Our first stop, Bird Island is reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”. Do you remember the sky filled with squawking black birds? That is the scene today. There are three types of birds nesting simultaneously; terns, blue-footed boobies, and frigates, squawking at us for disturbing their nesting grounds! They all have their own nesting territories amongst each other. The frigates nest up high in the shrubbery while the other two species of birds, terns and boobies, nest directly on the ground in nests of a small sand indentation. It was fun to see the fuzzy little heads of the newborn frigates! We observed for a while, then on to Seven Island…
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| Baby frigate in nest |
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| Palms in paradise... |
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| Coconut crab eating his favorite food |
Seven Islands, where past shipped have wrecked on the large shallow reefs that extend out a half-mile or so. We feel like “lost Survivors” on this uninhibited motu. Charlie grew up on Suwarrow and knows the island well. He collects coconut crabs while we are exploring…this he does by chopping open coconuts on the ground to attract the crabs. These huge prehistoric relics of spiders crawl out of hiding to the smell of fresh coconut meat. Creepy buggers! He catches 3 for a BBQ later. It’s on the “hush” as this is a national park and the animals are protected.
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Charlie catches the Coconut Crab by hand!
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| Crab getting ready for boiling pot! |
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| One pot meal! |
Next, we snorkel the pass; a two-mile drift in and out of the fingers of coral reefs. This is beautiful with many shapes and colored coral formations to explore. We see spotted eagle rays, turtles, black-tipped reef and grey sharks and brightly colored reef fish; parrot, angels and electric blue damsels that dart into the coral branches. This was a never ending snorkel as Charlie just drifted along in his boat at some distance and allowed us to go at our on pace. And good thing he was there because one of our dive mates, Jacques, from s/v Dragonsbane had a “dive blackout” ! After free diving several times to 30 ft, he heard a ‘pop” as his inner ear ruptured under pressure. This disturbed his equilibrium and he lost orientation. He felt himself spinning out of control not knowing which way was the surface. Luckily for him, he remembered his Scuba diving training and calmed down and let his body float upward…and luckily, Charlie had the boat present to pick him up! Scary stuff. That’s why it’s always recommended to “buddy dive” with someone close by.
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| Potluck on Suwarrow |
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| Jacques and Adam from S/V Dragonsbane |
Back on "Gilligan’s Island” as I call it there is an evening gathering potluck with a host of characters:
First in the cast are the Park Rangers, Harry and Charlie, two New Zealanders, and native Cook islanders. They are our hosts as well as the check-in agents for clearing all visitors into the Cook Islands. They make sure you know the rules before releasing you to wonder the motu, but are welcoming and gracious, hosting several cook-outs gatherings on the beach. It’s a fun way to get to know all the other cruisers. Charlie had great history as he grew up on the island of Suwarrow. His family used to host the few boats that stopped here. So, when the government asked for applicants for this out-post, Charlie was chosen over many because of his history. And he is proud of this fact. “My home is your home” , he makes sure you are aware of his hospitality. Harry is mild-mannered and all business. He is the senior Park Ranger who handles the check-in paperwork. He does let the formalities down once the sun goes down. He plays a beautiful guitar.
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| Shallow waters with many coral heads. |
Dan-Dan-the-Lonely-Man: a single hander who is grounded here waiting for fuel to be delivered by another cruiser . His 50ft catamaran was damaged by a rogue wave so he is stranded here in Suwarrow while he repairs. His stories of traveling all around the world are entertaining.
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| Relaxing and sharing sailing stories, Andrew and John |
S/V Dragonsbane: Jacques & Adam on two boys (30 yrs olds) from Wisconsin., whom we met in Nuku HIva, Marquesasa. They are continuing to New Zealand to winter and work.
S/V Slow Ride: Mike and Julie on board. We met them in the La Cruz Marina, Mexico and followed the Pacific Puddle Jump route to Marquesas to here. They are full time- cruisers who plan to circumnavigate. They are off to Samoa to winter.
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| Our anchor neighbor, S/V Dragonsbane |
S/V Destartes: Jerry, a first-time-single-hander is quite a character. He sings chantys, plays the ukulele, cooks superb( hot curry!) knows something about everything and sails a little 28ft classic full-keeled wood boat. On his way to Tonga.
S/V Sirius: the family of 4, with Big Dog-Andrew, Mamma-Bear Caroline with adorable kids,little Dog-Sophie and l ittle –bearCameron. The names make reference to the boat’s name, the Star Sirius which has the Dog Constellation. This family has sailed their 54ft from England to mirgrate to Australia. They kids were so smart and so much fun! We are glad to have met them.
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| Cameron from S/V Sirius has a "first-time"paddle |
S/V Margarite: Bruce and wife, Denni with cousin Peter, all Kiwis from New Zealand, on a re-visit sail to Suwarrow. They had stopped here 20 yrs ago! They were a wealth of knowledge, dry humor and fun conversation!
The cast of characters( cruisers) changes almost daily on Suwarrow as new boats arrive and others leave for other South Pacific Islands; Samoa, Niue or Tonga. There are ten boats as present with two leaving tomorrow. We just get to know someone, then off they go…an ever changing palate of personalities. This is hard for the park ranger, Charlie, who often gets very involved and close to some (women)…he’s a lonely guy. But, the evening gatherings are quite fun with lively conversation, good brews and sometimes music.
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| Coconut "jelly" of the green coconut is delicious! |
Charlie makes a ‘coconut beer” that is killer. He takes the milk from the coconut, adds yeast and sugar and in three days has a powerful drink that is really sweet and delicious.
The anchorage is a beautiful sand and coral heads reef. We anchor in 40 ft and can see the bottom. Black-tipped reef sharks cruise by our boat to investigate the new arrival.
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| The black-tipped sharks check out the new arrivals...us! |
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| Giant manta ray was awesome! |
Our first morning, we explored a shallow submerged reef near the anchorage to view the giant manta rays that feed on algae. We are told there may be 7-8 in a pod to watch for. We drop in for a snorkel as a large white-bellied manta ray glides by! Way bigger than the one I saw in Bora Bora. But, it ‘s very shy and spooks when it sees us. We also see a giant turtle floating in the sun. Cool. But, also, when they see you…pop…out of sight into the deep blue!
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| "Hunter-Sue" |
Another day, we paddled out to the surrounding reef on a super-low tide. We walked the reef looking in the tide-pools. We marveled at the colored corals and the black-tipped reef sharks that scoot around in the shallows. Luckily, there are timid and are easily scared away.!
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| Suwarrow anchorage and beach |
