After two lovely weeks in Penrhyn, we were ready to depart for the remote atoll of Suwarrow (also in the Cook Islands). But, mother nature had other plans for us. We woke up early in the morning before sunrise to get the boat ready to depart. As we were having breakfast, we decided to do one last download of weather. The forecast had changed in the last 24 hours which altered our plans completely.
The weather for the passage to Suwarrow looked fine, but the weather that would come through Suwarrow shortly after our arrival gave us a reason to reconsider our plans. The forecast was showing a large high pressure system that was going to sit down around 30 degrees south (for reference, we were currently at 9 degrees south) that the weather gurus were calling a “Big Fat High.” Although the moniker was amusing, the weather was not. The Big Fat High was going to cause what is referred to as a “squash zone” north of the BFH where the change of pressure gradients would be “squashed” together. What this means is that there were going to be strong winds blowing right through Suwarrow (and ultimately a good portion of the South Pacific) in excess of 30 kts.
Suwarrow is a low lying atoll without much protection from strong winds and waves. Around 6:00 a.m. that morning, all the boats in the anchorage that were planning to depart started chatting on the radio about rethinking the plan to leave Penrhyn. Two of the boats decided they had to leave as they had guests meeting them in Tonga in a couple of weeks and needed to start making their way west. (This is why it is hard to make plans to have guests visit!) All the other boats made the decision to stay put for the time being. Penrhyn was far enough north to be out of the forecasted squash zone, so we might as well enjoy some nice (and safe!) weather. We had no idea at the time, but that Big Fat High stuck around for another two weeks.
We made the most of our additional two weeks in Penrhyn with lots of social activities with the other boats and the locals in Te Tautua. We even had a Fourth of July BBQ on the beach. Although only a couple of the boats were American, all of the boats were eager to celebrate our national independence with a big beach bonfire and grilled meats. I think that is a universal joy!
We also got to spend some more time enjoying the natural beauty of Penrhyn. Mike had fun stalking the bonefish on the flats, and I got in quite a few good snorkeling sessions.
But, the highlight for me were finding the nesting birds that were all over the motus. I had gotten pretty good with fish identification, but I needed a little help with the birds. Thankfully, some of the other boats were better birders than I am, and they helped me identify red-tailed tropic birds, black noddies, red footed boobies, brown boobies, fairy terns, sooty terns and a few others. I learned that red-tailed tropic birds usually nest on cliff sides. Well, there are no cliffs in the low lying atoll of Penrhyn, so the birds were all nesting on the ground. That was good news for us camera happy visitors who wanted to snap pics of the beautiful birds and their fluffy little chicks!
At the end of our month in Penrhyn, the winds were finally changing. We saw a good weather window to depart and took it! But, we decided to make a detour. Although the winds looked good to Suwarrow, they also looked good to bypass Suwarrow and head all the way to Niue. Niue has been one of the places we were most looking forward to seeing in the South Pacific. We also know and have now experienced how variable the weather can be in this area. After much contemplation, we decided to skip Suwarrow and head all the way to Niue. (This ended up being a good move, as our other friends weren’t able to get a weather window to Niue after Suwarrow and instead headed to American Samoa.)
We said goodbye to the rest of the fleet who left Penrhyn and decided to stop in Suwarrow, and made our way down to Niue. This was our second seven day passage this year and definitely our best. For most of the passage, we had what another sailor called “magazine sailing.” It was easy sailing with moderate winds just aft of the beam and seas that weren’t too big or confused. We only had one 24 hour period that was less than ideal, where the wind shut down for about eight hours and then piped up to 25 knots with lots of rain. So, we were a bit soggy one night, but that’s pretty good for a seven day passage.
Finally we arrived in Niue! But, more about that next time!
~katie