Suwarrow

Anchorage Island, Suwarrow Atoll

I shall attempt to describe our last port of call with the adjectives it deserves, but bear with me, for as I write we are sailing along under storm jib only with seas to match.

Swimming with Giant Manta!

Sooty Tern

Suwarrow is a small atoll several hundred miles from anywhere in the Cook Island group. The one main island (all of ½ a mile long) has a semi protected anchorage amongst a lot of coral heads that stick up about a metre off the bottom to snag your anchor chain. But given the right conditions (non reinforced trade winds) this is paradise. Two care takers look after the island for six months, being away for the cyclone season.  If you have read Tom Neale’s or Robert Frisbie’s books about the island you will understand why. The high point of the island is only about 10ft and exposed to the ocean swells. James and John are the two caretakers and hosts; keeping everyone in line and making them feel welcome.  The record 28 boats in the anchorage did not feel busy; it’s just one of those very relaxed places. We snorkeled most days on various reefs or with Manta rays, went lobster hunting on the reef on a moonlit night, enjoyed several potlucks ashore and did a reef walk out to Whale Island (full of nesting birds). The hard part was dragging ourselves away after nearly 2 weeks.  This we did and headed for Niue, but the strengthening high pressure below us sent winds we did not like beating into, so we bore off toward Tonga.  I leave you with a log entry by Heidi on the second last day of this leg ….. “Lie down on cabin floor for 10 min, catch my breath and settle my stomach.  Get up, go climb (bottom hatch board has been in for a few days) into the cockpit and look around. Check the course. Lie on floor, repeat. The end of each 4 hour watch seems like a major victory. The reward: a few hours sliding on your bed where you can’t lose your balance.”…… This trip we had our worst pooping to date that put nearly a foot deep of water in the cockpit, but for all the weather there was no upchucks.  A day at anchor Heidi still talks of sailing to Chile...... what a spirit or is it just a short memoryJ.   Such is the price we sometimes have to pay to visit paradise!

John (caretaker and all round great guy) and Heidi

Potluck dinner in the "clubhouse"

Suwarrow (Suvarov), Northern Cook Islands – Fish Species List

Manta - check out the cephalic fins!! (near the mouth)

After three months in French Polynesia our fish ID skills are improving. So we thought we would share a list of fish species for Suwarrow.  This in not a complete list as there’s always those that you don’t see well enough to ID, or you can’t remember everything that you see while snorkeling and our field guides don’t always have everything for this area.  This list does illustrate the wonderful diversity of species on the reef.  The ones marked with (*) were delicious!

Unidentified Dascyllus - any ideas out there??

Threadfin Butterflyfish	Chaetodon auriga
Redfin Butterflyfish	Chaetodon lunulatus
Teardrop Butterflyfish	Chaetodon unimaculatus
Raccoon Butterflyfish	Chaetodon lunula
Dotted Butterflyfish	Chaetodon semeion
Reticulated Butterflyfish	Chaetodon reticulatus
Speckled Butterflyfish	Chaetodon citrinellus
Saddled Butterflyfish	Chaetodon ephippium
Dot-and-Dash Butterflyfish	Chaetodon pelewensis
Pacific Double-Saddle Butterflyfish	Chaetodon ulietensis
Fourspot Butterflyfish	Chaetodon quadrimaculatus
Ornate Butterflyfish	Chaetodon ornatissimus
Pennant Bannerflyfish	Heniochus chrysostomus
Longnose Butterflyfish	Forcipiger flavissimus
Lemonpeel Angelfish	Centropyge flavissimus
Regal Angelfish	Pygoplites diacanthus
Orangeband Surgeonfish	Acanthurus olivaceus
Achilles Tang	Acanthurus achilles
Convict Surgeonfish	Acanthurus triosegus
Whitecheek Surgeonfish	Acanthurus nigricans
Pacific Sailfin Tang	Zebrasoma veliferum
Bluespine Unicornfish	Naso unicornis
Spotted Unicornfish	Naso brevirostris
Orangespine Unicornfish	Naso lituratus
Moorish Idol	Zanclus cornatus
Humbug Dascyllus	Dascyllus aruanus
Blue-green Chromis	Chromis viridis
Pacific Half-and-half Chromis	Chromis iomelas
Onespot Snapper	Lutjanus monostigma
Blue Damsel	Pomacentrus pavo
Black Snapper	Macolor niger
Bluefin Trevally	Caranx melampygus
Rainbow Runner	Elagatis bipinnulatus
Peacock Grouper	Cephalopholis argus
Coral Grouper*	Cephalopholis miniata
Greasy Grouper*	Epinephelus tauvina
Camouflage Grouper	Epinephelus polyphekadion
Arc-Eye Hawkfish	Paracirrhites arcatus
Bullethead Parrotfish	Chlorurus sordidus
Steephead Parrotfish	Chlorurus microrhinos
Bicolor Parrotfish	Cetoscarus bicolor
Pacific Longnose Parrotfish*	Hipposcarus longiceps
Red-breasted Wrasse	Cheilinus fasciatus
Bird Wrasse	Gomphosus varius
Sixbar Wrasse	Thalassoma hardwicke
Threespot Wrasse	Halichoeres trimaculatus
Checkerboard Wrasse	Halichoeres hortulanus
Redlip Cleaner Wrasse	Labroides rubrolabiatus
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse	Labroides dimidiatus
Bicolor Cleaner Wrasse	Labroides bicolor
Big-scale Soldierfish	Myripristis berndti
Spotfin Squirrelfish	Neoniphon sammara
Twotone Dartfish	Ptereleotris evides
Goldsaddle Goatfish	Parupeneus cyclostomus
Manybar Goatfish	Parupeneus multifascialis
Trumpetfish	Aulostromus chinensis
Cornetfish	Fistularia commersonii
Orange-lined Triggerfish	Balistapus undulatus
Picasso Triggerfish	Rhinecanthus aculeatus
Indian Toby	Canthigaster solandri
Mahi Mahi*	Coryphaena hippurus
Gray Reef Shark	Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos
Blacktip Reef Shark	Carcharhinus melanopterus
Whitetip Reef Shark	Triaendon obesus
Giant Manta	Manta birostris

