Palmerston Atoll
Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Fri 30 Aug 2013 00:13
On
Sunday I watched a Norwegian boat go aground in the pass and when it
floated off I knew there was enough water for me to get out. I had
two lovely days of light weather sailing, albeit in the wrong
direction. Wind came through on Monday night but on Tuesday it was
clear that I could not reach Palmerston Atoll before dark. I took
down all sail and went bare poles until midnight and then some sail.
Of course the wind died but I arrived in glorious sunshine at 1030.
Here is the story of
Palmerston. An English missionary arrived in 1860. No TV, no
internet; Monoply and Scrabble had not been invented and so to amuse
himself he brought along three Polynesian wives. His original house
built from the timbers of a shipwreck still exists. Maybe I will
become a missionary...
You cannot anchor on the
coral reef; outside the reef it is too deep and so the islanders
provide 9 moorings free of charge. The first boat to reach you is
your host for the duration of stay. I give them rope, timber, beer
and rum and they ferry me in and out. The reef pass is scary –
four knots of current and the deep water turns and twists like a
contorted corkscrew – the shallow water is zero. You just cannot
do this in your own dinghy.
The officials who came to
my boat argued as to whether the population was now 61 or 62; anyway
it is small – they live in 11 family groups and every family group
is guaranteed one government job. It turned out that I did not have
the correct agricultural clearance certificate from Rarotonga and so
a nice lady sprayed inside my boat with bog standard fly spray, wrote
out a certificate and gave me permission to go ashore.
Ashore there are no shops,
restaurants or bars. The Picton Castle (pictured in the Rarotonga
report) is the supply vessel for the island. It visits three time a
year so you have to be careful to get your shopping list right. The
only time everybody on the island gets together is to go to church.
And everybody goes to church.
I was sitting quietly in
the cockpit having a late lunch / early dinner and three whales
surface and blow close to the boat. They pass within 25 yards...
