Suwarrow Wrap

RAFTKIN in Suwarrow (Photo by Barefeet)

Suwarrow is a small atoll in the northern Cook Island group, about 700 miles west of Bora Bora.  The atoll is uninhabited, aside from the two rangers that live on Anchorage Island, the largest island in the atoll, from May through to November during cruising season.   The atoll was made famous by New Zealander Tom Neale who lived there alone there in three sessions between 1952 to 1977 and wrote a book about the experience, ‘An Island to Oneself’.

Our passage from Bora Bora to Suwarrow took six days.  The cross swell that has become all too familiar as we sailed between French Polynesian islands seemed to follow us to the Cook Islands.  After a couple of days we got used to it again and settled in to passage life, although trying to keep up with school was harder this time.  We had the full suite of wind directions and a range of wind speeds, from 18+ knots through to zero knots.  We ended up motoring the last 24 hours and were able to stop for a swim and a ‘bath’ in the ocean on the second last day.  We were a little wary of what lurks beneath the surface this time, as well as what floats on top, having motor-sailed through what appeared to be fields of blue bottles earlier in the day.

Having a bath in the Pacific Ocean

Watching the sun set on passage to Suwarrow

On Friday morning 3^rd August the sky slowly lightened and the low-lying atoll of Suwarrow came into focus.  We had slowed right down so that we were just outside the pass with Barefeet at about 7:30am, ready to make our way through.  There was just enough light.  We came around the corner of Anchorage Island and saw the friendly sight of Yonder, Pelizeno and Dol Selene.  Then began the task of picking a spot to anchor.  It was a bommie field, but after a couple of goes we found a small sandy spot we were happy with.  Once we were settled, the two rangers, Harry and John, came out to check us in and do a biosecurity check on the boat.  They gave us some tips about what to see, advised what we could and couldn’t do in the atoll, which is a National Park, and warned us to be cautious about the sharks.  Once cleared in we took the dinghy out to see if we could see the manta rays.  No such luck today, but we did see a turtle 😊.

At about 4pm we headed over to Pelizeno for ‘welcome to Suwarrow’ drinks with Dol Selene, Yonder and Barefeet, an early start to allow an early night after the passage.  Too much fun meant that it was after 9pm by the time we got back to RAFTKIN… chips and cheese for dinner again.

Here we are in Suwarrow, Cook Islands

The locals keep it interesting

Over the next few days we caught up on school, explored anchorage island a little and went snorkelling on some bommies a short dinghy ride from the anchorage.  We also went looking for the mantas.  There were yoga sessions on the beach in the morning, thanks to a young cruiser in the anchorage who kindly volunteered to run them.  In the evenings there were pot lucks or sundowners on the beach where we got to know the other cruisers – at one time there were about fifteen boats in the anchorage.  Another pastime was checking anchors each morning and helping the boats who had wrapped around bommies over the previous 24 hours.  I lost count of the times we re-anchored in Suwarrow.  I think we doubled our anchoring-near-coral knowledge during our 11 day stay.

The Rangers Hut, Anchorage Island

We finally saw the manta rays on Monday.  After school we jumped in the dinghies and headed over to the shallow sandy area where the mantas hang out.  Within moments they were spotted – a smaller black one and a big one, bigger than the ones we had seen in Bora Bora.  They swam up and down the sandbar gracefully, putting up with the swimming paparazzi following them.  It was wonderful.

Swimming with giant manta rays in Suwarrow

Hayley checks out the manta

Afterward, we had a quick change back on the boat, then dinghied into the island with Dol Selene to do the geocache left behind by SY Moya.  There were several clues and were followed them around the island until we found the treasure.  Such a fun way to explore the island.  Some of the other boats had organised a games afternoon, so the kids joined in playing board games with some of the other cruisers.  

Searching for the geocahe left by SY Moya

Tribute to Tom Neal - a clue in the geocache

Dave, Brian, Megan and Hayley open the geocache

Later in the evening, Muskoka had organised a music night on their boat.  The girls and Dave went over, Hayley with her cello.  They listened and sang along to a few songs, then Hayley played three pieces for the small group.  More singing and listening to some of the other talented musicians sailing across the Pacific, and Megan learned to play the kazoo.

