We spent 10 busy fun filled days in Suwarrow. There was no shortage of activities and fun with 8 kidboats al together for the majority of the time. Potlucks, Belly dancing, Yoga and loads of playmates for the kids. It was hard to believe we were in an isolated atoll in the middle of the Pacific!
Decisions, Decisions.
Our trip until now has been a more or less straightforward downwind path through French Polynesia. Other than deciding which of the Tuamotu atolls to visit, there haven’t been too many big decisions about where to head next. Choosing one location didn’t usually mean that we had to miss another. Since this was our first time through the area, we took a leisurely route through the Marquesas, Tuamotus then Society Islands.
After Bora, Bora, the path is less clear. Do you head to the northerly Cook Islands, or the southerly group? Do you zig zag and try to see it all? The Cook Islands and other islands comprising the central pacific are spread out over a large area. Most folks pick a northerly or southerly route which means inevitably missing some islands over others. Weather plays a role too.
Kidboats ahead of us had enjoyed an amazing month in Pehnryn, a Cook Island further to the North. But we slowed down as we wanted to maximize our time in the Society Islands. We decided to head straight to Suwarrow.
The southerly group of Aitutaki to Pamerston, Beveridge Reef and Niue has shorter distances between the islands. However, a key factor for us is that most of them can only be visited in favourable weather due to poorly protected anchorages. The weather this season has seen stronger high pressure systems and we were concerned about having to rush through this area or worse, arrive and need to keep going due to weather.
Suwarrow is an atoll with a lagoon that offers more protection than the other groups. That, and a group of kidboats drew us to choosing this atoll. We were not disappointed!
Passage Making
It was a long 700 mile passage from Bora Bora to Suwarrow. The weather direction was from directly behind us. Most of our passage making until now had allowed us to broad to beam reach – perfect conditions for Slingshot and our sail plan. But dead down wind isn’t our favourite. We are faster broad reaching on a zig zag path down wind. It means more distance travelled, but generally our speed is faster and comfort is much better when we can maintain a good speed off the wind.
Our cruising friends chuckled in disbelief as we set off on our broad reaching downwind pattern as most prefer to stay close to the rhumb line rather than sail extra distance. But for us, it works.
The wind died to the end of our passage so we turned on the ‘iron genny’ and head straight to Suwarrow. Unfortunately we missed the entrance at sunset by one hour, so we spent another night heaving to so that we could enter during daylight.
Having now entered the pass, we think we could have reasonably entered at night. Our radar returns and charts were accurate. And friends inside were there to assist us. But we didn’t want to risk it. Particularly when anchoring conditions inside the atoll are not straightforward with deep waters (over 60 feet) and coral to navigate.
Suwarrow
Suwarrow is a national park of the Cook Islands. Two rangers live there during the cruising season and they look after the atoll and administer the anchorage. There are no services, stores or any assistance within hundreds of miles. It is isolated. But that is part of what makes it so special.
There are a number of rules which are there to protect the environment to preserve the nearby bird nesting grounds. It meant that we couldn’t kite in what looked like perfect conditions and waters, but we understood and played by the rules.
Snorkelling the nearby reefs and manta cleaning zone was excellent. We even saw a humback in the lagoon a mere 30 meters off of our stern. We had a number of snorkeling sessions and loved drifting through the pass. Plentiful sharks, fish and healthy coral.
We were most excited to see coconut crabs – a nearly extinct species – as they are large, slow moving and delicious (though we did not sample any!). Luckily the coconut crabs are protected so we were lucky to see several.
I’ll always remember Nathan shouting excitedly to me one night while we were at a potluck where he’d found a huge coconut crab and he dragged me over to see. They are huge! And a beautiful blue colour. They are nocturnal, and several roam the grounds near the ranger area.
Spear Fishing Success!
Our neighbours had given us a speargun as a going away present (thank you Alex and Inna!) and it was in Suwarrow that we finally took it out and gave it a try.
One of the kidboats, Calle II, is a very experienced spear fishing family, and they coached us and gave us confidence to join them outside the reef to try spear fishing ourselves (spearfishing in Suwarrow is not allowed inside the lagoon).
It was somewhat daunting to motor outside the pass and then jump in the water along the edge of the reef. You could see the edge of the reef and then see it descend into a deep blue of nothingness. I tried to keep my mind off what was lurking in the deep blue nothingness.
