and material fatigue on the way. Especially on the first leg, the foredeck was almost constantly awash, and we had to reseal our mast boot during the first layover. Apart from that, we had no leaks. Toward the end of the journey, despite our precautions, wear and tear did start to appear, but some maintenance work is to be expected after sailing more than the 3,000 nautical miles we recorded from Tahiti to Tonga and back. After a visit to Tahiti, we continued our trip eastward and spent the cyclone season in the Gambier Islands. It had been quite the adventure.
Our wrong-way passage took five weeks, but three of them were spent at anchor or on moorings exploring lovely islands.