SVMagenta Ship's Log

Suwarrow Atoll

We have been on Suwarrow Atoll for a full week, and will likely stay another week. This place is absolutely wonderful. The main island is called Anchorage Island, and there are now 17 cruising boats in the main anchorage, including us. The island is about ½ mile long, 200 yards wide, 12 feet above sea level at its highest point, and the tops of the palm trees are about 60 feet. Suwarrow has no permanent residents, and is operated by the Cook Islands as a nature reserve. There are two rangers (James and John) who are here for six months (May through October) to clear cruising boats in and out, as well as to help maintain the natural habitat. Both are New Zealanders from Rarotanga. But in actual fact they spend most of their time watching over us and organizing activities, like:

Lobster fishing on the reef
Shark feeding
Snorkeling and diving on nearby reefs and islands
Walks though local bird nesting sanctuaries
Coconut harvesting techniques

We've also organized potluck dinners, a volleyball tournament, and a couple of poker tournaments. The most fun, however, is getting to know the other cruisers, and hearing their stories. Some have been out sailing for 15 years, and some have just started this year. We are able to do these posts on the website by HF radio, but it is too slow to add photographs. The next time we get internet access we will have lots of pictures to post. You can see Suwarrow by zooming in on our latest position in either Satellite or hybrid mode, or by looking up Suwarrow on Google Earth. The latitude is 16 degrees south and the longitude is 163 degrees west.

We Have Arrived at Suwarrow!

We are anchored behind Anchorage Island on Suwarrow Atoll (sometimes called Suvarov). You can click on Latest Position on the Home Page, and use the zoom, satellite and hybrid functions to have a look at Suwarrow. Or you can use Google Earth.

The Cook Islands are a group of 15 islands about 4,500 miles south of Hawaii. It is a highly unusual country in that it is about 240 square miles of land spread out over 1.8 million square miles of open ocean. The Cook Islands are a self-governing country, but much of its revenue comes from an affiliation with New Zealand. Interestingly, the Cook Islanders are considered New Zealand citizens, but New Zealanders are not Cook Island citizens. The population of the Cook Islands is about 20,000, most of whom live on the islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki in the Southern Cook Islands.

Since these islands are so spread out, we are limited to where we can visit. We have chosen to sail to the atoll of Suwarrow (pronounced Soo-vah-roo) in the Northern Cook Islands. It is a small uninhabited atoll consisting of a group of small islands on a circular coral reef 11 miles in diameter with a lagoon in the middle. Suwarrow is actually a nature reserve and sea-bird sanctuary that would be similar to the setup at the Galapagos islands. There are two park rangers living on the island, and they issue two-week passes to visiting boats. One neat thing about Suwarrow is that you can only get there by your own boat. There is no commercial transportation in or out. And obviously no stores or supplies will be available.

We're really looking forward to spending a week or so on this interesting island. We expect to meet lots of interesting people on other cruising boats from countries all over the world. It usually is a great time to share adventures from the thousands of miles we have sailed to get there.

60 Miles From Suwarrow

Our passage from Raiatea to Suwarrow is 730 miles, and we have 60 miles to go. We expect to arrive tomorrow morning (July 24), and should be able to see the island from about 20 miles away. After six days of seeing nothing but blue water, there is always a bit of excitement that comes from seeing the island is actually there.

This has been an excellent passage. It was entirely clear skies (with occasional rain squalls blowing through), and mostly good winds between 15-25 knots. There was one overnight period of about 10 hours when the wind died and we had to use the engine. The Monitor mechanical wind vane steered the whole way, with the exception of the time we were motoring.

Sailing Conditions

We are experiencing sailing conditions that are likely the best we have had during the past two years. The wind (15-20 knots) and wave swells (5-10 feet) are behind us, pushing us along at about 5.5 knots boat speed. The period between swells is fairly long (10 seconds), creating more of a rocking motion than the rolling motion of the past two days. These conditions give us about 130 miles per day, which is perfectly acceptable. So is the fact that we haven't had to change our sails in over 3 days (other than during the occasional rain squall that passes through). We haven't started the engine since we left Raiatea 3 days ago. The solar panels are providing about 1/2 of our power, and we will likely have to run the generator a couple of hours later today to top up the batteries.

The temperature range is between 80F and 85F, the sails are white against the blue sky with about 20% puffy white clouds. And the ocean, likely about 15,000 feet deep at this point, is a gorgeous blue somewhat lighter than navy blue.

Our current passage from Raiatea, French Polynesia to the island of Suwarrow in the Cook Islands is about 650 miles of open ocean. Given our current speed, we expect landfall in Suwarrow sometime this Sunday, July 24.

On Our Way to the Cook Islands

Our current position is about 250 miles west of Raiatea and French Polynesia. The past two days have been typical trade wind sailing, with big winds (20-30 knots) and big waves (10-15 feet). Fortunately they are from behind us, pushing us along. It's a bit uncomfortable, but we're making good boat speed. You can follow our progress on this website by clicking current position on the home page.

Our heading is for the island of Suwarrow, one of the Cook Islands. We should make landfall there in three or four days.

Ready to Go Again

Finally, after six weeks, we have our equipment problems fixed.  We had to import parts from New Zealand, and have them put on here in Raiatea, French Polynesia.  Nothing gets done here in a hurry.  While we were here, we mets lots of new friends from all over the world.  Some on charter boats, and some getting repairs like we did.  We also met many very friendly local people, and went to some local celebrations including the big Heiva Festival during the past month.

Hopefully we will be able to check out again on Friday, and head west on Saturday.  Our next stop will be Rarotonga or Suwarrow in the Cook Islands, or maybe Nuie.  It depends on the direction of the wind and waves.  We will likely take the easiest option.