Our new friends on Calle II are experts – going after pelagic tuna (dogtooth) that are so fast that they swim with the sharks. We were out there to watch and perhaps try to shoot a smaller fish. I was most worried about the sharks!
Robert on Calle II had generously shared freshly caught tuna (with his speargun) the day before and had regaled us with how he and the family had finally landed a tuna into the dinghy (several previous attempts had been lost with the sharks devouring the catch before it made it to the dinghy).
I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, but Gavin and Nathan followed Robert out the next day to see what it was all about. They watched as Robert and his family worked as a team to land another fish, avoiding the sharks.
The next day, we decided to give it a try. Gavin, Nathan and I were all in the water hanging onto the dinghy. SV Calle II and SV Flocerfida were nearby looking for fish to spear also.
I watched as a curious fish swam close to Gavin. Then he aimed and pulled the trigger. As soon as we heard the sound (a distinct ping which caused all nearby fish to dart and get excited) we immediately grabbed the dinghy and pulled ourselves out of the water as fast as possible. Gavin managed to hang on to the gun and pull himself out of the dinghy and he hauled on board his first successful catch using the speargun, a nice sized Blackjack. The sharks weren’t close and it seemed surprisingly easy.
The other families raced to get into their dinghys too. They cheered Gavin on his catch. While they weren’t close enough to see that Gavin had shot a fish, nor close enough to hear the sound of the gun, they knew to get out of the water as all the fish and sharks in the area had gotten excited and started swimming erratically. A sure sign of fresh prey in the water!
A little while later we got in the water again. Gavin pointed out a large shadow which came into view on the edge of the reef. A silver tip shark he said. “That’s a dangerous fish”, said Robert. We got out of the water and headed back to the boat, happy with our catch.
Our fish book lists silver tip sharks as ‘dangerous’. This was a different category of shark than the reef sharks we were used to seeing. And later Nathan excitedly came to tell me that, “Silver Tip sharks are dangerous mom!” after watching an ocean shark documentary. Hmmmmm.
I’m all for spear fishing, but the sharks make me nervous!
Belly dancing and Yoga
If someone had told me that we would be belly dancing in Suwarrow, I never would have believed them! But then we met Anna, and who could resist? Anna on SV Noomi is a belly dancing and yoga teacher. Her welcoming and encouraging approach delivered with the sweetest Scottish accent made everyone feel courageous to try, even Julia and myself!
She had invited anyone in the anchorage (including kids!) for morning and sunset belly dancing and yoga sessions on the beautiful sandy beach. We even danced with veils and, by the end of several sessions, had a full routine to music. It was so much fun and so wonderful to share with other cruisers and kids. I kept reminding myself to take a deep breath and enjoy the incredible scenery as we danced and stretched.
Anna said, “People would think me daft if they saw me dancing alone on the beach, so I’d much rather do it with friends.” I wouldn’t think she was ‘daft’, especially after watching her, mesmerized by her skillful moves, but we were so thankful she included us. Thank you Anna!
Halyard Swinging
It was the perfect end to a fun-filled 10 days. A fun family aboard SV Panacea, a swan 58, suggested that all the kids come over to try ‘haylyard swinging’ on their boat. You didn’t need to ask the kids twice!
We’ve ween wanting to try halyard swinging for a long time and the conditions were perfect – a huge group of kids, a large tall mast with willing skipper :), calm conditions and a willing parent (Gavin) to zoom back and forth.
We strung a halyard from the top of Panacea’s mast to the transom of our dinghy, with a lifejacket tied in the middle of the line. The kid would swim out to hang on the life jacket while Gavin zoomed outwards with the dinghy.
I loved hearing the squeals of delight from the kids as they shot upwards into the air to surprisingly high heights before splashing down in the water.
We laughed to hear the kids shouting each other to, “Watch out for the sharks!” They weren’t kidding! There are so many blacktip sharks in the Suwarrow lagoon that we began to think of them as akin to little dogs.
We kept an eye on them but they didn’t appear dangerous. Feeding the sharks is strictly prohibited in the lagoon so we went with the idea that they don’t see humans as a source of food. We went with this idea and everyone had a blast.
Thank you SV Panacea! It was a memorable 10 days.
Note: When we were there, the Rangers limited visitor visas to 10 days at Suwarrow, down from the 14 days previously. We’re not sure if this will change again. And the Rangers were strictly not doing any excursions to other islands within the atolls, nor were they allowing any boat to venture out of the assigned moorage area. This may change but it didn’t prevent us from having an amazing time here.
