Pitufa.at

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.

We arrived at Maria yesterday afternoon and managed to anchor in 24 m on the eastern side. We’re still in passage-mode though as the night was very rolly… Today we’ll have to search for an anchorage on the western side, because the wind will shift to SE.

Yesterday evening we had a tough decision to make: if we raced like crazy and the wind held out we’d just be able to make it to Maria in daylight today. We were contemplating slowing down and planning for an early arrival on Tuesday, but in the end we couldn’t resist–we let all sails out, let Pitufa run as fast as she can and were making around 7 knots all night long.

Today we’re racing the sun to make it to Maria before dusk. 43 nm and 9 hours of daylight left… We’ll arrive with westerly winds, that should then shift during the night to SW and later S. We’ll therefore have to search for an anchorage on the eastern side of the barrier reef when we arrive and change anchorge tomorrow morning to the western side of the barrier reef. We hope everything will work out and that we’ll be able to stay on Maria for a few days.

The seas are calm, the wind’s blowing steady, it’s sunny and warm–sailing can actually be nice sometimes
200 nm to go to Maria!

The passage from Aitutaki was warm and sunny, but when we reached Rarotonga yesterday afternoon we already saw clouds hanging over the island. We tied up in the harbour med-mooring style and had a quiet night. Unfortunately the weather’s grey and rainy today…

The weather forecast is as usually messing with us. Instead of steady northeasterlies we had fickle E to SE yesterday, played with the gennaker, but ended up motorsailing (which we hate). During the night the engine was also running partly and now that the wind is officially dying down (according to the forecast) it’s blowing merry 15 knots… We haven’t caught a fish since we left Tongareva–a boat reported on our SSB net that they saw a big Taiwanese fishing vessel. Such a ship can empty a whole stretch of ocean…

Yesterday we spent all day anchored off Manuae. We got the dinghy ready (not easy in rough conditions), but the passage through the reef looked way too dangerous in the swell that was getting bigger every hour. In the end we gave up and instead of spending a rolly night at anchor, we left and spent a rolly night at sea (with lots of squalls).

At first light we arrived in Aitutaki (Southern Cook Islands). Aitutaki is a hilly main island with a shallow lagoon around and some motus on the barrier reef. Unfortunately the narrow pass is too shallow for Pitufa, so we’re anchored on the outer reef next to pass. We’re getting better at this outer-reef thing: we use our CQR-anchor with 10 m chain and rope (we don’t want to risk our good Bügelanker) and the anchorage is calm and nice despite the fact that it’s blowing hard from the SE.

The wind is playing games with us, so we have decided to make a stop-over off an uninhabited island while we wait for wind to sail to Aitutaki. We managed to anchor on the outer reef despite rainy and grey weather. Now we’re rolling in the swell that comes around the island from both sides, hoping for a sunny spell. The island’s a national park, but we see neither birds in the sky nor turtles in the water

Right when we arrived 3 humpback whales came by (2 adults and a baby) and they’ve been hanging out around the boat and singing so loudly that we can clearly hear them through the metal hull

The weather forecast threatened with a calm period, but fortunately it only lasted 4 hours and we could start sailing again at midnight. This morning dawned almost kitschy beautiful: sunny, flat seas and Pitufa gliding along with 3 knots in a gentle breeze. 88 nm to go!