Arc-Eye Hawkfish

Dot-and-Dash Butterflyfish

Society Islands and the In-Laws

Moorea skyline

After being in the Tuamotus for over three weeks, we thought that Papeete (the capitol of Tahiti) would be a culture shock, so we opted to anchor at Port Phaeton which is close to the smaller town of Taravao.  This is where we had the good luck of meeting several of the local teachers who were kind and generous in showing us the sights of Tahiti.  A special thank-you to Cecelia who toured us around the island, explained so much of the culture, politics, family life, answered our zillions of questions and showed us the true meaning of hospitality over several days!  It was hard to leave such wonderful new friends!

Heiva Dance Competition on Huahine

Papeete brought a happy reunion with Stephen’s parents, who are game enough to come sailing with us on Narama.  Serendipity is a wonderful thing and we are glad that plans coincided so we could rendez-vous for nearly three weeks.  The crew of “Mystic 2”  (Ian and Wendy) joined us for some glorious trade-wind sailing, swimming and snorkeling in turquoise waters, cycling, many happy hours, card games and stunning sunsets.  We had a beautiful day sail from Tahiti to Moorea along with a pod of Melon-headed Whales and an overnight sail to Huahine.  Over night sailing was a logistical challenge on Narama with four people and not quite enough sea berths – our table folds down to create a bunk, but it’s also our chart table.  We enjoyed the sights of lush green hills and steep mountains surrounded by beautiful lagoons.  We shared many a morning coffee and fresh baguette and lots of

laughs!

Wendy, Ian and Heidi at the Belvedere on Moorea

Here is Wendy’s final entry into our logbook, she says it much more eloquently!

Oh woe is us, its time to go
Our last two week’s thoughts overflow
We’ve dined on local veg and fruit
And fresh baguettes just made to suit.

The tur quoise water beckoned us
Over the side we slipped without a fuss.
There’s fish and coral and rays and all
Each day we swam and had a ball.

On Tahiti we saw a local show,
Dancers and singers all algow.
With wiggling hip and native drum,
And Tahitians cheering made it hum.

We sailed across the rolling sea,
From Tahiti to Moorea and Huahine.
The night time sail, a first for me.
The full moon shining helped us to see.
Ships lights far away and the curling spray
Till the sun came up at the break of day.

Then on Moorea we snorkeled lots,
And walked up Belvedere to view hot spots.
And there were many cruising boats,
Who invited us over, we also played host.

On Huahine we hired some bikes,
To test our muscles and see the sights.
A day away from our sturdy craft,
Narama’s a champ from bow to aft.

We viewed another local show,
With people wandering to and fro.
And dancers showing their agile side,
The singers and drummers performing with pride.

A highlight of our Tahaa stay,
Was a local fisherman who refused any pay.
For bags of fruit he plied us with,
But did accept some rope as a parting gift.

Anchored just inside the reef,
The crashing waves lulled us to sleep.
And with the breaking of the day,
Refreshed, twas time to go and play.

