Graptolite - Netting the Surf
Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Thu 22 May 2008 19:43
The next leg to the Cook Islands started off the BBYC at 1200.
Boats scattered in different directions. Some are doing the race leg to the
utterly delightful but near deserted Suworrow while we and others are off to
the southern Cooks stopping at as many islands as we can along the way.
The first attempt at landfall was at Maupiti which looks like a miniature
version of Bora Bora. Unfortunately there is nothing miniature about the
surf that pounds across the reef into the lagoon. The waves looked to be
about 3-4 metres high in the pass and much bigger on either side. It would
easily have been possible to make a dramatic entrance upside down which
would have ruined our day. There was no argument from crew about giving the
place a miss this time.
After an overnight sail the next place we reached was the tiny atoll of
Maupihaa. The pass into the atoll was a bit hairy with 4-5 knots of tide
against us, made worse by the longitude of the charts being wrong by 200
metres. Just coconut palms, a few people and some pigs seem to live there.
There were also a few other yachts at anchor. Some radio talk in German was
overheard between two of the yachts which was less than complimentary about
our presence and about the WARC in general. After identifying the offending
boat we made sure that we dropped anchor close enough so that they had
something to really complain about. Childish or what? Tee hee.
We are now sailing for Aitutaki.