Bora Bora and On to Suwarrow

Bora Bora

Our time in Bora Bora was overshadowed by the problems we had with the watermaker. We didn’t get out and see as many things as we’d have liked but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We were under the gun to get things fixed and get on our way before our visas ran out.

We did manage to squeeze in a hike to a great spot to look out over the lagoon. Formerly, the US military used the location to place some heavy artillery that pointed out towards the lagoon entrance.

Suwarrow

Our passage to Suwarrow and our time on the atoll was exactly what we’d dreamed our South Pacific sailing would be. The trip across the South Pacific is sometimes described as a milk run–meaning it’s easy. I don’t think we’d describe this trip as easy but this passage was. The winds were straight out of –Goldie Locks and the Three Bears–they weren’t too strong and they weren’t too light. They were just right. Perhaps we should have gone a little faster but we moved along comfortably and really enjoyed the trip.

We arrived at Suwarrow in the middle of the night, heaved-to for several hours before entering the atoll shortly after dawn. We dropped the hook behind Anchorage Island. After getting the boat settled the rangers called us on the radio to come to the island so we could be checked into the Cook Islands.

The rangers are a married couple that spend five months a year on the island. The rest of the year is spent on their home island, Rarotonga. They were very friendly and patiently answered our questions about life on the remote island.

Our days included snorkelling with manta rays, walking along the shore of Anchorage Island and potluck dinners on shore with the other cruisers that were there.

It would have been nice to spend a few more days there but we took advantage of a favourable weather window to continue west to American Samoa.