So as we sadly journey home,
We wish you luck where e’re you roam.
It’s been such fun, we hate to part,
So many, many thanks from the bottom of our hearts!

Tahitian Stingrays

Marquesas and Tuamotus Species List

Blue Damsels

We spent much of our time in the Tuamotus snorkeling and identifying fish as well as walking around the small “motus” or cays. These walks were of course while we were looking for birds, specifically the Tuamotu Sandpiper. This is a small endemic brown bird, endangered because introduced rats like to eat them and their chicks when nesting. Finally we found a few of these little birds during our last few days in the islands. They are not like the sandpipers we are used to at home on the west coast; while we were watching and photographing one, Stephen was crouched with a 400m lens on and one came right up to him to investigate!

Tuamotu Sandpiper

Marquesas and Tuamotus Species List
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Bulwer’s Petrel
Tahiti Petrel
White-necked Petrel
Polynesian Storm-Petrel
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Red-footed Booby
Lesser Frigatebird
Pacific Reef Heron
Wandering Tattler
Tuamotu Sandpiper
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Great Crested Tern
Spectacled Tern
Sooty Tern
Brown Noddy
Black Noddy
Blue-grey Noddy
Common Fairy-Tern
Little Fairy-Tern
Zebra Dove
Atoll Fruit-Dove
White-capped Fruit-Dove
Nukuhiva Pigeon
Long-tailed Cuckoo
Marquesas Swiftlet
Marquesas Reed-Warbler
Tuamotu Reed-Warbler
Common Myna
Red-browed Firetail
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
Spinner Dolphins
Bottlenose Dolphins
Rough-toothed Dolphins
Melon-headed Whales

Tuamotus

We write this on our last 300nm leg into Tahiti from the Tuamotu Archipelago. We would have stayed there longer than 3 weeks but we have run out of fresh food and tinned supply is getting low. I guess we are not as hardy as we should be and live off ships biscuits and salted meat. The waterline is improving as the dry stores from Mexico are consumed. We were glad to have really stocked up their as variety, price and availability was so much better. Thanks to “Pelagic” we were able to fill up our water tanks with an extra 100L to see us through comfortably. We only visited two atolls and although spent most of the time exploring, did pluck away at the few little boat projects that keep getting added to the list. The most serious being pulling the gear shift/throttle control out to remove corrosion build up that was making for a stiff control. We were a little apprehensive about the entry, navigation within and anchoring about coral in the atolls. The tide predictor another cruiser has made worked well and given quiet conditions the passes were fine. We were glad to have made ratlines up the shrouds (not having mast steps) to get a little extra height and this became Heidi’s favorite “hang out” as we crossed the lagoons laying a track down with GPS navigation as we went and plotting the spotted coral heads. A handy tool for retracing our steps in less than ideal conditions. We visited Raroia and Tahanea and made for the lee shore (easterly side) most of our time. Tucked in behind motus (islands surrounding the atoll) we had flat seas in 20+ knots. We had all sorts of plans to trade for pearls to make our riches and lighten the boat, but this was not to be and instead loaded up on coconuts after husking them on the beaches first. We learnt here that if you leave a husked coconut in the sun it will heat up and crack, so with the help of “Blue Moon” we have added to our knowledge in more ways to eat the “nut”.


We’ll post a complete species list soon!

Walking, Working, Waiting and Mangoes

Calm anchorages are a rarity here in the Marquesas, but even in 20 knot winds, Anaho Bay on the north side of Nuku Hiva was not rolly.  So we enjoyed a week catching up on boat projects – nothing serious, just maintenance (like oil changes, touch up stitching on the jib, etc).  Interspersed with swimming, the snorkeling was great, huge coral formations and still more new fish.  Hiking to a wind swept, crab and coconut strewn beach and in the other direction over a pass to the small village of Hatihue, then further on up the cross-island road to some huge archeological remains, superb views and saw two of the island’s endemic birds.  Then mangoes!!!  A friendly local went on about the virtues of mangoes and laughed at the visitors he sees coming down the trail dripping with yellow ooze.  Given peak mango season and high winds the ground was piled with rotting and freshly dropped fruit.  There was no holding back and we have devoured close on a hundred by now!  Returning to the main village to resupply and head for the Tuamotus our enthusiasm for departing was quelled by a large approaching weather system.  So we acted on prudence and waited for a more favourable looking window of weather; probably a good thing as the only vegetables we could buy on our planned departure morning was tomatoes and zucchini and we were wanting a months worth of goodies.  The Saturday market proved a little better as did the forecast and we departed in a pleasant 12kn easterly.