Suwarrow

Suwarrow

Position: 13D14.199S 163D14.262W

698 nautical miles left to sail to Vavau in Tonga

Saturday, August 20 - We finally made it but in the last 24 hours of our trip from Bora Bora we struggled to get to Suwarrow. The winds dropped to 0 knots so we had to motor into the night. We arrived at 3am in the morning and did not want to enter the pass at night. The winds had increased slightly so we set the sails and ran north for 2 hours than south for 2 hours arriving at the atoll just on sunrise. What we saw next took us by total surprise. Picture this we have come all this way to a remote atoll to experience true solitude as Tom Neale wrote but as we approached the islands we could see the masts of at least 15 yachts in the anchorage. Then we heard the 8am check in on the radio as everyone went through their plans for the day and evening ahead. It was like a little nomadic community. Our first thought was that Tom Neale would be very shocked by all these visitors (later we found out that 26 yachts had been anchored there the previous week). We motored into the lagoon navigating between the shallow reefs and then struggled to find a sandy bottom to anchor in. The sun was coming up and blues of the water were becoming brighter against the swaying green palm trees of the island. The anchorage was very busy with people zinging around in their dinghies fishing, snorkelling and diving.

As we were only staying for a short time we got the kayaks down and started to paddle ashore to check in. We paddled past 'Cosimo' to visit our yacht friends from Tasmania and had a chat to Wendy who gave us a good brief on the island. Cosimo were originally headed for Nuie but were persuaded to visit Suwarrow instead by friends and were glad they did. As we talked schools of large black tip reef sharks circled our kayaks menancingly so I made sure that none of my body parts were dangling out of the kayak.

When we arrived ashore we met James and John the Government caretakers on the island. They are stationed on the island for the cruising season from the 1st of June to the 1st November every year and wisely leave during the cyclone season. There was an open air building called the 'Suwarrow Yacht Club' for us to complete the official clearing in formalities and we met a lot of other yachties mainly from Australia while we waited for our turn. James informed us that Faraway was yacht number 81 to have visited the island this season. James and John were nice guys and in tune with the local environment and the transient yachting community. The day before John and other yachties had built a tourist sign with the names and distances to different landmarks in the world. Ian and I had our photo taken in front of the sign with him pointing at London and me at Sydney.

After the clearing in and clearing out formalities (brief stay so we did both at the same time) we paddled back to Faraway and grabbed our snorkelling gear. We also packed a bag of very ripe bananas and poplamose for the caretakers who rarely get fresh fruit and aren't issued with many supplies. They were gratefully received by John who started eating the bananas before we had even got back in our kayaks. We beached our kayaks further along the island and went for a very relaxing drift snorkelling along the edge of the coral reef. The corals were in very good condition and we swam amongst parrot fish and small sharks in crystal clear blue water.

In the afternoon it was very windy but Ian had to go up the mast to inspect the lines. I winched him up in the Bosun's chair promising that no I wouldn't let him fall down but still kissed him goodbye just in case! At the top (which he reached abruptly thanks to my over zealous winching) he found a problem with one of the blocks so he had to come back down again and get some tools to remove the block. On the second trip up he took a camera and got some great birds eye view shots of Faraway and the anchorage. When we get to Tonga it is my turn to go up the mast to check if any further damage has been done.

We had a brief, busy but very enjoyable stay anchored off Suwarrow Island. This coral atoll in the Cook Islands is certainly not to be missed off the cruising route. Luckily we have good winds today and the prediction for the rest of our journey to Tonga is favourable. We hope to arrive in Vavau by Wednesday/Thursday but will lose a day due to the crossing of the International Date Line.