Date: Sunday, September 30th 2018 Time: 17:00 UTC Location: 13°14.85′ S, 163°06.52′ W COG n/a SOG: 0 Distance to the Suwarrow: 0 nm 24hr Distance covered: 88 nm
“LAND HO!” I heard hollered from just over my hatch, right after I had heard Cameron whisper to the girls to stay quiet so I could sleep. So, I popped up, knowing I would get to rest when the boat came to a stop in the anchorage. It took us a few more hours from the time we spotted the land. We started up the engine to get those last few hours behind us as the wind had almost died. Cameron traversed the pass expertly. I was on the bow and could see the bottom clearly at a 50ft depth, a rather nerve racking thing when you can see the color and shape of the coral below you… Once inside the lagoon we could see clearly that there were only 3 other boats in the anchorage. We called the rangers who told us to anchor and that they would come out to us to do the Customs and Immigration check-in. No sooner had we set our anchor, we were approached by one of the other cruisers asking us to the beach for a pot luck that evening, and soon after that, our first English speaking officials in a very long time, stepped aboard. We had a very pleasant check-in experience. The rangers, Harry and John, are locals from the Cooks. These guys are dropped off in early April and picked up at the end of October. There are no resupplies and no running home to see the kids on the weekend. When the check-in was over they asked if we had an extra tube of toothpaste and a bit of cooking oil. We were happy to supply them. This is near the end of their season, just one more month left. They said that we were the 106th boat this season. They told us where to go to swim with the Manta rays, not to snorkel in the pass due to the grey sharks, and a few other bits of advice and info. Once we had some lunch and settled, it was time to wash. The black tipped reef sharks were circling the boat, but didn’t seem to mind when we jumped in to soap up and rinse off, or when Cameron snorkeled on the anchor chain to see if it was dug in well. It felt amazing to take a dip and wash off the grime from the passage. Now, we are back from the potluck evening on shore with the three other boats in the anchorage and the park rangers. There are Swiss, German and Spanish cruisers here and we have had a wonderful evening together. The girls got to see “George,” a 50 year old coconut crab and were generally delightful and I was a proud mamma. For the next few weeks we will enjoy Suwarrow, swim, snorkel, school and meet new folks as the filter in. But the daily blogs will cease for the present. Thanks for taking the time to come along with us! I can’t wait to share our photos and further experiences in this amazing and remote place. This is SV Banyan, signing off