Hooray! On day 46 after leaving southern Tasmania, Lady Mary reached the atoll named after the great Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov.
It is hot. For the last two days we sailed as close to the wind as possible so that we could approach the atoll from the east. At night we hove to, then crept toward it slowly in the morning.
It is not a good idea to enter an atoll in the wrong weather, whether on the ebb, at high water or even sometimes on the flood: currents at a lagoon entrance can exceed a yacht's capabilities. The entrance here was not difficult, but we still waited for low water. At about one in the afternoon, under sail but with the engine ready, we anchored beside the only island in the national park where yachts are allowed to stop.
The yacht made one slow, thoughtful circle around the anchorage while the captain assessed the depths and the proximity of coral. — Anchor away!
The water looks as though somebody painted it blue.
+35°C. In our “yaranga”, which because of the new climate zone has now been renamed “the sauna”, it is +33, and without fans the air presses on you like a slab of lead.
As soon as we anchored, carefully suspending seventy metres of chain on floats in the water, reef sharks came over to ask about our plans. The deckhand immediately changed her mind about swimming from the boat — ah, three years away from the tropics has dulled her nerve.
Two rangers are supposed to live on the atoll until November, but nobody ashore reacted to our manoeuvres. There was no boat beside the tiny concrete pier either. Perhaps the rangers had already left for an inhabited island because cyclone season was beginning. Or perhaps they had locked themselves inside their house and simply refused to come out.
There was only one way to check. Our little landing party went ashore on the least-populated atoll of the small but proud country of the Cook Islands.
A few words about the country. What does Cook have to do with it?
The country consists of fifteen islands. It is self-governing but in free association with New Zealand.
Do you know who the supreme ruler of the Cook Islands is? The Queen of New Zealand. And who is the Queen of New Zealand when New Zealand has no queen of its own? Correct: the Queen of the United Kingdom.
From a distance it seems as though the British Crown stopped ruling its former colonies long ago, does it not? To be fair, it feels that way up close too.
The Cook Islands are divided into northern and southern groups. In theory, the islands were not discovered by Cook at all. Migrants from Tahiti reached them as early as the sixth century. At the end of the sixteenth century the Spanish appeared at one of the atolls. The honourable Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira called Pukapuka Atoll the island of San Bernardo, as Spanish explorers tended to do. Almost every land they encountered received the name of a saint.
They need not have tried so hard: the atoll is still called Pukapuka today.
But this is not about Pukapuka.
Cook did not reach the islands that now bear his name until 1773. He named Manuae Atoll “Hervey”. The name Hervey was later used for all the southern Cook Islands until they were given a new collective name.
Right, teacher mode off. Let us go ashore :).
Where did everybody go?
We moor the dinghy to the low pier. Beside the beach lies a neat pile of dry sticks, as if inviting somebody to light a fire. There is a cleared patch among coconut palms and macadamia trees.
At the highest point of the atoll — the sign says five metres above sea level, though it looks more like three — stand two houses. A squat building is now used as a store, while a two-storey structure is the rangers' main shelter, built in 2001. A stone plaque that looks like a memorial tells us so.
There are actual memorials here too. First, the grave of a ranger who died here in 1994. Then a concrete bust and a plaque reading: “Tom Neale, who lived his dream on this island from 1952 to 1977.” They say he wrote a book about his Robinson Crusoe life on Suwarrow.
Meanwhile, the ranger house is empty.
On a large wall chart every day has been crossed off starting on 31 January this year. The final cross is 16 October. We arrived on the 19th.
The outdoor kitchen contains piles of jars and bottles of sauces, popcorn and other food. There are even two half-bottles of whisky. Water runs from the tap. On the sink stands a cup containing a toothbrush and razor. A cap hangs on the wall, a half-finished bottle of water sits on the arm of the sofa, and socks are still drying on clothes pegs.
There are even pies on the table that have not yet turned to stone.
This does not look like the way you mothball a station for cyclone season.
Different theories start multiplying in our heads. What are yours?
We are applying the deductive method. Continuation in the next post.
Hugs from the 13th degree south! We are enjoying the cool of the evening, working out our repair plan and drying out after hauling water. We wish you warmth and light despite the slushy autumn back home. We would gladly take about five degrees less heat ourselves.
Thank you for being with us. Huge thanks to our wonderful people who contribute to the expedition fund through YooMoney and PayPal. It means a lot.
Sent by satellite from 15°47′ S, 162°34′ W. To see where we are now, visit travely-family.com and open the Route tab. It shows Lady Mary's track from the Rockstar Iridium 360 tracker provided by MVS Telecom.