Ever since we arrived on the Western side of Maria the swell has been high and the breakers looked too scary for us to try taking the dinghy over the barrier reef. We’ve been fairly comfy despite the rough conditions as we let Pitufa ride on a bridle (one anchor line from the bow and another line to the anchor line from the beam of the boat) with the beam to the wind and the bow in the waves. This system works well as long as the wind is steady, but last night the wind finally died down, Pitufa turned around with the lines wrapped up and we woke to find that mess when the anchor alarm went off. We managed to unknot the second line, but it wasn’t easy in a pitch-black night and the breakers as the only point of orientation.
Today we put on shorties and rainjackets to brave the grey and cold weather and had a try to go ashore. We found a channel that was deep enough to leave the outboard in the water and so we were able to race in between waves.
The motus are gorgeous: a mixed forest of pandanus, velvetleaf soldierbushes (Heliotropium foertherianum) and grand devil’s claws (Pisonia grandis), some other endemic shrubs and a few palm trees. Tropic-birds are everywhere, the beautiful white parents circle over the trees and argue with shrill quacking sounds while the chessboard-coloured chicks sit quietly under shrubs. Red-footed boobies nest in the higher trees (preferably Pisonia), while noddies and white terns prefer Pandanus trees. We’ve had young brown boobies hanging out on Pitufa and now that we visited their home they were constantly flapping around us, curiously watching our walk around the motu sometimes hovering only half a metre over our heads… Their parents have started a new nesting season and we saw a few nests with newly-hatched chicks.
There is a small colony of masked boobies and their chicks are almost as big as the parents already, changing from fluffy down into intermediate black-and white feathers, before they change to their bright-white adult costume.
Now it’s evening and we’re having a ginger-lemon tea with rum instead of a cold beer. We’ve just rigged a bridle again (this time on the other side) and hope for a quiet night and some undisturbed sleep.
