Due to the dramatic currents, we rarely anchor inside a pass. In Rangiroa, however, our friend Noho pointed out a nice spot near his grandma’s house. “The current is very mild there,” he remarked.

The last time we spent the night in a pass was in Faaite where we snapped the mooring line due to the force of the current. So this calm eddy in the pass was a welcome change!

As with most anchorages in the Tuamotos, we selected a spot that looked sandy, but coral bommies (rock formations) are still scattered about in the sand. As the wind and current shift the anchor chain gets snagged on some of these bommies, which can cause a lot of problems.

In the photo below, Michael is in the water advising us which way to motor in order to release any snags in the anchor chain. This helps avoid damage to the coral formations (we also use buoys to elevate the chain off the coral – more on this later!). Finally, this technique also makes raising anchor much easier and causes less wear on the electric windlass.