Hayley plays at the music night on Muskoka (Photo by Dol Selene)

On Tuesday night some of the boats had organised a pizza night on the island.  Everyone was invited to make pizza and bring it to the beach to share.  We couldn't quite get the ingredients together for pizza, so settled for Chow Mein instead, but were happy to eat on shore with everyone else.  The Rangers had also offered to show us the permanent residents of the island, the coconut crabs.  We had seen a few whilst we were looking for the geocache, but apparently, they were small ones.  Firstly, John showed us a 10 year old crab, which we thought was huge.  Then they found George, a 40 year old crab and the biggest crab I have ever seen.

Ranger John introduces George the coconut crab

The rest of the week we had settled into atoll life – school in the morning, fun stuff in the afternoon.  Not that school isn’t fun…  We went into the island in the afternoon to play games or go for a walk.  Hayley and Megan loved it because they felt safe going in with just Zenon and they would play on the beach, look for crabs or get tips from the rangers about husking coconuts.  It was an easy walk around the island to the other side, then there was a track back through the middle.  The other side of the island faced the pass into the atoll.  There were always sharks swimming in the shallows there.  One afternoon we counted 15-20 sharks, including black tip, white tip and greys.  It was incredible - they must have only been in about half a metre of water.

Thursday late morning I took an early escape from school and went snorkelling with Barefeet.  We snorkelled on the reef on the north western side of the anchorage, where in 2014 a yacht had unfortunately slipped its anchor and ended up on the reef, then sunk to the bottom.  We snorkelled down to see it, but there was not much left.  Everything had been stripped off it.  We also saw a big moray eel and loads of brightly coloured parrot fish.

Boat kids jump rope on Anchorage Island

Hayley, Megan and Zenon invent a new game on RAFTKIN

The other side of Anchorage Island

Sharks in the shallows on the other side of the island

On Friday evening we had sundowners on the beach, coordinated by the lads from Kudo (who had helped us into the marina way back in Gran Tarajal, Canary Islands). Three of the guys from Kudo came in carrying a banjo, ukulele and violin.  They started playing immediately in a sea shanty style that sounded like a cross between Cat Empire, Latin American All Stars and The Dirty Three.  It was brilliant.  Later that night as we settled down for the night, we heard them rowing back to their boat.  Rather we heard them singing at the top of their lungs as they rowed to their boat.  Too funny.

All week it had been fairly windy in the anchorage, with the wind blowing from all different directions.  We were fairly protected, so it had been comfortable most of the time, although a little rocky when it swung to the south-west.  By Saturday 11^th August the wind started to ease off.  We decided to use the opportunity to explore the eastern side of the atoll and set out in a dinghy convoy with Pelizeno and Dol Selene to The Seven Islands, about 5 miles away.  We explored a large bommie near the islands, on the inside of the atoll.  The coral was beautiful, the water clearer than anywhere we have been.  On the way back we stopped off to swim with the manta rays again and once again were captivated by their majesty.  We had our last Suwarrow pot-luck dinner on Pelizeno with Dol Selene, enjoying many laughs and perhaps a few too many Hendrick’s thanks to Brian.

Off to the other side of the atoll for snorkeling

Hayley & Megan practicing their diving on the other side of the atoll

On our last full day in Suwarrow there was a glass-out.  It was stunningly beautiful.  We went for an early morning paddleboard that was reminiscent of Tahanea.  In the afternoon we went into the island to learn the art of basket weaving from Ranger John.  John patiently showed us how to trim the palm leaves, and then weave the fronds together to make firstly a plate, then in the advanced class a basket.  It was lots of fun and Hayley, Megan and I all managed to make a great basket each, although not without a lot of help from John.

Ranger John teaches us how to weave baskets

Basket weavers

Sun sets on our time in Suwarrow

Monday morning 13^th August was still and the lagoon mirrored the sky again.  An early morning paddle was in order to drink in the last of Suwarrow, followed by a swim to check the anchor… there was one last wrap of a bommie to unwind.  By 9am we were ready for departure and to help with lifting the anchor we each took it in turns to jump in the water to guide the skipper unwrapping the chain from the bommie.  We were a professional team doing the Suwarrow Wrap after 11 days, so it was simple.  We said thank-you to Ranger Harry and John, farewell to Suwarrow and motored around the island and out of the pass heading to a last minute addition to our flexible itinerary – Niue.

Sunrise glass-out at Anchorage Island, Suwarrow (Photo by Dol Selene)